A great migration from rural to urban areas is happening in China and dramatically changing China society. This qualitative study examines the educational experience and social integration of ethnic migrant students in urban China. Contextualized within the huge rural-urban divide, findings indicate challenges in urban schooling and study adaption, including language barriers, achievement gaps, incompatibility of teaching and learning, and high-stakes tests. This study also interprets their negotiation with host and home places and cultures, and cultivation of cultural capital and cross-cultural competence. The unification and competitiveness in urban schooling and the need for culturally responsive teaching are discussed.
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