The Approach of Innovating the Teaching Idea and Practice for the Undergraduate Jurisprudence Course in a New Era

Abstract

The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, opened a new era of Chinese society. Works in the field of the rule of law have been successfully developed and obtained significant progression. Especially since the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2017, the road map of the construction of the rule of law in China has been further charted, and the theory and practice of law under the circumstance of the socialism with Chinese characteristics has been comprehensively improved. This is the era in which Chinese law education is pursuing self-confidence and innovations. Positive responses made by scholars in terms of the law teaching system in the Chinese higher education are being needed for solving the rising matters in the new era. The  fundamental role of the jurisprudence course in the system of law courses in China has explicitly manifested itself in this situation. Theories of jurisprudence in China, rooted in the practice of rule of law, have already reached a meaningful progression, after a long time accumulation simultaneously with the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy. “Chinese School of Practicing the Rule of Law”, which focuses on the practical matters and puts forward the theoretical questions in the process of constructing the rule of law of the socialism with Chinese characteristics, is being established. Regretfully, the achievements mentioned above have not been formulated timely in the teaching materials of Chinese higher education institutions. The theoretical progression and development, meanwhile, have not been fully adopted in the teaching activities. Moreover, there has been an intense dispute between the supporters of legal dogmatics and the law study as a social science in the Chinese academic circle currently, making it clear that we need to work more on the undergraduate jurisprudence courses either theoretically or practically.
The current teaching idea and philosophy for the undergraduate jurisprudence course should be thoughtfully refined. The acceptance of the new theoretical achievements for the daily teaching activities will directly impact the teaching efficiency. In terms of the teaching values, the basic standpoint of Marxism study of law should still be insisted on. The transformation of the major social contradictions in China should be noticed and the socialist core values should be treated as the leading values for the current Chinese law. The knowledge system of jurisprudence should be refined based on the general objective of the rule of law in China and the latest achievements. In terms of social reality, there are more complicated rising matters influencing the objects of legal regulation and the legal relationship with the rapid development of science and technology. The challenges of AI and big data to the formation of law theories and the practice of the rule of law should be urgently concerned. In terms of the teaching practice, lecturers or teachers should pay much attention to the teaching materials and methods conforming to the features of the jurisprudence course. Students should be guided to a comprehensive understanding of the knowledge of the law. The characteristics of jurisprudence taking Chinese society as background should be illuminated for the sake of the general objective of the rule of law in China.
Furthermore, the teaching contents should be practical that are helpful for the intellectual pursuit of students, and are beneficial to improving the inner accomplishment and practical capacity of the students. The latest theoretical achievements of jurisprudence should be spread to the students to keep the updating of the theory of jurisprudence. From the perspective of the connections of the knowledge of the law, moreover, the teaching contents should positively be combined with related knowledge of the legal departments, so that the jurisprudence theory could be more practical and effective. Last but not least, in terms of helping students to start their careers, the jurisprudence course should supply necessary guidance for students to pass the qualifying examination for the legal profession. 
Refining the teaching idea of the undergraduate jurisprudence course conforms to the requirements of the development of Chinese society, as well as the development of science and technology which opens the future and the gate to the entire world. It is also in conformity with the internal requirements of innovating law education in Chinese higher education institutions. What is more, it has initiated
a critical question of the direction in which the law education of Chinese higher education institutions should be moving forward. It consequently is related to the critical discussion of the autonomous development of the study of law in China.