Teaching from Within: Developing Culturally Responsive Classroom Management Through Personal Philosophy

Given the increased ethnic, social, cultural, and linguistic demographics in US public schools, culturally responsive classroom management (CRCM) can positively influence students' academic achievement and social engagement. Culturally responsive classroom management can decrease discipline and referral rates of students, particularly students of color. Research studies support that culturally responsive classroom management positively impacts students' academic achievement and social engagement. However, few studies have investigated elementary schools using the CRCM framework. This qualitative study investigated elementary school teachers' understanding and perceptions of classroom management (CM), specifically focusing on culturally responsive classroom management (CRCM). This study involved seven public school elementary teachers through semi-structured interviews. The participants were asked to describe their classroom management philosophies and explain the classroom management strategies and practices they implement in their classrooms. Findings from this study suggest the importance of culturally responsive classroom management to accommodate the many different cultural identities of students in US schools.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Curriculum and Instruction

Department dc:contributor.department

Education, Vocational-Technical

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Powers, Kia Sarika

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Doolittle, Peter E.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Fortune, Donna J.
• Allen, Amy E.
• Bradley, Nancy Ann

• culturally responsive classroom management
• inclusivity
• equitable management practices
• behavior management

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:43206

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/135519