The aims of this study are to explore the educational life of three specific economically disadvantaged students (EDS) and their acquired educational culture, namely, their values in relation to learning. In order to collect the field data, we conducted observations and carried out interviews and document analyses. The conclusions we reached are as follows: 1. The three EDS shared common life experiences in seven respects: the cultural resources of their community; the educational resources of their family; parental attitudes to nurturing; parental expectations in relation to their children's education; interactive relationships among family members; inter-personal adjustment at school and motivation to learn. 2. The EDS shared the following features in their educational lives: despite their constant interaction with relatives and neighbors, the students did not enjoy abundant cultural resources; although living in caring families, the students had few educational resources; the parents of these students tended to unconsciously display negative examples of behavior, although they usually exhibited a conscious balance between leniency and strictness in their attitudes toward the students; although morality was their top concern, the parents did not prove to be good examples for their children in this respect; students' interactions with their family members were generally intimate, but they often became involved in conflicts with one another because of money; the EDS often had difficulty establishing stable inter-personal relationships with their peers at school as a result of their misconduct; although they clearly defined learning as their top responsibility, their motivation in this respect was comparatively passive. The EDS shared common ideas in relation to the opportunity to overcome poverty through education, academic achievement, subject preference, parental expectations, teachers' discipline and instruction, and companionship with classmates. They were realistic in their views of the opportunity to overcome poverty through education; they took an indifferent attitude toward grades; they tended to prefer easy subjects; they were keen to fulfill their parents' expectations; they tended to adopt a tolerant and subservient attitude toward teachers' discipline and instruction; and they took a subordinate and practical attitude when attempting to get along with their classmates.