Ideological and political education in Chinese Universities: structures and practices

ABSTRACT

This paper provides a detailed introduction to the structures and practice of ideological and political education in Chinese universities. It draws on a thematic analysis of documents from the Chinese Communist Party and State sources, and data from 24 in-depth interviews with managers of ideological and political education, teaching staff, student counsellors and students from three universities. This paper shows how ideological and political education in Chinese universities has developed into an institutionalized system. It reveals how the practices of ideological and political education institutionalize patriotism as appropriate ideological perspectives for students. It offers empirical evidence of the party-led structures, formal teaching and varied activities that together make up ideological and political education in Chinese universities.

KEYWORDS:

• Ideological and political education
• China
• universities
• qualitative study

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by the Funding of Educational Science Planning Project of Guangdong [2020GXJK372]; Funding of Educational Science of Shenzhen [YBFZ20037].

Notes on contributors

Xu Liu

Xu Liu received her PhD from UCL Institute of Education. Her research interests include private higher education and university governance.

Zhao Xiantong

Xiantong Zhao received his PhD from UCL Institute of Education. His research interested in internationalization of higher education.

Hugh Starkey

Hugh Starkey is a professor at UCL Institute of Education. His research interested in  citizen education in an intercultural perspective.