Paradigm Shift: Theoretical Justification and Pathways to Breakthrough for the Differentiated Existence of Vocational Legal Undergraduate Education

Abstract

Undergraduate education in legal professions in China has long been trapped in homogenization, characterized by converging training objectives, overlapping curriculum systems, and insufficient professional adaptability. This stands in sharp contradiction to the diversified talent demands arising from the development of legal professions such as judicial practice, corporate compliance, and grassroots legal services. Against this backdrop, this paper focuses on two core issues: first, why it is necessary to construct a paradigm for the differentiated existence of undergraduate legal vocational education; second, how to achieve its differentiated development through paradigm reconstruction. Through theoretical justification, the study reveals that the diversified differentiation of legal professions is the objective premise for differentiated existence, meeting regional and group needs constitutes its value foundation, and the classified development policy of higher education provides feasible space. Based on this, the paper proposes pathways for paradigm reconstruction: establishing a pyramid-shaped hierarchical system for training objectives; implementing a common + characteristic + practical modular design for curriculum; innovating teaching models through university-institution collaboration and interdisciplinary linkage; building multi-dimensional evaluation indicators; and supporting with policy, resource, and faculty guarantee systems. This research not only enriches the theoretical framework for the classified development of higher legal education but also provides targeted and operable practical plans for the reform of undergraduate legal education in universities, helping to solve the problem of mismatch between talent supply and demand and enhance the adaptability of legal vocational education to social needs.