By means of an investigation into the school education of the Dai people in Dehong, Yunnan province, this article expounds on the interactive relationship between modern education and local culture and the problems of cultural adaptation among ethnic minority students. School education, as a symbol of state power, always endeavors to transform internal Others into modern citizens. It devises a closed venue and separates students from everyday life situations to place them in a system of abstract knowledge. In local culture, however, students form practical knowledge in the course of enculturation. Due to the sustained expansion of modernity, an unequal power relationship is formed between abstract knowledge and practical knowledge. Meanwhile, school education is subject to constant parental queries, causing difficulties in cultural adaptation for Dai students. The article points out in conclusion that ethnic education should avoid creating doubly marginalized persons. (Contains 1 table.)