Abstract: Rural revitalization strategy is an important policy in China in the new era. To support rural revitalization, rural career education plays a crucial role in promoting people’s self-realization, preventing the intergenerational transmission of poverty, developing rural industry and facilitating agricultural and rural modernization. However, rural vocational education is challenged by some practical dilemmas: the acceleration of agricultural modernization versus the malfunction of rural vocational education, the transitional employment of rural population versus the deficient rural vocational education, the traditional “jumping the agricultural gate” versus deviation of rural vocational education, the aging rural population versus lagged rural vocational education, and so on. Facing the mission of revitalizing rural areas, the functional orientation of rural vocational education should meet the needs of agricultural and rural modernization in the new era. Moreover, the survival foundation should involve conserving the gene of local culture, while the cultivation should precisely target new professional farmers, and the supply and demand adaptation should constantly tap the dividend of aging population.

Key words: rural revitalization strategy, rural vocational education, practical dilemma, practical orientation