High School Mathematics and Culturally Responsive Teaching

Jordan E. Tress

College of Education, Butler University

ED 227: Introduction to Middle and Secondary Students and Schools

Professor Felicia Williams

December 12, 2022

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Abstract

This paper will examine the importance of implementing culturally responsive teaching practices

in the average high school math classroom, which is just one component of this course’s

overarching question: How do educators/coaches create developmentally appropriate and

culturally responsive conditions for learning? The importance of these strategies will be

demonstrated throughout a student’s educational career in many ways. Culturally responsive

teaching positively impacts classroom environment, academic performance, sense of safety and

security, equity and inclusion, and relationships including student-teacher and student-student.

Culturally responsive practices address each of those discussion points, show individual benefits

to that specific point, as well as tie into others. Each point cannot be achieved in a classroom

without the impact of the other discussion points mentioned above and the recognition of that

fact will allow teachers to be able to create their own math classrooms that employ culturally

responsive teaching strategies. This will be used to answer the question: How can implementing

culturally responsive teaching practices in a typical high school math classroom benefit the

student?

Keywords:

(culturally responsive teaching, mathematics education, high school)

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High School Mathematics and Culturally Responsive Teaching

Culturally Responsive Teaching and Math Class

Culturally responsive teaching is a concept that has grown in popularity in recent years. It

can provide a classroom with a more welcoming environment when implemented correctly.

Trust generators should be used to connect students of all backgrounds, races, and ethnicities.

Trust generators support the sense of belonging within a classroom community. Students will

benefit both academically and personally when these strategies are implemented due to their

ability to create better classroom environments. These strategies foster positive teacher-student

and student-student relationships both in and out of the classroom. It also opens the door for

better practices of equity and inclusion in learning. This is vital as the population in the United

States only continues to grow more diverse. Education needs to advance with the times and with

the ever-changing population, and culturally responsive teaching will be able to significantly

help with that. With these points in mind: How can implementing culturally responsive teaching

practices in a typical high school math classroom benefit the student?

Literature Review

Academic Performance

Culturally responsive teaching has a direct impact on how students perform academically.

When the content is related to objects or elements of students’ culture that they have direct

experience with, they can connect it to the math topics they are supposed to be learning. For

example, by using a concept known as ethnomathematics, which is the relation of diverse

cultures to mathematics using familiar components of student’s culture, the students can better
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relate to the content. The educators in this study related geometric concepts to foods from the

students’ culture, which increased their performance and allowed them a more equal opportunity

for success, and it makes the content more meaningful to them (Mania & Alam, 2021). An

essential element of culturally responsive teaching is also recognizing learner needs. Sometimes,

a student’s culture may have an impact on this. By learning the styles of learning preferred by

students, teachers can integrate methods of that learning type into their lessons (Ford, 2005).

When a student feels like their learning needs are being met, they will become more

engaged with the material. Almost always, this type of engaged learning can only be achieved

through recognition of the multiple intelligences of students and providing proper scaffolds and

supports based on what the students need (Ukpokodu, 2011; Pajkos and Klein-Collins, 2001).

These culturally responsive practices will increase the number of students that are able to

demonstrate success in a math classroom, because even though the numbers are universal, the

cultures of students are not and never will be. Content that relates to the students’ cultures and

backgrounds will lead to more academic success and cultivate a better classroom

environment.

Classroom Environment

Creating a positive classroom environment is one of the most important parts of leading a

classroom. Implementing culturally responsive practices helps to create this positive

environment of mutual understanding. For example, a teacher who builds a good relationship

with a student may understand the underlying cause of that student falling asleep during class

and show empathy towards that student. This type of understanding creates a community of

learners and educators that show respect to one another. Once that respect is established both

ways, more rapport will begin to be created and overall continue to improve the environment
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(Ukpokodu, 2011; Hammond, 2015).

Ford uses the idea of preparing a home for guests as an analogy for preparing a classroom

for students. By creating an environment where students are comfortable and cared for, educators

will create a sense of community where students can successfully achieve learning outcomes. A

learning community is an environment where it is okay to fail and be vulnerable with each other.

Trial and error is incredibly common in a math class as students work to learn how to solve the

different types of problems within the course. Once again, this leads to rapport, and rapport leads

to enthusiasm. If students feel excited to enter a classroom, then that teacher has created an

environment conducive to learning (Ford 2005; Pajkos and Klein-Collins, 2001).

Equity and Inclusion

Teachers who implement culturally responsive practices create a classroom that regularly

practices equity and inclusion. The United States is incredibly diverse and the population in

schools is only getting more diverse. So, using these practices increases the feeling of inclusion

and equitability for students (Mack and Winter 2019). It is the teacher’s responsibility to

recognize their own biases and learn how to combat them. This will allow the teacher to create a

more inclusive environment filled with less judgment (Ford, 2005). There is unequal

opportunity as well within STEM fields because many students of minority populations do not

have access to the resources they need to succeed in higher education or even on standardized

assessments such as the SAT. Culturally responsive practices allow more students to have the

same opportunities that others are fortunate to receive (Mack and Winter 2019).

Sense of Safety and Security

Part of a positive classroom environment is the feeling of safety and security. Building

trust with students is the first way to create that sense of safety. Trust generators include
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familiarity and vulnerability. Showing up every day for students and not being afraid to be

vulnerable can quickly build trust with students. That trust can give them that feeling of safety

and security that some students may not receive anywhere else. (Hammond, 2015; Ukpokodu,

2011). Math classes can be a large stressor for students and that, on top of not feeling safe or

secure, could cause students to shut down and become unwilling to learn. Making sure their

needs are met directly ties into Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Assuming physiological needs are

being met, the next thing students need is the feeling of personal safety and security, which can

increase their willingness and ability to learn. If a student feels comfortable being themself and

expressing their own opinions, they will be more likely to want to learn and strive to meet

personal goals. If a teacher can create a safe environment for that student within their classroom,

it will help them to still have that chance of success they deserve (McCleod, 2020).

Relationships

Relationships are one of the most important components to creating a culturally

responsive classroom. Having good relationships with students will make them more likely to

feel safe and secure in the classroom and it will create an environment where they feel safe

communicating their needs relating to curriculum or other topics in general (Ford, 2005).

Allowing students to build relationships and connect with one another is also incredibly

important. In fact, there are some cultures where people within a community are very tightly

knit, and work and live closely together. Some of these include African American, Latino, and

Native American cultures. Understanding these cultures can explain why collaboration may be

highly valued for certain students (Ukpokodu, 2011). Building these relationships from day one

will allow the teacher more opportunities to learn about their students and continue creating an

environment conducive to success for all students

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Methodology

All data was collected through personal experience in the field, scholarly journals,

articles, and books. A study was done by Omiunota N. Ukpokodu about instruction with

culturally informed context. It was observed and reported that using culturally informed practice

led to greater student success as material was approached with compassion and understanding.

Out of the classroom, and in IPS 60 and in Shortridge Highschool in Indianapolis, IN, the

teachers who were culturally informed with their practices had classrooms that were more

engaged, and students were more willing to complete their work. This was observed in a variety

of classrooms, including math, history, Spanish, and science classrooms.

A study done by Sitti Mania and Samsu Alam on ethnomathematics examined the

relationship between student academic performance and ethnomathematics practices. These are

culturally responsive because they are keeping in mind their student’s cultures while designing

and teaching the lesson, making the content easier to relate to. With these practices, students

become more enthusiastic to learn about the topic.

Another effective method for collecting this data is collecting the opinions of students

themselves. Diane Pajkos and John Klein-Collins surveyed students to find out the learning

styles, such as visual or auditory, that they found most helpful and used those results combined

with the idea of Gardner’s multiple intelligences to create curriculum that delivered effective

instruction for them. Gardner’s theory recognizes the different fields of intelligence and

concludes that each student is intelligent in their own way, much like the fact that each student

learns in their own way. By implementing student-preferred learning techniques, the students are

more likely to understand the material and not as much instructional time will need to be devoted

to re-teaching content. These different studies and research methods can work together to explain
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why culturally responsive teaching is important for a high school mathematics classroom.

Findings and Implications

One of the most important findings throughout has been the importance of looking at

every student as an individual person rather than a piece of a universal set because education

means something different to every student. Education must be individualized to every extent

and universally designed for every student. This can only be achieved through the

implementation of culturally responsive practices that recognize and appreciate diversity and the

individual for the best possible chance of success and learning to occur. Building and

maintaining positive relationships with every student as well as taking the time to learn about

their cultures and what makes them unique will prove to be incredibly beneficial.

The teachers who found this success were also the ones who tried to build relationships

with their students and learn about them as people rather than numbers on a roster. During

observations, the teachers that taught only using lectures had many students disengaged and

either sleeping, or on their phones throughout the duration of the class. However, it is important

not to assume their reasoning for disengagement due to any potential outside factors that could

be there. Similar to how disengagement is obvious, so is active engagement. Particularly in a

math class that was recently observed, the teacher was consistently relating the application word

problems back to everyday life examples that the students could use to better visualize what they

are supposed to be doing. Relating the example back to student’s current knowledge allowed

them to become more engaged with the topic and they seemed more enthusiastic towards trying

to solve that problem as well as future problems during that class period.

Culturally responsive teaching is not possible without a solid foundation and that
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foundation can only be built by building relationships. The environment of a classroom is

tangible when the teacher has clearly tried to create one that is welcoming and a learning

community for all. On the opposite end of the spectrum, it is clear when these measures have not

been taken when one walks into a classroom full of students that are uninterested and bored

from the content. This decrease in engagement and lack of excitement in the classroom hinders

the chance for academic success significantly. Making the effort to build a positive classroom

environment is part of culturally responsive teaching and it will make a stark difference in a high

school math classroom. This will then lead to excellent learning opportunities for students to

learn their math skills and practice problem solving and real-world skills. This does not just set

students up for success in math class, it sets them up for success in their futures.

Conclusion

Culturally Responsive Teaching will hold a high stake in mathematics education and

across any other subject. The practices that fall under this category will undoubtedly help

students succeed because it puts student needs first and places an emphasis on the learning

environment and relationships rather than merely content. Culturally Responsive Teaching

recognizes that blurred line between content and interpersonal relationships and urges teachers

and students to work on both sides of that line. The continuation of culturally responsive

teaching practices in math classes will also ensure a more equitable education that all students

can benefit from. This will lead to student success for years to come.
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References

Ford, D. Y. (2005). Welcoming all students to room 202.

Gifted Child Today, 28(4), 28–65.https://doi.org/10.1177/107621750502800407

Hammond, Z. (2015).Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic

engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students.Corwin.

Mack, K. M., & Winter, K. (2019). That none shall perish.Culturally Responsive Strategies for

Reforming STEM Higher Education,

1–13.https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78743-405-920191001

Mania, S., & Alam, S. (2021). Teachers’ perception toward the use of ethnomathematics

approach in teaching math. International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science

and Technology,9(2), 282–298.https://doi.org/10.46328/ijemst.1551

Mcleod, S. (2020, December 29). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Simply Psychology. Retrieved

December 5, 2022, fromhttps://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

Pajkos, D., & Klein-Collins, J. (2001). Improving upper grade math achievement via the

integration of a culturally responsive curriculum. Master of arts action research project ,

1– 91.

Ukpokodu, O. N. (2011). How do I teach mathematics in a culturally responsive way?

Identifying empowering teaching practices, (Spring 2011), 47–56