Research on the Innovative Integration of Moral and Legal Education into Ideological and Political Courses

: Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee, led by Comrade, has attached great importance to the integrated development of ideological and political courses in primary, secondary, and tertiary education. Moral and legal education, as a crucial component in the overall promotion of the integrated development of ideological and political courses in schools of all levels, represents a significant focus in the research on the reform of ideological and political theory courses in schools in the new era. The research on the integration of moral and legal education into ideological and political courses aligns with the current main directions and content of educational reforms, playing a crucial role in enhancing students' legal literacy, moral qualities, and fostering comprehensive development. Building upon an analysis of the current status and issues related to the integration of moral and legal education into ideological and political courses, this paper attempts to explore innovative strategies for such integration.


Introduction
At the core of the mission to cultivate virtues and nurture individuals is the goal of molding students into socialist builders and successors with steadfast political convictions, noble moral qualities, and a sound understanding of the rule of law.Against the backdrop of China's comprehensive development of governing the country according to law, there is an increasing need to intensify the cultivation of students' moral qualities and legal awareness.To fulfill the fundamental task of cultivating virtues and nurturing individuals, ideological and political education must be expanded to encompass all courses, including ideological and political theory courses, unleashing the educative functions of every course [1].The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China report points out that legal education is a fundamental project to enhance the legal literacy of the entire population and construct a rule-of-law China.Youth, as the driving force and successors of the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics, are consistently the primary focus of this fundamental project.It is essential to "imbue individuals with the socialist core values, improve the ideological and political work system, and promote the integrated development of ideological and political education in primary, secondary, and tertiary schools" [2].The primary channel for legal education for young people is through school ideological and political courses.
The effectiveness of legal education within ideological and political courses directly impacts the generation and development of young people's legal literacy.Integrating moral and legal education into youth ideological and political courses and conducting innovative research are crucial for cultivating students' sense of social responsibility, legal concepts, and ethical qualities.How to organically integrate moral and legal education into ideological and political education courses, enabling students to achieve comprehensive improvement in values, moral qualities, and legal literacy, is a critical issue that needs in-depth exploration in the current education field.This article is based on the current context of China's comprehensive governance under the rule of law, focusing on the fundamental goal of "cultivating virtues and nurturing individuals."Taking the perspective of "collaborative education," it explores the innovative integration and education path of moral and legal education within youth ideological and political courses.The aim is to maximize the educational effectiveness of collaborative education between ideological and political courses and legal education, forming a curriculum system with centripetal force that collectively promotes the comprehensive development of young students.

Current Status and Problem Analysis of Integrating Moral and Legal Education into Ideological and Political Courses
The integration of moral and legal education into ideological and political courses is currently a primary direction in the reform of ideological and political teaching in schools, promoting highquality education development.Its crucial role lies in enriching the content of ideological and political courses, enhancing the effectiveness of talent cultivation, and facilitating the comprehensive development of students.Under the guidance of China's comprehensive strategy for governing the country according to law and the new trend of moral education construction in the era of "three-dimensional development of individuals," moral and legal education for young people is steadily advancing.
However, in the context of school ideological and political education, there are still challenges, such as insufficient emphasis on moral and legal education, a lack of diversity in practical teaching activities, a lack of smooth articulation between ideological and political course materials and legal education content, and the low comprehensive competence of teachers in ideological and political legal education.These challenges need to be addressed to fully realize the potential benefits of integrating moral and legal education into ideological and political courses and to further advance the quality development of education.

The emphasis on moral and legal education is insufficient, and practical teaching activities need to be enriched
Moral and legal education serves as a crucial measure for cultivating the moral and legal literacy of young students.However, currently, some schools perceive it merely as an incidental daily educational activity.At times, the decision to conduct related educational activities depends on whether the leadership has available time.This falls far short of the emphasis placed on disciplinary curriculum education by schools.Moreover, schools often lack a reasonable assessment system for teachers and students regarding moral and legal education.In other words, schools generally do not accord enough importance to "governing the school according to law and moral education."Instead, it is treated as routine work, sometimes even deemed optional, without recognizing its significance in enhancing students' overall qualities, moral cultivation, and the long-term development of the school.
This role positioning results in insufficient investment of time, manpower, and financial resources by schools in moral and legal education.It becomes challenging to foster a rich legal culture, severely impacting the universalization effects of moral and legal education in student education management.The same holds true for the integration of moral and legal education into ideological and political courses.Currently, the incorporation of legal education into ideological and political courses is limited to the permeation and integration of theories.It emphasizes imparting legal knowledge to students, analyzing relevant legal cases through verbal exposition.However, it falls short of meeting the needs for developing students' practical and applied abilities.The lack of diversified practical teaching activities affects the comprehensive development of students.

The connection between ideological and political education textbooks and legal education content is not smooth, and the construction of textbooks urgently needs to be deepened
In the process of legal education for adolescents, with a focus on ideological and political education courses, the construction of textbook content plays a crucial role in ensuring the effectiveness of education.The integration of legal education content into ideological and political education textbooks at the primary, middle, and high school levels is an essential path to enhancing legal literacy for the entire population and cultivating individuals in the context of the new era.This approach aligns with the laws of education and the developmental patterns of students' minds and bodies, representing a necessary choice and a natural step in the coordinated development of ideological and political education courses at all levels of education.In recent years, with the coordinated efforts and collaboration of relevant authorities, the textbook system for ideological and political education in schools has undergone modernization and systematic adjustments.The promotion of unified compilation and use of ideological and political education textbooks in compulsory education, as well as the revision and updating of textbooks for ideological and political courses in higher education, has led to significant progress in the overall coherence and continuity of legal education content across different educational stages.However, it should be noted that there are still some issues of insufficient coherence in the presentation of legal education content in the current ideological and political education textbooks at various levels of primary, middle, and high schools.The main issues manifest in "disconnection and inversion" and "oversimplified repetition" of legal education content across different educational stages.The issue of "disconnection and inversion" is primarily evident in the current ideological and political education textbook system, where the legal education content at lower educational stages surpasses the depth or difficulty of that at higher stages.For instance, in the unified compilation of the senior high school textbook "Ideological and Political Education -Compulsory 3," the seventh lesson, "The Fundamental Ways of Governing and Administering the Country," provides a detailed account of "the development of the rule of law in China" [3].Meanwhile, in the unified compilation of the ninth-grade textbook "Ethics and Rule of Law," the fourth lesson in the first volume, "Building a Rule of Law China," already introduces concepts like "solidifying the foundation of the rule of law" and "consolidating consensus on the rule of law" [4].Clearly, the latter belongs to a more advanced level of content and, according to cognitive principles, should be built upon the foundation established by the former [5].The issue of "oversimplified repetition" refers mainly to the lack of coherence and progression in the connection of knowledge points within the textbook content.The legal education content in ideological and political education courses across different educational stages should exhibit differences, reflecting a hierarchical structure to highlight the fundamental requirement of "spiral progression."However, upon examining the current unified compilation of ideological and political education textbooks, it is evident that some teaching content still exhibits simple repetition, lacks distinctiveness, and falls short in providing a cohesive and progressive logical structure in the processing and deepening of textbook knowledge.
Legal education in ideological and political education courses requires necessary repetition, but this does not mean a simplistic repetition of textbook content.Instead, it should involve meaningful "reiteration," representing a gradual and spiral ascent from the foundational legal education content of the previous stage.Therefore, the construction of ideological and political education textbooks should involve in-depth processing in areas such as setting teaching objectives, arranging key and challenging points, establishing teaching scenarios, and conducting teaching evaluations.This approach ensures the effective presentation of teaching content.Simple repetition can lead to a decrease in students' interest in learning and even result in feelings of boredom.It is not conducive to deepening students' understanding of knowledge and the genuine enhancement of legal literacy.

The comprehensive literacy of ideological, political, and legal education teachers is not high, and the bottleneck of collaborative education needs to be broken through
"The key to successfully managing ideological and political theory courses lies with teachers, emphasizing the activation, initiative, and creativity of teachers."[6] In-depth communication and effective collaboration among teachers of ideological and political courses at different stages of primary, middle, and high schools are the natural directions for promoting the integrated construction of legal education in schools.However, there are still some bottleneck issues in the integrated collaboration of teachers in legal education at different school stages, mainly stemming from the low overall quality of teachers and the difficulties in coordinating legal education resources.
During the process of reforming ideological and political education courses and innovating teaching methods, higher requirements have been placed on the comprehensive qualities and teaching capabilities of ideological and political education teachers.From a practical standpoint, teachers of ideological and political education, especially in the domain of legal literacy and teaching abilities, have not fully met the integration requirements of ethical and legal education.For instance, these teachers often possess a relatively weak legal foundation, failing to meet the specific requirements of legal education.Additionally, there are shortcomings in teachers' teaching abilities, limited practical experience, a lack of innovative spirit and capabilities, and an inability to flexibly select legal education content and design teaching methods based on the actual development needs of students.This can, to a certain extent, impact the effectiveness of integrating ethical and legal education [7].
Furthermore, the establishment of a "learning, researching, training, and sharing" educational community among ideological and political education teachers focused on legal education has not yet matured and become standardized across different educational stages.The integration of legal education in primary, middle, and high school comprehensive construction is a coordinated and aggregated process that involves multiple domains, various elements, and multiple stages.It is necessary to integrate legal education resources from ideological and political education courses across different educational stages, forming a systematic "educational chain."The organic deployment and effective sharing of legal education resources across different educational stages can enable legal education to achieve complementary advantages across grades, schools, and educational stages.This is a crucial support for accomplishing legal education tasks and achieving legal education objectives across different educational stages.However, due to a lack of effective collaborative communication among ideological and political education teachers and a lack of cohesion within the teaching staff, there is a tendency to form "teaching barriers" between different educational stages in the practical implementation of legal education in schools.This results in insufficient sharing of legal education resources across different educational stages in current primary, middle, and high school ideological and political education courses.Therefore, emphasis on the development of the teaching staff, the formation of high-quality professional teams, and the resolution of the collaborative difficulties in legal education staffing are essential guarantees for integrating ethical and legal education into ideological and political education.

Research on the Innovative Path of Integrating Moral and Legal Education into Ideological and Political Courses
The innovative strategy of integrating ideological and political courses with moral and legal education is crucial for cultivating well-rounded socialist builders and successors.Its aim is to enhance the quality of education, stimulate students' interest in learning, instill correct ideological concepts and noble moral qualities, and continually elevate their legal literacy.In light of the current issues in integrating moral and legal education into ideological and political courses, the author suggests improvements and innovations in the following aspects: (

1) Increase Emphasis on the Integration of Moral and Legal Education, Innovate Practical Teaching Formats
Giving due importance to moral and legal education is the "conceptual golden key" to unlocking the bottleneck restricting the improvement of the quality of talent cultivation, a matter crucial for the future development of students.In the ongoing ideological and political education reform in some schools, the significance of integrating moral and legal education into ideological and political courses has not been adequately emphasized.The lack of systematic and in-depth penetration and integration of moral and legal education into the practical teaching process has resulted in less-thanideal outcomes in the school's ideological and political reform.Therefore, for the school's ideological and political reform to be effective, it is essential to focus on the long-term development of students.This involves a deep understanding of the necessity of integrating moral and legal education into ideological and political courses, along with validating this understanding through teaching practices to enhance educational outcomes.Achieving this requires treating moral and legal education as a vital component of the school's ideological and political curriculum.Practical measures should be implemented to effectively integrate moral and legal education into ideological and political courses.This includes intensifying the promotion of the important value of incorporating legal education into ideological and political courses within the school and carrying out specific reforms.
Particular attention should be given to targeted education and training for ideological and political teachers.This aims to help them realize the significance of the integration of moral and legal education with ideological and political education and to equip them with relevant integration methods.This ensures a continuous permeation and integration of moral and legal education into the teaching process of ideological and political courses, allowing moral awareness and legal knowledge to continually permeate students through the channels of ideological and political education.Ultimately, this approach achieves the comprehensive enhancement of students' overall competence.Simultaneously, as a crucial base for talent cultivation, the school must shoulder a certain social responsibility.From the perspective of societal construction and development, there is a need to enhance a proper understanding of the importance of integrating moral and legal education into ideological and political courses.This involves carrying out effective education and guidance for relevant teachers, promptly transforming the educational philosophies and thoughts of ideological and political teachers.This ensures they prioritize the moral and legal education of students in their work and teaching, thereby laying a solid foundation for the effective integration of moral and legal education into ideological and political courses.
Innovation and diversification of teaching methods are essential means to enhance the integration of moral and legal education in ideological and political courses, playing a crucial role in boosting students' enthusiasm for learning.Traditional theoretical indoctrination is no longer sufficient to meet the requirements of talent cultivation in schools.To comprehensively improve the integration of moral and legal education in the teaching process of ideological and political courses and achieve ideal talent development goals, schools should focus on the actual developmental needs of students, as well as the specific requirements of integrating legal education into ideological and political education.This involves emphasizing innovation and enrichment in teaching methods and making improvements to the existing approaches.
Schools should prioritize innovation and enrichment in teaching methods to enhance the integration of moral and legal education.It is crucial to focus on the core of the ability chain, adopting a combination of theory and practice.This can be achieved by strengthening practical awareness through in-class and extracurricular platforms, transforming innovation into a habit.Forming a three-tiered practice-oriented model-establishing practical awareness, cultivating practical abilities, and expanding practical thinking-can elevate students to a more central role in their learning.This approach promotes effective interaction, communication, and discussion among students during the learning process.
Teachers can employ case-based teaching to address the specific needs of moral and legal education, enhancing students' learning outcomes by introducing cases that deepen their understanding of relevant legal knowledge.Specialized education can be used to permeate knowledge related to moral and legal education, helping students develop sound moral and legal thinking and improving their moral and legal literacy.This ensures that the relevant knowledge is no longer abstract and tedious.
Additionally, in the teaching process, teachers should complement diverse practical activities, organize various practical events, and align them with the specific content of ideological and political courses.Organizing competitions related to practical activities on campus provides students with the motivation to independently study relevant ideological and legal content, gradually refining their moral and legal thinking.Through practical experience and interaction, students not only gain an in-depth understanding of moral and legal knowledge but also cultivate their application abilities.
Furthermore, leveraging external resources is crucial.Organizing rich extracurricular activities related to moral and legal education is essential.Collaborating with social organizations or government units provides students with a platform for real-world social, moral, and legal practices, allowing them to genuinely experience the value of the law and understand the importance of legal knowledge through social practice. (

2) Deepen Research on the Construction of Ideological and Political Course Materials, Facilitate Effective Integration of Legal Education Content
Due to the general lack of real-world perspective among theoretical researchers and the absence of a theoretical perspective among practical researchers, [8] emphasizes the need for strengthened theoretical research in the process of promoting the integration of legal education content into the ideological and political education curriculum in primary, secondary, and tertiary schools.This practical and intensive initiative requires advancing the transformation of the textbook system into a teaching system."The ideological and political education curriculum is the latest-formed category of textbooks in New China," and its content and nomenclature have been in constant flux.Due to its distinct political nature, the content of legal education in ideological and political education textbooks is in a state of pronounced fluctuation.[9] To deepen the research on the construction of ideological and political education textbooks, it is essential to navigate three key relationships: the relationship between textbook content and characteristics, the relationship between the originality and collaboration of teacher research, and the relationship between classroom teaching and social practice.[10][11][12] From a theoretical perspective, delving into the field of textbook construction and optimizing the integration of legal education teaching content requires aligning with the overall development strategy of integrating ideological and political education in primary, secondary, and tertiary schools.Emphasis should be placed on understanding the laws governing the innovation of legal education content, with curriculum standards and textbooks serving as the primary foundations.Gradually and systematically promoting the effective integration of legal education content is essential.
Specifically, the focus should initially be on the alignment of teaching objectives, establishing a holistic mindset, and achieving organic unity in terms of completeness, stages, and levels.Clarifying levels and progressively advancing segmental objectives is the correct approach to systematically implementing teaching objectives.As a key course for implementing the fundamental task of cultivating well-rounded individuals with morality and ability, ideological and political education courses at different levels aim to nurture socialist builders and successors with comprehensive development in morality, intelligence, physique, aesthetics, and labor skills.
Currently, the connection of legal education content in ideological and political education courses across different levels of primary, secondary, and tertiary schools is not closely knit.There has yet to be introduced a coordinated set of course objectives, curriculum systems, and textbook structures for legal education that spans primary, secondary, and tertiary school levels.Therefore, it is necessary to consider the cognitive and developmental levels of students in different school stages.Utilizing the human, cultural, spatial, practical, and curriculum resources available at various levels of schools, there should be a comprehensive plan for the overall objectives of legal education in ideological and political courses across primary, secondary, and tertiary schools, with specific objectives for each stage and grade.Innovations in curriculum systems and collaborative construction of textbook systems should be promoted to achieve the educational objectives from cognition to understanding, from concrete to abstract, and from internalization to externalization.
From a practical perspective, in-depth research into textbook construction and optimization of the integration of legal education teaching content should be closely tied to the specific requirements of ideological and political education teaching practices.It is crucial to manage the correlation with preceding courses in terms of educational content and consciously integrate legal education content throughout the entire teaching process.In the context of school-based legal education, teachers should focus on the progressive nature of educational content, judiciously utilize and expand textbooks, maintain organic connections with preceding courses, and avoid extensive and simplistic repetition.It is especially important to carefully study the standards of preceding courses such as "Ethics and Rule of Law" to achieve targeted teaching at different educational stages, emphasizing key points, addressing difficulties, and truly realizing a "gradual progression."Adolescents are at a critical stage of development, where their understanding of ethical and legal knowledge may not be comprehensive, and their values may not be fully formed.Their ability to comprehend and analyze issues can be one-sided and extreme.However, they have access to diverse sources of information, especially in today's era dominated by self-media, making them susceptible to erroneous viewpoints and trends.This underscores the need to not only delve into the textbooks but also actively address students' real-world issues and concerns, appropriately expanding the teaching content and achieving the transformation from textbook systems to teaching systems.
Furthermore, in the teaching process, leveraging the advantages of practice-oriented interdisciplinary approaches is essential.This involves promoting the organic integration of ideological and political education with ethical and legal content and other disciplines.For example, combining legal education with sociology, psychology, and other disciplines through interdisciplinary practical teaching activities can enhance students' understanding and application of the rule of law and ethics.Emphasizing interaction is crucial, aiming to stimulate students' interest in learning. (

3) Strengthen the Construction of Ideological and Political Teaching Staff, Build a Collaborative Education Framework
Faculty is the essential element for the operation of ideological and political courses, and ideological and political course instructors are the main force in moral and legal education."To forge iron, one must be strong oneself."To promote the integration of moral and legal education in ideological and political courses, it is necessary to rely on a teaching team with strong professional capabilities to establish a coordinated educational framework.Therefore, to enhance teacher quality and overcome difficulties in coordinated education, the following three-step strategy for the integrated coordination of moral and legal education in ideological and political courses should be implemented: Step

1: Support Teacher Development to Enhance the Professionalism of the Legal Education Teaching Staff
The professionalism of the teaching staff is the foundation for achieving collaborative education in ideological and legal education.Currently, the reservoir of legal knowledge among ideological and political course teachers is insufficient.Due to the influence of their educational background, most teachers of ideological and political courses have undergone pedagogical training rather than a systematic and formal legal education.They lack a professional legal background and have not systematically mastered legal knowledge.As a result of this insufficient knowledge, teachers often lack experience in organizing legal practice activities and possess lower overall competence.This indirectly leads to a weak sense of innovation and a lack of collaborative education awareness and ability.Addressing this issue requires strengthening professional training for teachers and creating academic platforms to facilitate discussion, exchange, and learning among teachers at all educational levels.Teachers of ideological and political courses at various levels should actively participate in teaching exchange activities, striving to improve their teaching methods and approaches to enhance the quality of ideological and political education.[13] Only by ensuring the strength of the teaching staff, optimizing internal structures, and enhancing professional training can we establish a solid foundation for the collaborative educational framework.
Step 2: Actively Create Platforms to Build a Collaborative Educational Community To achieve comprehensive management of teachers at various educational levels and the integrated management of resources in primary, secondary, and tertiary schools, the establishment of a "collaborative learning, collaborative research, collaborative training, and collaborative sharing" educational community should be pursued.This can be implemented through the following three aspects: ① Create an Integrated Lesson Preparation Platform for Ideological and Political Course Teachers.
②Establish an Interactive Teaching Platform for Ideological and Political Course Teachers: This approach not only guides teachers of ideological and political courses at different levels in vertical design of legal education teaching, avoiding repetition and disconnection of teaching content, but also encourages them to contribute ideas for the promotion of legal education integration.③Create an Interactive Platform for Legal Education Teaching Practice.Accomplishing these three aspects of work is conducive to breaking down teaching barriers and information gaps between educational stages.It facilitates the identification of common developmental focal points, summarizes the operational patterns, and identifies trends in the development of legal education teaching at various educational levels.In the practical application of teaching, it promotes the integrated development of legal education in ideological and political courses across primary, secondary, and tertiary schools.

Step 3: Strengthen Collaborative Educational Efforts among Teachers, Striving to Build a Comprehensive Collaborative Educational Framework for All Staff at Every Stage
General Secretary pointed out the need to "promote the integration of ideological and political work into the talent cultivation system, leveraging the synergistic effects of integrated moral education."Addressing the issue of "concentrated efforts in the same direction" has become a matter of high importance in the construction of integrated ideological and political courses at all educational levels.From the perspective of integrating ideological and political courses with legal education, it is possible to actively invite experts with extensive experience in the frontline teaching, research, or management of ideological and political courses at all educational levels to serve as external appointed researchers on the basis of existing regional integrated teaching alliances.This enriches and strengthens the team of ideological and political course experts, optimizing the approach from a "single method" to a "combination of methods."The emphasis is on creating a "collective" primarily led by teachers of ideological and political theory courses.Simultaneously, other teachers involved in "ideological education across courses" are included, with support from counselors, class teachers, school youth league workers, party and government leaders in student departments, and administrative staff.The aim is to blur the boundaries between educational work and daily life, adopting a variety of forms in various stages such as daily management, party and league building, and expanding campus culture.This approach involves diverse, interactive, and integrated collaborative education strategies, ensuring that everyone at every stage is actively involved in comprehensive collaborative education.
In a word, effectively integrating moral and legal education into ideological and political courses requires us to approach practical problems rationally and take targeted measures as shown in Fig 1 .In order to prescribe the right medicine, we can only make precise breakthroughs from three aspects: increasing the importance of integrating moral and legal education, innovating practical teaching forms; deepening research on the construction of ideological and political textbooks to promote effective connection of legal education content; strengthening the construction of ideological and political teaching staff, and building a collaborative education pattern, Only by effectively implementing the collaborative integration of moral and legal education into ideological and political courses, and implementing the three-step strategy of "specialization", "platformization", and "cooperation", can we truly build a collaborative and innovative pattern of integrating ideological and political education with legal education.

Conclusion
Legal education is an essential component of the fundamental task of cultivating moral character, and the ideological and political course serves as the core battleground for legal education.It is a key course for implementing the fundamental task of cultivating moral character, bearing the responsibility of instilling correct legal awareness in students.The ideological and political theory course, as a crucial component in realizing the fundamental task of cultivating moral character, consciously undertakes the responsibility of nurturing individuals with both moral and legal qualities.In the teaching of this course, there is a need to strengthen the co-cultivation of morality and law, integrating legal education into the ideological and political theory course system.This integration promotes a deep fusion of ideological and political education with legal education, facilitating the systematic cultivation of students' legal literacy.This approach enhances the scientific and practical effectiveness of legal education, which is significant for advancing the construction of a legal China and cultivating qualified citizens for socialism.The integration of legal education into the ideological and political course requires a correct analysis of the current status and issues related to the integration of ideological and political education with moral and legal education.By deploying practical measures tailored to real-world requirements, we can better guide young students to become loyal adherents, conscientious followers, and steadfast defenders of the socialist legal path.

Figure 1 :
Figure 1: Research on the Innovative Path of Integrating Moral and Legal Education into Ideological and Political Courses The first step is to pursue "specialization": Support teacher development and enhance the professionalism of the legal education teacher teamThe second step is to adopt "platformization": Actively establish platforms to create a community of shared learning, research, training, and sharing in educationThe third step is towards "cooperation": Strengthen the collaborative efforts of teachers in educating students, and strive to build a comprehensive and all-round joint education for all staff A Three Step Strategy for Integrating Moral and Legal Education into Ideological and Political Education