Discourse-Integrated Teaching: A Methodological Innovation for Ideological and Political Courses in Higher Education

Leading the innovation of teaching methods in ideological and political courses in higher education through the innovation of the discourse system is a key pathway to improving the teaching quality and effectiveness of these courses in the New Era and enhancing their appeal and influence. Currently, problems such as the use of grandiose language, rigid language, outdated language, and monologue-style lecturing still exist in the classroom. In response, teachers of ideological and political courses in higher education should first clarify “for whom to teach, what to teach, and how to teach,” adhere to upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, and transform the mode of discourse expression. This involves making grandiose language small, revealing the great within the small; making rigid language soft, letting gentle words enter the mind; making outdated language new, letting fresh terms reach the ears; and engaging in collective dialogue with heartfelt communication. This effectively builds ideological and political courses into golden courses for life that students are willing to listen to, enjoy listening to, and subsequently truly learn, understand, believe in, and apply.

以话语体系创新引领高校思政课教学方法革新，是提升新时代高校思政课教学质量与效果、增强高校思政课吸引力与感染力的关键路径。当前，思政课课堂上仍存在着诸如讲大话、硬话、旧话、个人独白等问题。对此，高校思政课教师应首先明确“给谁讲、讲什么、怎么讲”，坚持守正创新，通过转化话语表述方式，做到大话小说、小中见大，硬话软说、软语入脑，旧话新说、新词入耳，大家共说、对话走心，切实将思政课建设成为学生愿意听、喜欢听，进而真学真懂真信真用的人生金课。

Making grandiose language small, revealing the great within the small. Political nature is the fundamental attribute of ideological and political courses, primarily reflected in the grand narratives of the course textbooks and teaching content and their function of political orientation. For teachers of ideological and political courses in higher education to be adept at reasoning and convincing through reason, they must handle the relationship between “lofty and grand” and “small and beautiful,” transforming abstract macro-theories into vivid narratives and revealing profound truths in minute details. On the one hand, teachers must adhere to correct political orientation, strictly guard political bottom lines, proceed from a political height, and use the Party’s innovative theories and brilliant achievements to thoroughly, clearly, and vividly explain the “lofty and grand” great truths. On the other hand, they should break through from small entry points, starting from everyday matters and routine affairs, using small themes and minor events to reveal grand themes, and employing the plain truths of life to thoroughly, clearly, and vividly explain the “down-to-earth” small truths, enabling students to gain inspiration and resonance. Furthermore, teachers of ideological and political courses in higher education should not be mere repeaters of textbooks but active organizers, constructors, developers, and innovators of textbook content. In specific classroom teaching, teachers should comprehensively utilize the advantages of these two discourse innovations. They can first introduce a topic or concept through “making grandiose language small,” then conduct in-depth analysis and discussion from the perspective of “revealing the great within the small,” and subsequently consolidate and expand students’ knowledge and horizons through case analysis, scenario simulation, and other methods. “Making grandiose language small” and “revealing the great within the small” emphasize micro-level entry and detail excavation. This requires teachers of ideological and political courses in higher education to step out of the classroom, go deep into grassroots levels to conduct investigation and research, deeply mine the “rich mine” of social educational resources, enrich ideological and political course teaching with living social materials, actively integrate regional resources into teaching, combine the “small classroom of ideological and political education” with the “big classroom of society,” and introduce new problems and materials discovered in practice into classroom teaching, thereby promoting students’ comprehensive development and progress.

大话小说、小中见大。政治性是思政课的根本属性，主要体现在思政课教材和教学内容的宏大叙事及其政治导向功能上。高校思政课教师要善于讲道理，做到以理服人，就必须处理好“高大上”与“小而美”之间的关系，将抽象的宏观理论转化为生动的叙事，于细微之处揭示深刻的道理。一方面，高校思政课教师必须坚持正确政治导向，严守政治底线，从政治高度出发，用党的创新理论和辉煌成就讲深讲透讲活“高大上”的大道理；另一方面，要以小的切入口展开突破，从身边事、日常事出发，通过小题材、小事件来揭示宏大主题，运用生活中的朴素真理讲深讲透讲活“接地气”的小道理，使学生能够从中得到启发和共鸣。此外，高校思政课教师不应是教材的复述者，而应是教材内容的积极组织者、建构者、开拓者与创新者。在具体的课堂教学中，高校思政课教师应综合运用这两种话语创新的优势，可先通过“大话小说”的方式引入主题或概念，然后运用“小中见大”的视角进行深入剖析和讨论，再通过案例分析、情景模拟等方式巩固和拓展学生的知识与视野。“大话小说”与“小中见大”重在微观切入与细节挖掘，这要求高校思政课教师要走出课堂、深入基层开展调查研究，深挖社会育人资源“富矿”，以社会活素材丰富思政课教学，主动将区域资源融入思政课教学，将“思政小课堂”与“社会大课堂”结合，并将实践中发现的新问题、新素材引入课堂教学，促进学生的全面发展和进步。

Making rigid language soft, letting gentle words enter the mind. Ideological and political courses bear the lofty mission of disseminating mainstream ideology and shaping mainstream values. To effectively achieve this goal, it is urgent to soften the rigid, abstract, and stiff language in ideological and political course textbooks, that is, to transform it into expressions richer in emotional color and closer to students’ actual lives. Only in this way can it become emotionally engaging and enter the mind and heart. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that ideological and political course teaching must adhere to the unity of inculcation and inspiration, emphasize inspirational education, guide students to discover, analyze, and think about problems, and allow students to naturally reach conclusions through continuous inspiration. The inculcation method tends to use direct, clear, and unquestionable modes of discourse expression to a certain extent, carrying a degree of compulsion and authority. Its application in ideological and political course teaching can ensure the accuracy and standardization of teaching discourse and avoid tendencies toward entertainment. The inspirational method tends to use gentle, euphemistic, and guiding modes of discourse expression, which are more easily accepted and resonate with people. Its application in ideological and political course teaching can guide students to think and discuss, stimulating their interest and potential. To better comprehensively utilize these two discourse modes—rigid discourse and soft discourse—as well as the two teaching methods—inculcation and inspiration—consideration and practice can be carried out from the following aspects: First, clarify usage scenarios. In situations requiring clear expression of viewpoints, positions, or demands, rigid discourse can be used to clearly express political stances. In situations suitable for mobilizing classroom atmosphere and enhancing the dissemination effect of discourse, soft discourse can be used to explain principles deeply, thoroughly, and vividly, avoiding premature conclusions, closed thinking, and causing aversion. Second, flexibly switch. In teaching practice, it is often necessary to flexibly switch modes of discourse expression according to specific circumstances. Facing different student reactions and classroom situations, teachers of ideological and political courses should first use soft discourse to create an open and inclusive atmosphere, encouraging students to express their views. However, when it is necessary to point out shortcomings or offer criticism, they should timely switch to rigid discourse, clearly and explicitly indicating the problems. This flexible switching not only helps maintain classroom order but also stimulates students’ active thinking, making ideological and political courses an important platform for firming political stances and shaping healthy personalities. This requires teachers of ideological and political courses to be proficient in professional knowledge, imparting the Way, imparting knowledge, and resolving doubts, while also enlightening wisdom, moistening hearts, and nurturing others, serving as models who unify being a “master of classics” and a “master of humanity.” [1]1 “Master of classics” (经师) and “master of humanity” (人师) are traditional Chinese terms: the former refers to a teacher who transmits canonical knowledge, the latter to a teacher who models moral character and nurtures students’ ethical development. They should proactively align with the “Six Requirements,” [2]2 The “Six Requirements” (六要) refer to the six criteria for teachers of ideological and political courses proposed by Xi Jinping: political stance must be strong, feelings must be deep, thinking must be innovative, vision must be broad, self-discipline must be strict, and personality must be upright. actively cultivate and improve themselves internally, take the lead and set examples, ensure consistency inside and outside the classroom and unity of knowledge and action, and ensure they become trustworthy, respectable, reliable, willing, daring, and effective excellent teachers, enabling ideological and political courses to achieve the effect of conveying the Way through writing, transforming people through culture, and educating people through culture.

硬话软说、软语入脑。思政课承载着传播主流意识形态与塑造主流价值观念的崇高使命。为了有效达成这一目标，亟需将思政课教材中刻板、抽象、生硬的语言软化，即转化为更富情感色彩、贴近学生生活实际的表述，如此方能使之有情有义、入脑入心。习近平总书记指出，思政课教学要坚持灌输性和启发性相统一，注重启发性教育，引导学生发现问题、分析问题、思考问题，在不断启发中让学生水到渠成得出结论。灌输性方法在一定程度上倾向于使用直接、明确、不容置疑的话语表述方式，带有一定的强制性和权威性，在思政课教学中的运用可确保教学话语的准确性和规范性，避免娱乐化倾向；启发性方法更倾向于使用温和、委婉、疏导的话语表述方式，更容易让人接受并产生共鸣，在思政课教学中的运用可引导学生思考、讨论，激发学生的兴趣、潜能。为了更好地综合运用硬性话语与软性话语这两种话语方式，以及灌输性与启发性这两种教学方法，可以从以下几个方面进行思考和实践：一是明确使用场景，适用于明确表达观点、立场或要求的情况，可使用硬性话语明确表达政治立场；适用于调动课堂气氛、增强话语传播效果的情况，可使用软性话语把道理讲深、讲透、讲活，避免结论先行，思维封闭，让人生厌。二是要灵活转换，在教学实践中，往往需要根据具体情况灵活转换话语表达方式。面对学生的不同反应和课堂情境，思政课教师应先以软性话语营造开放、包容的氛围，鼓励学生表达观点，但当需要指出不足或进行批评时，应适时转向硬性话语，清晰明确地指出问题所在。这种灵活转换不仅有助于维护课堂秩序，更能激发学生的主动思考，使思政课成为坚定政治立场、塑造健康人格的重要平台。这要求思政课教师既要精通专业知识，传道授业解惑，又要启智润心、润己泽人，做“经师”和“人师”统一的表率。主动对标“六要”要求，积极内塑自我、提升自我，率先垂范、以身作则，做到课上课下表里如一、知行合一，确保自身成为可信可敬可靠，乐为敢为有为的优秀教师，使思政课达到文以载道、以文化人、以文育人之效。

Making outdated language new, letting fresh terms reach the ears. For students, the content of ideological and political courses is not entirely unfamiliar, as they have already been exposed to it during primary and secondary education, resulting in some knowledge repetition. At the same time, they have consciously or unconsciously encountered related concepts in social life, so some content may appear less novel, even feeling like clichés or platitudes. To revitalize ideological and political courses, first, we should transform the mode of discourse expression. We can adopt relatively unfamiliar language, cases, and novel analytical and research methods, reinterpreting old viewpoints from new perspectives and with new vocabulary, thereby stimulating students’ curiosity and enhancing the appeal of ideological and political courses. Second, based on the laws of student growth and the educational laws of ideological and political courses, we should be close to students, close to life, and close to reality, deeply and accurately understanding the differences in student group characteristics across different educational stages and school environments, and implementing differentiated education for different groups. At the same time, we should deeply advance the integrated construction of ideological and political education across primary, secondary, and higher education, designing course objectives according to the ideas of vertical articulation, horizontal integration, gradual progression, and spiral ascent, skillfully using online language so that students are willing to listen and learn, understand and master. Finally, we should also expand the practical dimension. Through integrated, embedded, and infiltrated methods, we should combine ideological and political courses with teaching forms such as innovation and entrepreneurship education, labor education, volunteer service, and online practice, promoting innovation in textbooks, courseware, forms, and methods, and enhancing the practical teaching effectiveness of ideological and political courses.

旧话新说、新词入耳。思政课对学生而言，其内容并非全然陌生，在中小学阶段就已有涉猎，存在一定的知识重复。同时，在社会生活中也自觉不自觉地接触了一些相关观念，故部分内容可能显得不够新颖，甚至有旧话套话的感觉。为了焕发思政课的活力，首先，我们应当转变话语表述方式，可以采用一些较为陌生的语言、案例以及新颖的分析方法和研究方法，用新的视角和词汇对旧有观点进行重新解读，以此来激发学生的好奇心，增强思政课程的吸引力。其次，立足学生成长规律和思政课育人规律，做到贴近学生、贴近生活、贴近实际，深入、准确地了解不同学段、不同学校环境下学生群体特征的差异，针对不同群体开展分众化教育。同时，深入推进大中小学思想政治教育一体化建设，按照纵向衔接、横向贯通、循序渐进、螺旋上升的思路设计课程目标，善用网言网语，让学生爱听爱学、听懂学会。最后，我们还应拓展实践维度，通过融入式、嵌入式、渗入式等方式，将思政课与创新创业教育、劳动教育、志愿服务、网络实践等教学形态相结合，推动教材创新、课件创新、形式创新、方法创新，提升思政课的实践教学效果。

Everyone speaks together, dialogue reaches the heart. The construction of ideological-political courses in higher education is a complex and systematic project, and it must form a powerful synergy with the participation of multiple subjects. To comprehensively advance the construction of the “grand ideological-political course,” it is necessary to activate the “great classroom” of society and gather the “great energy” of the whole society for education. By constructing the “grand ideological-political course” model, we can deliver a “combined punch” [3]3 “Combined punch” (组合拳) is a metaphor for a coordinated set of measures or policies applied simultaneously to achieve a comprehensive effect, commonly used in Chinese political discourse. for ideological-political education, continuously expand a new pattern of comprehensive education, and realize the extension of the classroom to social scenes and the organic integration of textbooks with social reality. On the one hand, we must coordinate the organic connection, synergy, and cooperation of school education, family education, and social education. Schools should fully play their leading role in collaborative education, parents should earnestly fulfill their primary responsibility for family education, and society should effectively support and serve comprehensive education, so as to solidly deliver the “combined punch” for the construction of ideological-political courses and write a new chapter in the collaborative education of ideological-political education in the New Era. On the other hand, through various forms such as interviews, symposiums, and joint research, we should encourage multiple voices to speak out and participate together, making teaching closer to students and more effective. In addition to lectures by ideological-political course teachers, the teaching subjects of ideological-political courses should also be expanded. We should invite the makers and implementers of relevant policies to teach, frontline participants and grassroots workers in related work to share their experiences and insights, beneficiary groups to share their tangible sense of gain and expectations for the future, and current students to “bear witness through personal experience” by sharing the stories of people and events around them in the changes of their families and hometowns. This will trigger emotional resonance among classmates, enhance their understanding and identification with top-level design, strategic planning, and practical approaches, and improve students’ sense of political identity, practical identity, psychological identity, and sense of realistic immersion, thereby effectively advancing the construction of ideological-political courses.

大家共说、对话走心。高校思政课建设是一项复杂且系统的工程，必须形成多方主体共同参与的强大合力。全面推进“大思政课”建设，需要激活社会“大课堂”、汇聚全社会育人“大能量”，通过构建“大思政课”模式，打好思政育人“组合拳”，不断拓展全面育人新格局，实现课堂向社会场景的延伸、教材与社会现实的有机结合。一方面，统筹发挥学校教育、家庭教育、社会教育的有机衔接、协同配合。学校充分发挥协同育人主导作用，家长切实履行家庭教育主体责任，社会有效支持服务全面育人，切实打好思政课建设的“组合拳”，书写新时代思政教育协同育人的新篇章。另一方面，通过访谈、座谈交流、联合调研等多种形式，鼓励多方发声、共同参与，使教学更加贴近学生，更具实效性。除了思政课教师讲授外，还应拓展思政课的授课主体，邀请相关部门政策的制定者和执行者授课、相关工作的一线参与者和基层工作者讲述经验和体会，请受益群体分享自身实实在在的获得感和对未来的期许，请在校学生“现身说法”分享家庭、家乡变迁中的身边人身边事，引发同学们的情感共鸣，增强其对顶层设计、战略规划及现实做法的理解和认同，提升学生的政治认同感、实践认同感、心理认同感及现实代入感，切实推进思政课建设。

The innovation of the discourse system is an important means to promote ideological-political courses in higher education to keep pace with the times and enhance their pertinence and effectiveness. Through continuous discourse innovation, core values can be better conveyed, with the aim of making ideological-political courses more targeted, appealing, infectious, and effective, achieving the unity of students’ knowledge, emotion, intention, and action, and striving to cultivate more new-era talents who can reassure the Party, love and dedicate themselves to the country, and bear the heavy responsibility of national rejuvenation.

话语体系的创新是推动高校思政课与时俱进、增强针对性和实效性的重要手段。通过不断话语创新，可以更好地传递核心价值观念，力求把思政课讲得更具针对性、亲和力、感染力和实效性，实现学生知、情、意、行的统一，努力培养更多让党放心、爱国奉献、担当民族复兴重任的时代新人。

(The author is Vice Dean of the School of Marxism, Zhejiang University)

（作者系浙江大学马克思主义学院副院长）

Online editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧