To further advance the paradigm innovation of ideological and political education in open education courses and to implement the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education, the Open University of China (OUC) held an intensive seminar on the construction of the national-level ideological and political demonstration project for the course of Theories of Social Security in Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province on 29 October 2024. Bi Ming, president of Quzhou Open University (OU), delivered a speech at the event.
Team members of the project from the national education system participated in the activity. Chen Siming, director of the Management Office of Ideological-Political Education in Courses of the OUC Academic Affairs Department; and Zhang Yini, the course leader, presided over the event together.
This seminar was divided into two segments: academic discussion and teaching practice.
The academic discussion primarily consisted of two units: expert lectures and report presentations and expert reviews. In the expert lecture unit, Professor Yang Daiping from Sichuan OU delivered an academic lecture titled “Report and Exchange on Teaching Insights of Course Ideological and Political Teaching: Taking the Course of Theories of Social Security as an Example,' providing guidance for the teaching practice and theoretical research on ideological and political construction in the course of Theories of Social Security. During the report presentations, the project team members shared the interim results of their research on ideological and political education in the course Theories of Social Security. This event brought together Xia Fangyi from Tianjin OU, Meng Shasha from Changchun OU, Liu Yuhua from Henan OU, and Qi Aihua from Ningbo OU, who presented their research progress from different aspects such as the lifestyle teaching of the course Theories of Social Security, the OBE (Outcome-Based Education) teaching model, and key issues in ideological and political education for the course. Senior scholars in the field of social security in China, including Professor Qiu Yulin from Renmin University of China and Professor Xue Zaixing from the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, served as evaluators and provided academic and professional guidance on research topics, research design, and academic writing.
The teaching practice mainly comprised two units: collective lesson preparation and study visit. In the collective lesson preparation unit, Wang Xue from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps OU and Qu Yaru from Anhui OU presented their teaching design plans focusing on the concepts and philosophies of social security. The attending experts provided feedback to help young teachers enhance their teaching skills. The project team also visited Quzhou OU to conduct research investigation on the social work programme and the construction of ideological and political education in the courses. They gained insights into the development of the social work programme at Quzhou OU, the policies and measures related to the construction of ideological and political education in the courses, as well as a series of achievements in ideological and political teaching.
This seminar activity was highly praised by the project team members, who expressed that their participation in the event provided them with new knowledge, improved their teaching and research capabilities, and deepened communication and connection among teachers from various areas. In the future, they will further enhance their understanding, take fostering virtue through education the core of educational reform, return to the original mission of education, and make more contributions to open education.
Written by Zhang Yini and photo by Jing Qiaowen, OUC