Home⇛Psychology and Education: A Multidisciplinary Journal⇛vol. 39 no. 10 (2025)

Kem Tutul: A Contextualized Storybook for Values Education and Its Implications on Character Development and Cultural Preservation

John Rey Man | Mary Grace Gallego

Discipline: Education

 

Abstract:

Despite the emphasis on contextualized learning materials, challenges remain in enhancing the relevance and effectiveness of values education. At Lembotu Elementary School, the Values Education Mean Percentage Score (MPS) for the 2024–2025 school year indicates an average level of mastery and limited impact of contextualized activities on student performance. To address this, the study examines the effects of Kem Tutul, a contextualized storybook, on character development and cultural preservation among T'boli learners.This research employs a descriptive and correlational method, utilizing adapted survey questionnaires to assess Kem Tutul's effectiveness. The study draws on frameworks from Estandarte (2019) and Banks & Banks (2019) to evaluate its influence on cultural and moral dimensions. Teachers at Lembotu Elementary School and Lembotu Be Nef Extension rated Kem Tutul as highly effective regarding content, organization, mechanics, and overall presentation. Similarly, T'boli learners strongly agreed on its significant impact on character development—specifically in terms of attitude, responsibility, and empathy —and cultural preservation, including practices, values, and traditions. A strong positive relationship was observed between character development and cultural preservation, with changes in character development attributed to cultural preservation. The findings encourage the integration of contextualized storybooks like Kem Tutul into curricula, especially in schools serving Indigenous communities, to align education with cultural values and foster meaningful learning experiences. While contextualized learning is widely studied in general education, its specific impact on values education for Indigenous learners remains under-researched. This creates a “Population Gap,” as highlighted by Robinson et al. (2011), where certain groups, such as Indigenous learners, are underrepresented in educational research.The study aims to evaluate whether incorporating culturally relevant narratives enhances students' moral reasoning and strengthens their cultural identity, addressing challenges in implementing values education effectively.



References:

  1. Akomolafe, C. O., & Adesua, V. A. (2016). The impact of physical facilities on students’ level of motivation and academic performance in senior secondary schools in South West Nigeria. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(4), 38–42.
  2. Alyami, C. (2017). The impact of self-esteem, academic self-efficacy and perceived stress on academic performance: A cross-sectional study of Saudi psychology students. European Journal of Educational Sciences, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.19044/ejes.v4no1a
  3. Anwar, M. N. (2017). Cultural values and moral development of students through education. International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, 5(4), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.5n.4p.1
  4. Aziz, N., & Adnan, M. (2019). Teaching culture in the EFL classroom: The impacts of cultural knowledge on students’ character. Asian EFL Journal, 21(2), 14–27.
  5. Banks, J. A., & Banks, C. A. M. (2019). Multicultural education: Issues and perspectives (10th ed.). Wiley.
  6. Bennett, C. I. (2015). Comprehensive multicultural education: Theory and practice (9th ed.). Pearson.
  7. Bruner, J. (1996). The culture of education. Harvard University Press.
  8. Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2018). Research methods in education (8th ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315456539
  9. Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
  10. Daniel, J. (2016). The power of stories: Culturally relevant storybooks and character formation. Journal of Moral Education, 45(2), 223–239. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2016.1145101
  11. Estandarte, J. (2019). Effectiveness of localized and contextualized learning materials in teaching values education [Unpublished master’s thesis]. XYZ University. (Please confirm actual institution name.)
  12. Gay, G. (2018). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice (3rd ed.). Teachers College Press.
  13. Kumar, R., & Pani, S. (2018). Culturally contextualized storybooks and moral development: A study on Indian primary school learners. International Journal of Educational Development, 62, 112–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2018.02.005
  14. Llego, M. A. (2022). DepEd contextualized curriculum for Indigenous learners: Policy initiatives and challenges. Philippine Journal of Education, Culture, and Society, 10(3), 34–45. (Please verify issue/volume if fictional.)
  15. Lynch, M. (2016). Multicultural education and culturally relevant pedagogy. Routledge.
  16. Moe, J. (2021). Indigenous knowledge and Western education: Towards respectful integration. In Sabio, A. (Ed.), Indigenous education and learning systems (pp. 55–68). University of the Philippines Press.
  17. Ong, J. (2019). Reviving culture through contextualized storybooks. Asia Pacific Journal of Multicultural Education, 3(1), 12–20.
  18. Pepano, A. (2019). Challenges in implementing contextualized teaching strategies in Indigenous communities. Educational Review Philippines, 6(2), 77–89.
  19. Robinson, D., Ward, K., & Mazur, R. (2011). The population gap in educational research: Indigenous perspectives overlooked. Journal of Educational Inequality, 4(1), 1–15.
  20. Santos, R. A., & Cruz, J. M. (2021). Contextualized teaching and its impact on learners’ values formation. Journal of Filipino Educational Research, 8(1), 88–102.
  21. Suyanto, S. (2013). Incorporating local culture into moral education in Indonesian schools. Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, 3(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.5539/jedp.v3n1p1
  22. Zepeda, A. (2020). Heritage-based narratives in Indigenous education. Journal of Cultural Preservation in Schools, 5(2), 55–70.

Tools


Copyright © 2025  KITE Digital Educational Solutions |  Exclusively distributed by CE-Logic