This study aims to analyze the needs for developing a mathematics learning model that integrates local culture and deep learning to enhance students’ critical thinking skills. The research employed a descriptive qualitative approach involving mathematics teachers and junior high school students in East Nusa Tenggara. Data were collected through questionnaires, interviews, and observations, focusing on teachers’ perceptions, classroom practices, and students’ learning needs related to local cultural contexts. The results indicate that current mathematics learning practices are still dominated by procedural understanding, with limited integration of local cultural contexts and deep learning principles. Teachers expressed the need for a contextual model that connects mathematical concepts with local traditions, values, and problem-solving processes relevant to students’ daily lives. The study concludes that integrating local culture with deep learning principles has the potential to transform mathematics learning into a more meaningful and reflective process that fosters students’ critical thinking.