<p>This mixed-methods study examines junior high school students’ perceptions of music teachers’ instructional decision-making in urban and rural China. Music classrooms are conceptualised as culturally and institutionally situated learning environments shaped by teaching resources, teacher professional background, curriculum design, student interest, school support, and socio-cultural context. Data were collected from 404 students across six schools in Jinan using a validated 19-item questionnaire covering six contextual factors, supplemented by semi-structured interviews with 36 students. Analyses revealed significant urban–rural differences in five of the six factors: rural students rated curriculum design higher, reflecting alignment with local cultural traditions, whereas urban students reported higher levels of teaching resources, student interest, school support, and socio-cultural environment. Qualitative findings further highlighted patterns of cultural alignment, resource disparities, and variations in teachers’ roles across contexts, providing contextual interpretation of the quantitative results. The findings indicate that students’ evaluations of instructional decision-making are shaped by the interaction of cultural, material, and socio-cultural conditions within learning environments. This study contributes to learning environments research by offering a student-centred perspective on instructional decision-making and highlights the importance of culturally responsive and context-sensitive approaches in addressing urban–rural disparities in music education.</p>