Research on Integration of Sportsmanship and Ideological and Political Education in Colleges and Universities

. Including sportsmanship loaded with ideological and political education resources in colleges and universities makes an inherent requirement of fostering new generations in the quest of national rejuvenation. Proceeding from the connotation of sports spirit and ideological and political education in institutions of higher learning, this paper intended to underline their intrinsic connection and see through the significance and feasible ways of their integration, thereby allowing full play to the value of sports spirit in educating and streamlining ideological and political education.


Introduction
Since the 18th CPC National Congress held in 2012, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached great importance to the leading role of spirits and put vigorously cultivating sportsmanship high on the agenda."Hard-won and priceless is our spirit of sports.As it calls for all to reflect credit on the country, seeks facts and fallacies in science, and worships selfless dedication, law-and discipline-abiding, solidarity and cooperation, as well as perseverance, we must inherit it, bring forth new life out of it, and carry it forward", stressed General Secretary Xi Jinping at the meeting with representatives of national advanced sports units and individuals in 2013 [1].In August 2016, when the Chinese sports delegation returned home from the Rio Olympic Games, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping once again proposed to combine the promotion of Chinese sportsmanship with the cultivation and practice of socialist core values.[2] The "Outline for Building a Sports Power" released in September 2019 put more emphasis on digging deep into the sports spirit with Chinese characteristics and cover it in building the socialist value system.A sound all-round training system for morals, intelligence, physical fitness, work and aesthetics requires deepening the coalescence of physical education and teaching and perfecting the synergistic mechanism for education.PE works particularly for popularizing core socialist values and fostering talents and minds.The two points were stressed in the "Opinions on Comprehensively Strengthening and Improving School Sports Education in the New Era" rolled out by the General Office of the Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council in October 2020.[3] Sports loaded with bountiful supply of ideological and political education resources, especially the sportsmanship compacted by the masses of workers in the field, have strong ideological and political education function.Exploiting the unique advantages of sportsmanship to the full and blending them into ideological and political education are of great methodological significance for landing the fundamental task of "fostering character and civic virtue" in the new era.

Connotation of sportsmanship
Sportsmanship falls within the definition of consciousness."Noble is the word for sportsmanship.Engagement in sports intrinsically refers to the reception of education, where participants build up their bodies, cleanse the soul and cultivate integrity," said the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato [4].
Sports originated from the material production, religious sacrifice and political and military activities in the early days of mankind.From outdoor entertainment and games without rules to competitive sports organized according to the rules of competition, sports have gradually evolved into a special cultural form, [5] reflecting the development degree of social civilization.As an important part of sports culture, sportsmanship belongs to the category of consciousness.Sportsmanship powers up diverse conducts of sports and psychologically affects individuals.The job to cultivate students' sportsmanship lies in effectively combining sports with politics, education, culture and will to cultivate students' perseverance, spirit of unity and cooperation, awareness of obeying rules and other qualities.All from famed athletes in China, including Li Ning, Deng Yaping, Yao Ming, etc. to generations of Chinese women's volleyball players manifest the lofty sportsmanship that exudes praiseworthy value of ideological and political education and drives the implementation of such education in colleges and universities.

Connotation of ideological and political education in colleges and universities
Ideological and political education refers to social practices by society or social groups that aims at imposing certain goal-directed, planned and organized influence on their members in virtue of some ideas, political views and moral norms, so as to cultivate the ideological and moral character required by a certain society.[6]Ideological and political education in colleges and universities sticks to the basic mission of strengthening moral education and cultivating students, schedules goals for grooming socialist builders and successors, and educates talents for both the party and the country.It mainly wraps up ideological education on world outlook and methodology; political education on moulding students' attitudes and stance on political issues concerning the country and social system; moral education on nourishing their' moral sense and quality and consciousness; and psychological education on enabling them to face the music and confront with difficulties positively.
"We must uphold and develop socialist education with Chinese characteristics, and cultivate socialist builders and successors with all-round development of morality, intelligence, physique, art and labor," emphasized General Secretary Xi Jinping at the National Education Conference.[7] Changes have been recorded in the ideological and political education environment in the new era.On the one hand, social advance raises a higher threshold; on the other hand, various ideological issues faced by college students are enriching its focus.College students are in the "jointing and booting period" of life, and also the key cultivation period of core values.Their value orientation "determines the value orientation of the whole society in the future [8].Pierre de Coubertin believed: "The shaping of the spirit, the cultivation of the will, the edifination of character, without the important way of sports, must be incomplete, not sound.A healthy mind is in a healthy body."[9]PE, a member of social and cultural education that serves certain social politics and economy, shapes students' thoughts and behaviors in a subtle manner, and assumes an irreplaceable role for improving students' moral quality, carrying forward fine traditions, securing mental health, perfecting personality, encouraging actions for caring for the society, cultivating patriotism and awareness of competition and rules.In that case, it is of great practical significance to accomplish a good job in works of sports in institutions of higher learning, spreading the spirit of sports, and giving full play to the educational function.Integration of physical training and ideological and political education makes a due call for a socialist university with Chinese characteristics and preparing socialist builders and successors.

Intrinsic interaction
The two naturally fit each other.At the outset, all serve the all-round development of people.The ideological and political education in colleges and universities is theoretically sourced from Marxist theory on the allround development of human beings.On the topic, Marx defined it as "one who can do all the work" and "a highly civilized person".It covers the full and free development of both human physical strength and intelligence, as well as rich personal social relations [10].The Education sticks to the final objection from three levels of country, society and individual, and is an important part of education for the all-round development of people together with sports.The two, independent and indispensable are interrelated and restricted to jointly promote the all-round development of human beings.To promote the spirit of sports, we may include wining glory for the motherland into patriotism education, the spirit of selfless dedication into the education of outlook on life, the spirit of scientific truth-seeking into the education of the Marxist world outlook, the spirit of abiding by the rules into the value education of maintaining social fairness and justice, the spirit of solidarity and cooperation into the value education of collectivism, and the spirit of tenacious struggle into the education of values that interests of the people are above all else, so as to achieve the purpose of ideological and political education.
Second, they share interconnected purpose.The allround development of individuals and the high degree of unity of national interests are the common value pursuit of sportsmanship and ideological and political education in colleges and universities."Both competitive and mass sports should seek for the purpose of comprehensive development of people and a high degree of unity of national interests," stressed many times General Secretary Xi Jinping in public occasions.We must insist on encouraging students to consciously integrate their personal ideal pursuits into the cause of the country and the nation, and value socialist education on patriotism and collectivism.While struggling for the glory of the country, selfless dedication, teamwork, perseverance, and law-abiding worshiped by sports all reflect patriotism, collectivism, and socialist education.

Significance of integration
First and foremost, inheriting the spirit of sports and Chinese sports culture is the mission and responsibility of ideological and political education in colleges and universities.The modern history of China follows its sports from weak to strong, from a sick man in East Asia to national rejuvenation.Chinese sports workers have remained true to the original aspiration and shoulder their mission, and tempered the precious Chinese sports spirit despite hardships.It is worth inheriting and carrying forward.Therefore, the Education cannot ignore but must undertake the historical mission and responsibility of the times to inherit the sports spirit and Chinese sports culture.
Second, spreading the spirit of sports levels up the overall quality of young students and meet the needs of their growth.Regarding the sportsmanship displayed in competitive sports, campus sports activities, and campus sports culture, the overall quality records progress in the following aspects: it builds their bodies and enhances physical fitness, and enables them to stand up to difficulties and obstacles.The sports spirits such as "strong will", "facing setbacks" and "optimism and cheerfulness" experienced by them in physical exercises and sports competitions can temper their minds, enhance their ability to resist pressure, and cultivate a flexible and changeable quality of life to meet challenges; moreover, it cultivates students' trust, tolerance and teamwork ability.Participating in team sports or watching the athletes encourage and help each other, and make progress together can well cultivate students' spirit of solidarity, mutual assistance, trust, tolerance, and mutual benefit.
Third, sportsmanship enhances the political identity and self-confidence in four aspects.In varying times and backgrounds, the health, competition, education, nation, country, and culture conveyed by sportsmanship all affect people's political identity and confidence in the country.Events of tenacious struggle to catch up with opponents, defend national interests, and establish a national image on the history of sports have clearly, intuitively and strongly conveyed national consciousness to students; competitions ranging from "Women's Volleyball Spirit", "Women's Football Spirit", "Dream Team" of Chinese gymnastics team in collective events, and Liu Xiang, Deng Yaping, Li Ning, Gu Ailing, etc. in individual cases all inspires students' national identity and self-confidence all the time; Transcending from the sick man of East Asia in sports to national rejuvenation enhances students' confidence in the road to socialism with Chinese characteristics, theoretical self-confidence, institutional self-confidence, and cultural self-confidence.
Last but not least, sportsmanship enriches resources and carriers of ideological and political education.From ancient sports that advocated physical fitness, harmony and unity, and etiquette to modern ones that stress selfimprovement, reflecting credit on the country, and unity and cooperation, all meet the theoretical and practical needs of ideological and political education in colleges and universities.On the one hand, it offers resources.Especially under the background of promoting excellent traditional culture and developing socialist culture with Chinese characteristics in the new era, sports spirit shines on improving the effect of ideological and political education in colleges and universities with its vivid cultural connotation.From sports history, philosophy, stories, competitions, etc. all cater to the needs of current ideological and political education in colleges and universities.On the other hand, sportsmanship provides a diversified carrier.Educators may turn to means of playing videos, competitions, and character explanations in accordance with different educational goals; sports competitions, games, etc. for situational education; and social practices such as visiting competitions and inviting famous athletes to deliver speeches, so as to guide and nurture students from multiple angles and streamline ideological and political education.

Feasible path of integration
Colleges and universities are obliged to thoroughly implement the spirit of the National Conference on Ideological and Political Work in Colleges and Universities and the National Education Conference, adhere to the fundamental task of building morality and cultivating people, make full use of sports spirit carriers, and integrate strengths of sports resources into all aspects of ideological and moral education, cultural knowledge education, and social practice education, and establish a three-dimensional integration model of sports spirit and the Education.Furthermore, they should guide with "championship spirit", shape people with "sports culture", and cultivate students with "volunteer spirit", thereby enabling students to closely link the realization of personal value with the construction of a strong sports country, and help them enjoy fun in sports activities, enhance their physique, and improve their personality, temper their will, and encourage them to serve the country and people, and forge ahead.
First, take sports ideology and politics as an important approach."Sports thinking and politics" is not a simple combination of "sports" and "ideological and political", but a broad ideological and political concept.It refers to the exploration and integration of the ideological and political education resources of sports itself, the organic integration of sportsmanship into various courses, and sportsmanship to lead the ideological and political courses of college physical education in the same direction.On the one hand, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed in the forum of teachers of ideological and political theory course that the reform and innovation of ideological and political theory course should "adhere to the unity of explicit education and invisible education, excavate the ideological and political education resources contained in other courses and teaching methods, and realize the education of all the students in the whole process and in an all-round way".[11]This requires that the ideological and political course, as the main channel of ideological and political education in colleges and universities, should make full use of the profound ideological and political education resources contained in the sports spirit.It is necessary to strengthen teachers' cognition and identification of sports spirit, combine knowledge imparting, theoretical armament, cultural education, practical education with research, inheritance and promotion of sports spirit in teaching, reform teaching content, improve teaching methods, improve teaching means, and promote sports spirit "into textbooks, into classrooms and into minds";It is necessary to promote the ideological and political reform of physical education curriculum, and promote the ideological and political curriculum in the same direction.
On the other hand, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized in the 2016 National Conference on Ideological and Political Work of Colleges and Universities: "Classroom teaching should be made good use of as the main channel, and all kinds of courses should follow the same direction as ideological and political courses to form a synergistic effect."[12]Physical education teachers should practice sports spirit with practical actions, and make it clear that the teaching task of physical education should not be limited to the impartation of sports knowledge, the improvement of students' sports skills and physical quality, but more importantly, the significance of sports spirit carried by sports activities for individual growth and development of the Party and the country should be imperceptible conveyed to students.At the same time, it is necessary to establish a guiding mechanism for ideological and political teachers to reform the ideological and political teaching of physical education curriculum, so as to ensure the scientific and effective integration of sports spirit into the ideological and political construction of physical education curriculum.
The second is to guide with the "championship spirit".In this regard, positive incentives must be highlighted to expose students to sportsmanship.To be specific, attention should be paid to underline the winning deeds of the women's volleyball team and Wu Dajing, etc., to edify students through the spirit of be fearless of hardship and aggressive.In the meantime, the cultivation of patriotism should be enhanced.We should promote patriotism in every detail of sports, from ping-pong diplomacy to the spirit of the Beijing Olympics, from raising the national flag on the podium to wearing the national flag.Colleges and universities, important outlets for school education to consolidate patriotism, may seek solutions from new media platforms such as interactive lectures and text publicity to display the winning glory for the country on the international stage, so as to stimulate students' patriotism from inside and lay a solid foundation for them to better contribute to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
The third is to shape people with "sports culture".Campus sports offers a common chance for students to contact and feel the spirit of sports in daily life.As colleges and universities further promote the construction of campus culture, sports elements should also be integrated into the campus culture, especially elements with sports spirits such as being positive, motivating and enterprising, facing difficulties, uniting and cooperating, and loving the country and the party.These qualities should be diverted to enable students fully understand the spirit of sports culture and internalize it into their own values, so as to stimulate their enthusiasm for active exploration, deepen the connotation of sports culture, and enhance the depth and breadth of ideological and political education.
The last is to cultivate students with "volunteer spirit".Specifically, we should integrate the "volunteer spirit" into social practice education, form a more valueguided and ideological and political educational voluntary service operation mechanism, and include the "volunteer spirit" of selfless dedication and helping others into all kinds of social practice education, so as to improve their quality and increase their talents in voluntary service.Centering on the "Healthy China" strategy, we may arrange students in social practice, and widely carry out voluntary services for national fitness, such as Tai Chi and square dancing favored by the public.

Conclusions
Including sportsmanship loaded with ideological and political education resources in colleges and universities makes an inherent requirement of fostering new generations in the quest of national rejuvenation.Enhancing the sense of gain brought to students by ideological and political education in colleges and universities in virtue of uniting people and gathering strength with the spirit of Chinese sports is of great theoretical and practical significance to complete ideals and beliefs education, patriotism education, ethics education, civic morals education, quality-oriented education and comprehensive human development education, promote young students' outlook on the world, life and values, and carry forward and cultivate the national spirit.