The emergence and diversification of participatory fatherhood is a significant aspect of the changes in rural family education.The ethics of educational responsibility and family resource allocation prioritize investments in fatherhood practices,academic management,and emotional companionship.As traditional fatherhood transitions to participatory fatherhood,differentiation occurs within rural communities,resulting in upper-class Strong Cat Dads,middle-class Tiger Dads,and lower-class Weak Cat Dads.The differentiation of rural paternal roles arises from educational familialization and commodification,drawing rural families into the educational competition order as the starting point of differentiation and actively adopting urban middle-class educational methods during the differentiation process.The differentiation of rural fatherhood images reflects the dilemma of urban-rural and class-based educational differentiation.