At present, the development of education in western China's rural and ethnic minority areas faces problems including the management of boarding schools, the education of left-behind children, and changing the functions of schools. Resolving these problems requires not only changing traditional ways of thinking, but also placing minority education in the context of reconstructing the ecology of cultural education in western China. It requires evaluation of the social and cultural effects and implementation by expanding the functions of school education. [This article was translated by Michelle LeSourd.]