On the Application of Practical Exercise Method in the Ideological and Political Education of College Students ()
1. Introduction
Attaching great importance to the ideological and political education work is a good tradition. Ideological and political education refers to the purposeful, planned and organized education of social members by educators using specific ideological concepts, political viewpoints and moral norms, so as to promote social members to form ideological and moral characters that meet the needs of a certain society and a certain class [1]. Young college students are the new force of social construction and shoulder the important task of making the country more prosperous, democratic, and civilized. “If the younger generation has ideals and skills, the country will have a future and the nation will have hope.” [2] Therefore, ideological and political education for college students is very important. There are many ways to carry out ideological and political education, among which practice is an important one.
2. The Conceptual and Theoretical Basis of Practical Exercise Method
2.1 The Concept of Practice Exercise Method
In the process of carrying out ideological and political education, there are many factors affecting the effect of ideological and political education, and one of the important factors is the choice of the ideological and political education method. The so-called method of ideological and political education refers to the various ways and means adopted by educators in the activities of ideological and political education in order to achieve a certain goal of ideological and political education [1]. It is the scientific grasp and conscious application of objective laws of ideological and political education. The method of ideological and political education mainly serves the purpose and task of ideological and political education and is the intermediary factor of ideological and political education activities.
Practice exercise method is one of the important methods of ideological and political education. The practice exercise method emphasizes practice and exercise. In Chinese, “practice” means to do in real life, emphasizing the implementation of action level; the original meaning of “exercise” is to strike and forge swords. In this word, it means to sharpen one’s moral character and consciousness and improve oneself through social practice [3]. The practical exercise method refers to the method that ideological and political educators purposefully plan and organize, guide the educatees to participate in various social practice activities, and promote the educatees to form good ideological morality and behavior habits in practice [1].
2.2. The Theoretical Basis of the Practice Exercise Method
The practical exercise method of ideological and political education is not water without a source or a tree without roots, its direct theoretical basis is the theory of Marxism, specifically: the viewpoint of knowledge and practice, the viewpoint of all-around development of people, the viewpoint of the combination of education and labor.
2.2.1. The Viewpoint of Knowledge and Practice
Marxism science reveals the law of nature, society and the development of human thinking. Marxism holds that practice and knowledge are dialectically unified. Practice is the most basic activity for the survival and development of human society and the essence of human social life. Among knowledge and practice, practice is the basis of knowledge, the source of knowledge, the driving force of knowledge development, the purpose of knowledge and the only criterion for testing truth. Human cognition can be obtained indirectly or directly, but indirect empirical cognition also originates from direct empirical cognition. Only through practice and actual transformation and reform of the object, can people accurately grasp the attribute, essence and law of the object, form a correct understanding, and guide the practice with this understanding.
The process of ideological and political education is to guide the educatees to form correct ideas, and the main sources of people’s ideological knowledge include their own initiative to obtain knowledge and others to impart. We take the initiative to acquire knowledge without practice, others or acquired ideological understanding is also through practice to master. Individuals want to master the theory of thought, through practice to achieve.
2.2.2. The Viewpoint of All-Around Development of People
Marxist theory of human is an important theoretical basis for the practice of ideological and political education. Marx began to think and criticize from the present situation of “alienation” and one-sided development of human development in his capitalist society, and analyzed the survival situation and development fate of the proletariat. He put forward the idea of man’s all-around development, “nobody has the special scope of activity, but can be in any department development, social regulating the whole production, so that I could be with their interests do it today, do that tomorrow morning hunting, and fishing in the afternoon, the evening is engaged in animal husbandry, engaged in critique after supper.” [4] In his opinion, human development should be comprehensive, including the comprehensive development of labor ability, social relations, free personality and so on. Then, how to realize the all-around development of people? Marx pointed out in his works that the all-around development of human beings is first of all the all-around development of human labor activities and abilities. Only on the basis of rich and colorful practical activities, can people truly feel and understand the world, develop social relations and give full play to their own personality in practical activities, and can they truly achieve all-around development.
2.2.3. The Viewpoint of the Combination of Education and Labor
Marx mentioned the idea that education should be combined with practice in many works. In the Critique of the Gotha Programme, he pointed out that “the early combination of productive labor and intellectual education is the most powerful means to transform modern society” [5]. Man is a unity of physical and intellectual factors. Only by developing both physically and intellectually can a person achieve all-around development. Labor is a practical activity that makes people both use their hands and use their brains. It is the fundamental way to combine theory with practice. Education must be combined with labor, people who use the brain learn to use the hand, people who use the hand learn to use the brain, the organic combination of the two, in order to better cultivate people, shape people.
3. The Important Role of Practical Exercise Method
Practice is the fundamental way for college students to form a correct world outlook, outlook on life and values, which plays an important role in college students’ ideological and moral character.
3.1. The Practice Exercise Method Is Beneficial to College Students to Improve Their Ideological Consciousness and Cognitive Ability
Traditional education methods are monotonous and boring, so college students may have resistance in the process of education. The practical exercise method enables college students to receive education in a variety of practical activities, both brain and hands, so that college students are interested in, enthusiastic to receive education. Through practice, college students can put their ideas, values and moral norms into practice and test them through practice. This process is obviously helpful to enhance the ability of college students to understand and transform the world, help them better distinguish right from wrong, good and evil, beauty and ugliness, so as to improve their ideological consciousness and form a good moral character.
3.2. The Practice Exercise Method Is Helpful for College Students to Form and Consolidate Good Ideological and Moral Character and Behavior Habits
In the law of the formation of people’s ideological and moral character, the first step of the formation of good ideological and moral character of the educatee is to understand norms and theories. Next through the emotion, will, belief of the domination, ideological and moral character in practice. At the same time, repeated practice and exercise can in turn deepen the understanding of the educatee, promote the cultivation of feelings, will and faith. By guiding the educatees to practice ideological and moral norms repeatedly in practical activities, it helps them to form noble ideological and moral character and good behavior habits.
3.3. The Practice Exercise Method Is Beneficial to College Students to Strengthen the Effect of Theoretical Education
Social practice can link theory with actual situation. The theoretical knowledge college students acquire from books is the indirect experience of others, and the knowledge they learn from books is likely to stay at the level of words, without deep understanding or even understanding. While in various forms of social practice activities, in the process of interaction with others, college students will further profoundly perceive the ideological concepts, values and moral norms in theoretical knowledge. And in the practice of activities, it is gradually internalized into their own moral consciousness, and further externalized into the corresponding behavior habits. Practical activities will undoubtedly greatly strengthen and consolidate the effect of ideological and political theory education.
4. The Strategy of Strengthening Ideological and Political Education of College Students by Means of Practical Exercise
4.1. Choose the Right Way of Practice and Exercise
There are various ways to practice and exercise, but in the process of ideological and political education for college students, the specific way to adopt should be decided according to the ideological reality of college students, the purpose of education, education content. For example, when guiding college students to know the reality of social life, study social problems, deepen their understanding of theoretical policies, and enhance their sense of social responsibility, they can choose social investigation, visit and social investigation. When helping college students to master the ideological and moral norms required by the society and cultivate noble moral sentiments and good behavior habits, they can choose the forms of activities such as voluntary service and building civilized communities, civilized units and civilized families. To train college students to love labor, establish correct labor concept, and form good labor habits, they can choose voluntary labor, work-study program and other practical activities. Only by starting from reality and seeking truth from facts, can we give full play to the effectiveness of practical exercise methods and achieve ideal ideological and political education results.
4.2 Perfect the Relevant System, Establish a Stable Practice Base
It is necessary to strengthen the construction of rules and regulations of ideological and political education to exert the effect of practical training methods. The use of laws and regulations can clarify the responsibilities of all units and departments in carrying out practical exercise activities of college students, and promote the standardization and institutionalization of ideological and political education. In the formulation of rules and regulations, it is necessary to pay attention to the existence of encouraging measures and punitive measures, principled provisions and procedural provisions, so as to enhance the implementation of the system. At the same time, a stable social practice base can ensure the systematization, regularization and institutionalization of practice exercise, effectively avoid formalism, and promote gradual, solid and stable practice exercise activities. This requires ideological and political educators to establish a platform for college students to practice. By organizing college students to carry out regular practice exercises in the base, it can also constantly improve the understanding of education organizers, continue to improve the education work, and then optimize the ideological and political education work.
4.3. Strengthen the Responsibility of Teachers at All Levels of Schools
It is particularly important for the ideological and political educators in colleges and universities to change their traditional educational concept of “theoretical indoctrination in the whole class” by reversing the deviation in the understanding of practical activities as the undertaker of organizing and guiding college students to participate in the practical teaching activities [6]. Teachers not only need to impart theoretical knowledge in class, but also need to use colorful practical exercises to educate college students. In practice, teachers should pay attention to enlightening education and guide students to discover, analyze and think about problems. In addition to the ideological and political teachers, school leaders, communist Youth League cadres, counselors and teachers at all levels also need to undertake the task of ideological and political education to college students by using practical exercise methods. The leading cadres of the school make leading decisions, mainly responsible for the organization, coordination and implementation of college students’ practice and exercise; Communist Youth League cadres for management and coordination, their task is in accordance with the requirements of decision makers, the implementation of the work plan, direct leadership of the student union or mass organizations to carry out student practice exercise activities; Counselors carry out practical exercise activities according to the work deployment of leaders, while head teachers guide and educate students in study, thought, emotion, work and life [7]. In school education, only by forming a comprehensive ideological and political education system, can we implement the educational concept of moral education and guide students to form good morality and behavior.
5. Conclusion
The practical exercise method is a bridge between theory and reality, an important way to transform theoretical knowledge into practical ability, and an important link to upgrade practical experience into theoretical knowledge [8]. Traditional ideological and political education pays attention to the theoretical preaching of college students, which still plays an important role in the current field of ideological and political education. At the same time, ideological and political educators should actively introduce practical exercise methods to carry out ideological and political education for college students, and promote college students to form good ideological and moral character and consolidate good behavior habits.
6. Limitations of This Study
The formation of people’s ideological and moral quality is a very complicated process. From the macro point of view, political environment, economic environment, cultural environment, etc., affect the ideological and moral quality of college students; from the micro point of view, family environment, school environment, and a peer group environment will also affect the ideological and moral quality of college students. Due to the limitation of research ability, this paper did not study the influence of macro- and micro-environment on the application of practical exercise methods. At the same time, the ideological and political education of college students will encounter various situations. It is too weak for educators to adopt only practical training methods, so comprehensive application of various educational methods should be strengthened. Further research on these two issues is needed in the future.