Research Update
03
Jan
On March 18, 2019, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a symposium with ideological and political theory teachers and delivered an important speech, providing fundamental guidelines for running such courses successfully. We need to thoroughly study and implement General Secretary Xi's important statement on ideological and political theory education in colleges and universities, nurture talents for the Party and the country, actively promote the pedagogical reform and innovation of ideological and political theory courses, and implement the fundamental tasks of fostering integrity and promoting rounded development of people when advancing the high-quality development of these courses.
Strengthening the Party's leadership over the construction of ideological and political theory courses. General Secretary Xi stressed, "We must strengthen the Party's leadership over the construction of ideological and political theory courses." Renmin University of China has, since its establishment, attached great importance to the construction of ideological and political theory courses. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), we have integrated Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in our teaching, comprehensively strengthened the Party's leadership over the construction of ideological and political theory courses, and continuously included Xi Jinping Thought in textbooks and classroom teaching and finally instilled it in students. Our school leaders have taken the lead to observe and give lectures and hold discussions with ideological and political theory teachers. By implementing the ideology work responsibility system and strictly overseeing the political awareness and quality of classroom teaching, we have improved these courses' ideological and theoretical levels and made them more understandable and targeted. We have opened optional ideological and political theory courses that fully represent RUC's history and tradition, its "red genes," and unique disciplinary advantages, such the "The Overview of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era," the CPC's History, 500 Years of World Socialism, China's Traditional Culture, and other introductory courses. We have fully increased teaching and management levels and inculcated Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era through all-member, whole-process, and all-around education.
Combining the "general ideological and political theory course" and reality. We have thoroughly studied and implemented General Secretary Xi's instructions on "eight consistences", fully exerted our disciplinary advantages, brought out students' initiative, and combined classroom teaching with social practice to make our "general ideological and political theory course" a success. We have guided our students to understand the world's and China's development trends correctly, follow the path with Chinese characteristics and compare it with those of other countries, fulfill the responsibilities of our times and historical missions, and be ambitious yet down-to-earth. On the one hand, we have taken a strictly academic approach to increase the theoretical depth of political theories. We have organized ideological and political theory teachers to thoroughly study and explore major theoretical and practical issues of how to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics and provided academic foundation to improve such courses' ideological and theoretical levels. According to college students' way of thinking, learning habits and personal growth, we have specifically answered hot and complex issues about ideological theories that students care about to "quench their thirst for knowledge" and "help them become more sensible." We have made classroom teaching more appealing and attractive so that students feel more satisfied. On the other hand, we have made great efforts to combine theories with reality. We have organized social practice activities for students and helped them to combine theories with reality through social research campaigns such as "One Thousand Students to Hundreds of Villages" and "Streets and Lanes in China", so as to comprehend the power of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as truth and a guiding principle for practice.
Nurturing a high-quality and professional team of ideological and political theory teachers. General Secretary Xi pointed out, "The key to making ideological and political theory courses successful is to bring out teachers' enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity." We have been nurturing a high-quality and professional team of ideological and political theory teachers and providing opportunities and favorable conditions for their career development. First, we have made excellent ideological and political theory teachers fully display their skills and capabilities and strengthened our teaching faculty in the following ways: introducing outstanding scholars, retaining top graduates for teaching posts, training postdoctoral teaching fellows, and hiring retired teachers. Second, we have reformed the appraisal of ideological and political theory teachers and improved incentive measures. Those teachers who are firm in political conviction, competent in academic research, and successful in combining theories with reality and making outstanding achievements get rewarded and play a leading role. Third, we have strengthened our efforts to develop a talent pool for ideological and political theory teachers. For example, we have implemented the "Special Plan of Developing Future Teaching Staff of Ideological and Political Theory Courses in Colleges and Universities", improved the successive undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs of the Marxist theory and integrated programs of all secondary disciplines, and promoted flexible selection and continuous training for undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students of the Marxist theory and relevant fields, in order to lay a solid foundation for the talent pool.
Advancing the intensive development of ideological and political theory courses. General Secretary Xi pointed out, "We must regard the integrated construction of ideological and political theory courses in primary, secondary and tertiary schools as a major project and advance intensive development of these courses." We have given play to our advantages and unique features of disciplines, contributed to the construction of ideological and political theory courses in primary, secondary, and tertiary schools, and created a new teaching system of group lesson planning and discussion on the "study, research and lecturing" for primary, secondary and tertiary education. We have asked senior scholars to provide guidance and evaluation and formed a pattern of "fostering backbone staff, launching advocacy for key groups and encouraging all members to study." We have made categorized teaching plans, highlighted key points and linked up the content in an orderly way. We have increased students' perceptual and rational cognition, put the Party's creative theories in their minds and actions and helped them grow in tandem with the new era. We have led students to feel the changes of the new era through our teaching inspired by "history, real-life and practice," which made ideological and political theory courses comprehensible and keep up with the times to reveal current and historical facts. We have built a team of young teachers of different disciplines and sent them to primary and middle schools to give thorough and vivid lectures on the Party's endeavors and achievements, fine traditions and conduct, good practice and inventions, and historical experience. We have guided students to build confidence in socialism with Chinese characteristics and in our theories, system, and culture, develop their love for the country and put their passion and ambition into hard work to develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, build China into a modern and powerful socialist country and revitalize the Chinese nation.