Abstract: rural education is an important constituent part in the education system in China, and its direction becomes the focus of attention. The paper has had two culture directions which embodies urban-oriented and rural-oriented for the rural education. Under the influence of them, the thinking of the development direction for rural education falls into “involution”. I have put forward cultural self-consciousness route, which could be familiar with the gap between urban and rural culture, stick out rural culture autonomy, and it is also the value require for the urban and rural education integration.

Key words: rural education, “involution”, cultural self-consciousness