Supporting Student Engagement Through Interpersonal Relationships Among Students and Teachers in Mathematics Education

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: Student-Teacher Relationships in Diverse Contexts: Relationships, Relatedness, and Support

Abstract

Historically marginalized students of color often face threats against their engagement in mathematics classrooms. However, the ways teachers cultivate interpersonal relationships among members of the classroom may help these students re-engage and achieve well in secondary mathematics. The current study explored the components of interpersonal relationships and how they relate to student engagement. Our findings suggest that the interpersonal qualities of deconstructing social boundaries, fostering a communal learning environment, and supporting students’ physical and psychological wellbeing are practices that relate to mathematics achievement, indirectly through student engagement. Another implication of this study is that teacher support on students’ communal learning can encourage student mathematics achievement by elevating their engagement.

Authors

• Eunkyoung Elaine Cha, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Jamaal Matthews, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• DeLeon Gray, Black and Belonging

• Kyle Matthew Boomhower, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor