The Deviation from and Return to Local Features in Rural Education

The essence of rural education lies in the preservation and advancement of rural cultural. Rural schools play a pivotal role in the continuation and dissemination of local social culture. Since the 1990s, rapid urbanization has significantly transformed the landscape of "rural China", ushering in an era of rural-urban migration and deepening the urban-rural divide. As the educational focus shifted from "bringing literacy to the countryside" to "cultural upliftment," several challenges have emerged in rural school education, including the neglect of student autonomy in the classroom, the formalization of curriculum development, and the disconnection between educational subjects and local contexts.This paper examines the current state of rural education, tracing the underlying reasons to conceptual, student-centered, and assessment-driven factors. It then proposes a development path for rural education, addressing educational philosophy, curriculum design, teacher training, and the recalibration of evaluation criteria, with the aim of reclaiming the essence of rural education and its vital role in preserving and advancing local cultural .