Exploration on the Value and Path of Red Tourism Integrated into Ideological and Political Courses in Colleges and Universities

Xiaomei LIU, Hui WANG, Lin MA, Xingang LIU, Dianying ZHANG

1. School of Tourism, Taishan University, Taian 271000, China; 2. Sports Department, Taishan University, Taian 271000, China; 3. College of Marxism, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China

Abstract The state has issued a series of policy documents to vigorously promote the construction and development of ideological and political courses in colleges and universities. Red tourism provides a broader vision and deeper meaning for deepening the educational function of ideological and political courses. Using research methods such as literature research and case analysis, the restrictive factors that affect the effect of ideological and political education are discussed, and new ideas and new ways are put forward, such as promoting the synchronous construction of the first classroom and the second classroom of ideological and political courses, and integrating the small classroom of ideological and political education into the large classroom of society. The research could provide useful reference for the deepening development of red tourism in the new era and the multi-dimensional expansion of ideological and political courses in colleges and universities.

Key words Red tourism, Ideological and political courses in colleges and universities, Value, Path

1 Introduction

The construction of ideological and political courses has always been closely related to the overall situation of the great rejuvenation strategy of the Chinese nation. The General Secretary stressed that the ideological and political courses should be closely linked with the overall situation at home and abroad, and take serving the national rejuvenation as its own responsibility[1]. With the rapid development of red tourism, the academic research on red tourism is gradually warming up. Red tourism is as an important carrier and innovative measure of ideological and political course construction, and its integration with ideological and political courses is an objective requirement to improve the effectiveness and pertinence of ideological and political courses. At the same time, influenced by various social trends and values, college students expose problems such as incomprehension of ideological and political education. Facing the new situation and requirements, integrating red tourism into ideological and political courses has become the internal need of ideological and political course construction.

Through literature review, it is found that there are many researches on red tourism and ideological and political education at home and abroad, but most of them are conducted from a single perspective such as revolutionary education and patriotism, and few are conducted from the perspective of integration of red tourism and ideological and political courses. Foreign scholars mainly focus on the physical and spiritual remains left by the Chinese revolution, and pay attention to excavating the contemporary value of China’s red resources. At present, the number of research on red tourism and ideological and political courses in China has begun to take shape. Most of them focus on the connotation and characteristics of red tourism and the construction of ideological and political courses. There is less exploration on the value and path of red tourism integrated into ideological and political courses. This paper intends to further explore the cultural connotation of red resources and make use of its practicality, closely integrate red tourism with college students’ ideological and political courses, and achieve the innovation of teaching methods, so as to achieve the goal of establishing morality and cultivating people.

2 Analysis of the value of red tourism integrated in ideological and political courses in colleges and universities

Red tourism is an important way to tap red resources and inherit red genes. Ideological and political course is an important course to implement the fundamental task of establishing morality and cultivating people, and is the main position to consolidate ideology. With the red tourism entering a period of vigorous development, all sectors of society have increasingly recognized the important value of red tourism integrated in ideological and political courses.

2.1 Deepening the intrinsic value of red resources

2.1.1Expanding the appeal and influence of red tourism. In terms of theoretical value, red tourism can play its role as a bridge, communicate the relationship between red culture and ideological and political courses, and fully tap the intrinsic value of red resources such as party spirit education bases and revolutionary memorial halls as the red gene pool of the party and the country. In terms of practical value, red tourism, as a popular new patriotic education activity, can use modern and scientific means to innovate the exhibition methods of revolutionary memorial halls and museums, thereby maximizing their cultural identity, and making red tourism become an educational practice activity that college students are willing to experience, actively participate in, and fully integrate into.

2.1.2Giving full play to the ideological and educational function of red tourism. The CPC has retained a large number of revolutionary relics in the revolutionary war years. Its diverse types and rich content determine that it has the functions of value guidance, strengthening belief, establishing virtue, cultivating people and other aspects. Zhang Lixia thinks that "the ideological and political education functions of red tourism include guidance, encouragement, influence and edification[2]". Zhang Lietal.think that "red resources are vivid teaching materials for carrying out ideological and political education among college students, with strong value leading function[3]". In general, red tourism has the functions of casting souls and educating people, and it can convey the connotation of patriotism to college students in the form of tourism, thus improving the practicality and vitality of education.

2.2 Improving the value leadership of ideological and political courses

2.2.1Improving the effectiveness of ideological and political courses. Red tourism, with its vivid practicality and education, helps to fully tap the revolutionary history, inherit and carry forward the revolutionary heroism and patriotism, and further enhance the value of ideological and political courses. The General Secretary emphasized[4]that "it should make good use of red resources, inherit red genes, and pass down red rivers and mountains from generation to generation". Promoting the integration of red tourism into ideological and political courses can not only fully tap the spiritual core of red resources, but also analyze various practical problems, and highlight the truth value and theoretical charm of Marxism.

2.2.2Enriching the education system of ideological and political courses. Red tourism can deeply explore the cultural connotation of the spiritual pedigree of the CPC and provide rich content for the construction of ideological and political courses. As the main channel to consolidate ideological and political education in colleges and universities, red tourism is a new measure to inherit patriotism. Through the design of high-quality routes, red tourism integrates scattered red resources into a line and a plane to build a three-dimensional ideological and political education system. It should communicate the connection between red tourism and ideological and political education in colleges and universities, build a bridge between college students and red culture, so as to expand the way of ideological and political education, and run red culture through the whole process of ideological and political education.

3 Current situation and restrictive factors of red tourism’s integration into ideological and political courses in colleges and universities

3.1 Development statusAs an indispensable part of the ideological and political course construction, red tourism integrates learning, education, storytelling and participation, and has become an important part of the ideological and political course construction and development. However, there are still many problems in the process of integration.

3.1.1Insufficient fusion ratio. (i) The content of red tourism is rarely involved in the teaching system of ideological and political courses. It is just a simple story telling and a list of deeds, which fails to make full use of the new form of education, red tourism. (ii) There is a lack of interdisciplinary research perspective. The ideological and political course is highly ideological, with serious politics. Red tourism is practical and vivid. The advantages of the two are not fully learned from each other, and the disadvantages are not complementary.

3.1.2Insufficient fusion depth. (i) The extracurricular teaching fails to fully reflect the connotation of red culture, lacks systematic explanation and theoretical depth, and is limited to macro introduction, mainly through the explanation of the announcer and the voice introduction of scenic spots, with low acceptance. (ii) Teaching content in class is only limited to public courses for college students such as theBasicPrinciplesofMarxism, theIdeology,MoralityandRuleofLaw, and theSituationandPolicy. (iii) The degree of coordination between ideological and political education and red tourism is low, and most full-time and part-time teachers of ideological and political education do not fully realize the importance of coordinated education between ideological and political education and red tourism.

3.1.3Single integration form. (i) The teaching of ideological and political education only stays in the theoretical indoctrination of "the first classroom", lacking in the degree of pluralistic integration and interdisciplinary research perspective. (ii) The students fail to carry out extracurricular practical activities in depth, and there are many fancy tours, which fails to attack the depths of the soul, resulting in little experience and understanding. (iii) The course content of each learning section is poorly connected and lacks gradient, and the frequency of combining classroom teaching with extracurricular practice is low. The proportion of full-time teachers of ideological and political courses participating in the integration of red tourism and ideological and political courses is not high, and the integration consciousness of teachers of ideological and political courses is weak.

3.2 ConstraintsInfluenced by cultural diversity and diversity of social thoughts, there are many problems in the process of integrating red tourism into ideological and political courses.

3.2.1Teaching dilemma: old teaching content. Some ideological and political teachers in colleges and universities lack a systematic explanation of the connotation of ideological and political education, and there are many empty theories. They are used to using traditional thinking and outdated teaching design to analyze the problems of the times. Such teaching methods can not fully mobilize the enthusiasm of students, and can not fully demonstrate the charm of ideological and political courses. In addition, the ideological and political teachers in colleges and universities have less analysis of practical cases, lack sensitivity to the practical problems that students care about in the teaching process, and are not closely related to reality. Usually, they only explain basic theories and a few cases, which leads to limited educational effects. They neglect the great spirit behind the relevant knowledge points, leading students to put away the cup after taking a tiny sip.

3.2.2Communication dilemma: backward teaching methods. Whether the teaching method can keep pace with the times is related to the effect of ideological and political courses[5]. (i) Traditional teaching forms hinder the function of red tourism. Because of the traditional way of telling and teaching, the acceptance of ideological and political courses is low, and the scope of communication is limited. (ii) Many ideological and political teachers are not sufficiently integrated with modern information technology, can not fully use modern media to demonstrate, and are not good at creating a warm atmosphere for classroom interaction, resulting in one-sided teaching approaches and limited educational functions. (iii) The main positions of ideological and political courses in colleges and universities are still offline classes and academic lectures. The teaching form is more serious, and there is a big gap between the teaching and the interesting learning methods of college students. Young students show no understanding of such preaching courses, which makes it difficult to establish a good interaction between the courses and students.

3.2.3Identification dilemma: insufficient understanding. Many college students think that the ideological and political course is a kind of empty preaching, which has nothing to do with employment, and they will produce a feeling of contempt and inexplicable resistance. There are many reasons for this phenomenon. (i) Marxist Leninist works are highly principled and mostly obscure. Well known works, such as theCommunistManifestoand theGermanIdeology, are mostly big books, which is difficult to learn. (ii) The "fragmented" education form has led to the college students’ half understanding of the ideological and political education. The guidance of colleges and universities on the ideological and political education of college students is not enough, which is limited to simple advocacy and public courses. The whole process of implementing the ideological and political education of the curriculum is not enough, and students cannot widely absorb and fully understand the Marxist theory.

4 Research on the path of red tourism integrated into ideological and political courses in colleges and universities

The first classroom refers to the theoretical teaching activities carried out in teaching time, and the second classroom refers to the practical teaching activities carried out in non teaching time. By exploring new measures for the integration of red tourism and college students’ ideological and political courses, a new concept and new path for red tourism to promote the construction of ideological and political courses will be formed.

4.1 Building the first class of red tourism integrated into ideological and political coursesClassroom teaching is always the main position of ideological and political courses in colleges and universities. It should grasp the key points of the curriculum, innovate teaching methods, change the teaching subject, and make good use of the main channel of classroom teaching.

4.1.1Building a new model of diversified classroom teaching. The multiple blending of ideology and culture, the fierce confrontation of values, the constant prominence of students’ personality, the rapid development of information technology,etc., all put forward new requirements for the teaching methods of ideological and political courses. (i) It should select teaching content and teaching cases around the teaching objectives, rely on red tourism as a dynamic and practical carrier, take the socialist core values as the guide, explain the theory clearly and thoroughly, and at the same time speak out new ideas and characteristics, so that students’ attitudes towards ideological and political courses can be changed from passive acceptance to active integration. (ii) It should transform from traditional means to modern means, and show red resources and national construction achievements with new software such as "3D online display" and "virtual reality (VR)" to guide students to understand society and serve the country. (iii) It should promote the combination of theory and practice of teaching methods, make full use of "Internet+ideological and political courses+red tourism", and design colorful red tourism experience activities to promote students to integrate into the ideological and political courses in a multi-level and all-round way.

4.1.2Promoting the new development of individualized classroom teaching. It should pay attention to the role of students’ subjectivity and promote the transformation of classroom subject from teachers to students. Since the 18thNational Congress of the Communist Party of China, with the development of the times, the ideological and political courses in colleges and universities have formed a dual subject situation of teachers and students[6]. In the face of the new situation and requirements, the ideological and political course teachers should first change the teaching mode of "one size fitting all" into the teaching mode of "suiting the remedy to the case, varying from person to person", and design teaching programs according to the characteristics of students to maximize the effect of education and teaching. It should encourage students to strengthen the research on red tourism resources in their hometown, organically combine revolutionary cultural relics with ideological and political education, and combine red culture with rural revitalization. It should promote students to change from "listen to you" to "I speak". The interaction between teachers and students should be strengthened, and students should be guided to actively participate in the classroom. It should combine ideological and political courses with thematic publicity activities, and improve the ideology, affinity and pertinence of the courses by taking red tourism as the incision and red culture as the content.

4.2 Building the second class of red tourism integrated into ideological and political coursesAs an old revolutionary base area and a hot red land, Shandong is rich in red resources, which are distributed in concentrated areas. At present, four areas have been formed, namely Yimeng, Jiaodong, Bohai, and Luxi, including the party spirit education base, red education base, and historical relics, which are concentrated to reflect Shandong’s red culture. The construction path of the second classroom integrating red tourism into ideological and political courses is as below.

(i) The red tourism expo is designed to stimulate students’ enthusiasm to go out of the classroom, break the boundaries of classroom education, and enter the creative ocean of red tourism. Through the field immersion experience, it can feel the red culture and construction achievements, so that the red spirit can enter our mind and heart. It should let the "heroes" be touched, and the "revolutionists’ letters" be heard, and the "revolutionary scenes" be visible, giving new vitality to the red story and making it three-dimensional and rich. The students wear VR glasses and ride in the dynamic chariot, so they can experience the restoration scene of Jinan’s victory and understand the connotation of red culture in experience. It should tell Chinese stories well when tasting the rich red culture feast. When visiting the exhibition, it should let the red culture reach the hearts of the people, and make college students consciously become the people who experience, inherit and promote the red culture.

(ii) Students are encouraged to design and perform sitcoms independently to enlighten their minds with moral education activities. The stories of revolutionary ancestors are an important part of ideological and political education and the historical source of cultural self-confidence[7]. Through innovation in the expression of revolutionary stories, it could deeply explore the touching deeds of heroes, organize students to participate in theRedDetachmentofWomenandtheFiveHeroesoftheLangyaMountain, restore the touching deeds of heroes, show the great significance of historical stories by artistic means, and teach students to understand the truth with real feelings. The school takes advantage of the "September 18th", "May 4th" and other major historical nodes to organize festivals, deeply discuss the theory of red culture, study the great spirit behind the great events, and introduce the latest research results into the teaching of ideological and political courses, thus encouraging students to learn and practice.

(iii) It should organize students to walk into the old revolutionary base areas and red relics to follow the footsteps of their ancestors. Each generation has its own Long March. To grow up to be the backbone of the country, college students should not only read thousands of books, but also travel thousands of miles. Through sorting out the red resources in Shandong Province, the distribution map and routes of red tourism resources in Shandong Province could be designed, so that students can deepen their understanding of Shandong’s revolutionary history and red culture. It should organize students to revisit the revolutionary process in the way of field visits, so that teaching can get close to students and reality, trigger students’ ideological resonance, and enhance the value leadership of ideological and political courses.