Digital Teaching Resources Integration and Teaching Quality in Rural Primary Schools in China: A Cultural System Perspective

This study employs a qualitative research design to investigate how digital teaching resource inputs are integrated into teaching quality within the context of rural primary schools, grounded in the social system model. Participants were selected through purposive sampling, including six educational administrators and nine teachers from three rural primary schools in Yunnan, China. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings of the study are threefold. First, although investments in digital teaching resources have increased under top-down policy initiatives, a persistent systemic disconnect between resource adaptability, technical support, and pedagogical practice constrains the effective transformation of these resources into educational utility. Second, the school cultural system is crucial in translating digital resources into teaching quality through shared values, teachers’ sense of belonging, ethnic minority cultural integration, and home–school collaboration. Third, digital teaching resources boost student engagement and classroom interactivity but have limited effects on learning outcomes due to gaps in family support, weak localization, and uneven teacher competence. The enhancement of teaching quality in rural primary schools needs to be advanced synergistically across three dimensions: resource construction, teacher professional development, and cultural ecology, thereby building a holistic educational ecosystem that supports sustainable digital transformation.