The discussion revolves around the "Three-Whole Education" concept proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping, emphasizing the exploration of ideological and political education resources in other courses to achieve comprehensive, whole-process, and all-round education. The "Guidelines for Ideological and Political Construction in Higher Education Courses" issued by the Ministry of Education requires advancing curriculum-based ideological and political education in alignment with disciplinary characteristics. Foreign language teaching practices have shifted from instrumentalism to ideological and humanistic dimensions, with goals not only focused on imparting language knowledge and skills training but also on enhancing abilities and shaping values. As part of foreign language teaching, British and American culture courses need to explore teaching implementation paths that integrate "ideological and political education" with "critical thinking," boosting student engagement and promoting the in-depth development of ideological and political education.

1. "Ideological and Political Education" and "Critical Thinking" in British and American Culture Teaching

British and American culture courses cover multifaceted knowledge about these countries, making the integration of ideological and political elements and critical thinking cultivation essential. Curriculum-based ideological and political education aims to embed ideological and political education into teaching, fostering students' Chinese stance and global perspective while building confidence in their own culture. Critical thinking is one of the core competencies of students but is often overlooked in foreign language teaching. In British and American culture teaching, students must understand, question, and verify values and concepts that differ from their own culture. Teachers should cultivate students' critical thinking through analysis and inquiry, enabling them to absorb knowledge dialectically and view world cultures correctly.

2. Designing a Teaching Model Integrating "Ideological and Political Education" and "Critical Thinking"

This section introduces a teaching model that integrates ideological and political elements with critical thinking cultivation in British and American culture courses. The model is teacher-led, student-centered, textbook-based, and interaction-driven, aiming to achieve the pluralistic unity of critical thinking and ideological and political education goals. Through interactive teaching, students actively think, question, and express ideas, enhancing their critical thinking while developing cultural confidence, political identity, and a global perspective.

3. Implementation of the Integrated "Ideological and Political Education" and "Critical Thinking" Teaching Model

North China University of Science and Technology’s English major implemented this integrated teaching model in its "Overview of English-Speaking Countries" course. The restructuring of teaching materials includes historical, cultural, and social dimensions to cultivate students' historical outlook, cultural confidence, and correct values. The question-driven method promotes deep critical thinking by designing questions at different levels to stimulate student reflection. Integrated knowledge instruction combines course content, ideological and political elements, and critical thinking cultivation through task-driven activities, open-ended knowledge explanation, and value shaping. Task-driven extracurricular activities extend classroom teaching content, elevating students' critical thinking. Teaching evaluation adopts formative and dynamic assessment methods, incorporating critical thinking and ideological internalization standards to measure goal completion and improve teaching activities.

4. Conclusion

This section highlights the importance of integrating curriculum-based ideological and political education and critical thinking cultivation in British and American culture teaching amid global cultural exchanges and value clashes. Through continuous improvement in teaching practices, a model integrating "ideological and political education" and "critical thinking" into British and American culture classroom teaching has been constructed, achieving the unity of knowledge education and ideological and political education. Teachers must update their educational philosophies and enhance ideological awareness, ensuring British and American culture courses align with ideological and political courses. This cultivates students' ability to reflect on and discern British and American cultures, deepens national sentiment, fosters cultural confidence, enhances appreciation of world cultures, and achieves harmonious coexistence of Chinese and Western cultures in the classroom.