Constructing an Integrated “One Core, Five Dimensions” Curriculum-Based Ideological and Political Education System for Master of Education Programs: Reality Examination, Causal Attribution, and Practical Approaches

Abstract

Comprehensively advancing curriculum-based ideological and political education (CIPE) constitutes a strategic initiative for fulfilling the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education, with its deeper proposition lying in achieving a paradigm shift from “element implantation” to “system reconstruction.” Grounded in the theoretical perspective of “Grand Ideological and Political Education” (Da Sizheng), this study takes the Master of Education (Ed.M.) program at a local normal university as an observational case, and employs analytical frameworks including curriculum and instruction principles, hidden curriculum theory, and synergy theory to examine the practical dilemmas of CIPE construction. The study identifies three structural imbalances at the practical level: a configurational imbalance between theoretical coursework and practicum components, a subjective imbalance between curriculum instruction and mentor supervision, and a functional imbalance between institutional supply and construction demands. The underlying causes are rooted in three structural ruptures: hierarchical fragmentation within the institutional system, collaborative disconnection among educational stakeholders, and transmission failure along the value chain. On this basis, the study proposes an integrated “One Core, Five Dimensions” CIPE system, which takes “soul-casting and virtue-nurturing” as its axiological core, employs theoretical coursework and the “Three Practicum Components” (educational observation, educational internship, and educational inquiry) as its dual foundations, and utilizes the teaching process, faculty team, and instructional evaluation as its three supporting pillars, thereby providing theoretical reference points and practical pathways for the systematization and professionalization of CIPE construction in Ed.M. programs.