Turning the Gaze Inward: A Four-Dimensional Framework for Developing University Teachers’ Moral Competence in China’s Ideological-Political Education Landscape

Abstract

What does it take for university teachers to integrate values guidance with disciplinary teaching? In China’s current higher education reform under the “Great Ideological-Political Education” framework, this question has taken center stage. Yet the research on teacher moral competence (defined as the capacity to enact and cultivate moral values through teaching) faces a dual difficulty: too much reliance on local policy narratives makes international dialogue hard, while simply borrowing universal frameworks misses the institutional specifics of how teacher ethics actually take shape. This paper tries to work through both problems. I bring together Tirri’s (2023) model of teacher ethical competence (moral sensitivity, reasoning, motivation, and implementation) and Ozturk’s (2025) four-level ethical knowledge framework (general ethics, pedagogical ethics, subject-specific ethics, and character education pedagogy). From that integration I build a four-dimensional analytical framework: political-moral sensitivity, embedded integration of ethics into disciplinary knowledge, institutional collaboration capacity, and reflexive-practical iteration. Drawing on existing studies of early-career academics in Chinese universities, I then examine three structural dilemmas that hold back their moral competence development: a mismatch between strong policy language and weak institutional change, a disconnect between deep disciplinary training and the demand for cross-cutting integration, and a fracture between pre-service preparation and in-service support. The paper offers what I call a “structurally isomorphic, contextually specific” way of thinking: China’s institutionalized ideological-political education represents a distinctive approach to the broader challenge of teacher moral formation. That gives us a portable analytical tool for cross-national comparative work. I close with implications for teacher development, evaluation reform, and professional learning communities in higher education.