Exploring Changes In Historical Literacy Among Grade IV Elementary Students Following Local Wisdom–Integrated History Learning: A Small-Scale Pilot Study

Abstract

This pilot study explores changes in historical literacy among grade IV elementary school students following the integration of local wisdom in history learning. Indonesia's relatively low reading literacy performance (PISA 2022) provides a broader literacy context; however, historical literacy represents a more specific disciplinary competency requiring targeted investigation. This study employed a one-group pretest–posttest pre-experimental design with eight grade IV students in one elementary school, using total sampling. The instrument was a 15-item essay-based historical literacy test contextualized with local wisdom, validated by three experts (Aiken's V = 0.86) and tested for reliability (test–retest r = 0.74). Two trained raters scored the essays using an analytical rubric, with inter-rater reliability established prior to analysis. The six-session intervention integrated local traditions, folklore, and customary practices relevant to the grade IV curriculum. Prior to inferential testing, the normality of difference scores was examined using the Shapiro–Wilk test and Q–Q plots. Paired-sample analysis (two-tailed) indicated a statistically significant increase from pretest (M = 41.00, SD = 4.57) to posttest (M = 66.25, SD = 6.02), with a mean normalized gain of 0.432 (medium category). A sensitivity analysis using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test corroborated this pattern. Given the absence of a control group and the very small sample, these findings should be interpreted as preliminary evidence that local wisdom integration may support historical literacy development. Further research with control groups and larger samples is needed before causal or effectiveness claims can be made. The practical implication suggests that teachers might consider local resources as a potential context for history learning, pending stronger empirical validation.