Collaborative Teaching Pathways between Marxist Political Economy and Western Economics from an Interdisciplinary Perspective

Abstract

In the context of China’s turn toward high-quality development and the expanding digital economy, university economics education faces a dual challenge: to consolidate Marxist political economy as the fundamental guiding framework while drawing effectively on Western economics as a core analytical toolkit. In practice, however, these two theoretical traditions are often taught in parallel and in isolation, resulting in fragmented knowledge structures, weak connections between theory and practice, and a limited ability of students to interpret complex socio-economic issues from multiple perspectives. This study responds by proposing an interdisciplinary model of collaborative teaching between Marxist political economy and Western economics. Using literature review, comparative analysis and illustrative teaching cases, it clarifies the distinct yet complementary teaching objectives and core categories of the two theories, and constructs a rationale grounded in constructivist learning theory, dialectical materialist epistemology and interdisciplinary education theory. On this basis, the study develops a three-dimensional pathway of “theoretical mutual learning, methodological integration and practice bridging.” Concretely, it suggests restructuring course content around shared themes such as value, distribution, digital economy and common prosperity; designing dual-theory case teaching, blended learning and cross-course project-based learning; and building collaborative education platforms that connect classroom teaching with university–industry cooperation, academic exchange and field-based social investigation. The paper argues that, supported by cross-disciplinary teacher development, multi-dimensional assessment and integrated teaching resources, this collaborative model can transform the prevailing parallel pattern into a synergistic one and significantly enhance the quality and integrity of economics education in Chinese universities.