Uncovering Students' Knowledge in Local History: The Camando to Leon Case

Received: 02 October 2021 Accepted: 16 November 2021 Published: 12 December 2021 DOI: 10.32996/ijahs.2021.1.1.17 This descriptive-quantitative research study determined the knowledge in the local history of the Grade 12 students in Leon, Iloilo, when respondents were classified according to a type of school, family income, place of residence, and exposure and participation in Municipal activities. Through stratified random sampling technique, 233 Grade 12 students of the six secondary schools in the Municipality of Leon Batch 2019-2020 were the selected participants. The data were gathered utilizing a dulyvalidated researcher-made questionnaire that was delivered via an online Google form to the selected Grade 12 students of the six secondary schools. Using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), the data was tallied, computer-processed, analyzed, and interpreted and set at a .05 level of significance. Students have average awareness of local history and exposure to and participation in various municipal events when classified by type of school, family income, and place of residence. When pupils were categorized according to the type of school, there was a significant difference in their knowledge of local history but no significant differences in their family income or place of residence. Students' knowledge of local history has no significant relationship to their level of exposure and participation in various municipal activities. Students are more knowledgeable about sociocultural history than they do about political history. KEYWORDS

give experiential and meaningful learning, while the increased local cultural heritage awareness of students is a step forward in promoting cultural heritage conservation and preservation.

The Participants
The participants in this study were the Grade 12 students from six secondary schools in Leon, Iloilo. One school for the private category, one school for public category A, three schools for public category B, and one school for public category C were chosen through the Stratified Random Sampling Technique. The public schools' categorization A, B & C was based on the number of regular and locally funded teachers. Table 1 shows the distribution of the Grade 12 students in the six secondary schools in Leon as the study participants.

The Research Instruments
The data-gathering instrument used in this study was a researcher-made test and survey. The instrument was divided into three parts. Part One includes the participants' personal data, such as name, school, family income, and place of residence. For the type of school, this was grouped into private, public category A, large school, public category B for medium schools, and public category C for small schools. The annual family income was grouped based on the given estimated family income of the participants. Part Two was a survey of their exposure and participation in the different municipal activities of the town Leon in which they answered questions using a descriptive rating scale. Part three was the actual researcher-made test in the history of Leon that was categorized into sociocultural and political history. There was a 35-item test for each part and divided into five periods, pre-colonial (7 items), colonial (7 items), Japanese (7 items), American (7 items) and Contemporary periods (7 items).

Data Gathering Procedure
In conducting the study, the researcher submitted a tentative draft of the researcher-made test and survey to the validators who are experts in the field of research and history. After validation, the researcher submitted a letter to the Schools Division Superintendent of Schools Division of Iloilo asking permission to conduct the study to the secondary schools in the Municipality of Leon. Upon approval of the SDS, a letter of communication was sent out to the pilot testing school, one of the medium secondary schools in Leon, Iloilo. All of the 56 grade 12 students of the school served as the participants for the pilot testing. Modifications and finalizations of the instrument were done. Due to the global COVID-19 Pandemic, face to face classes was stopped right after the pilot testing. Letters of communication were sent to the school heads of the six secondary schools asking permission to conduct the study to the participants through an online Google form. The actual tests that were supposed to be administered face to face were already prohibited. Consent forms were also secured through online Google forms. Through the coordination and assistance of the grade 12 advisers of the six secondary schools, the researcher-made test and survey were successfully administered using Google online form.

Statistical Data Analysis Procedure
The data gathered were tallied, computer-processed, analyzed, interpreted, and subjected to appropriate statistical treatment. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software analyzed the data gathered. The descriptive and inferential statistical tools that were employed are the means, standard deviation, One-way ANOVA or Analysis of Variance, t-test & Pearson productmoment Correlation Coefficient (Pearson's r), respectively. Table 2. Students' Knowledge on the History of Leon      Table 5 shows the average level of exposure and participation in différent municipal activités of Grade 12 students (M=2.61, SD=.77).  To determine which of the type of schools contributed to the significant difference among the students' level of knowledge on the history of Leon, a post-hoc LSD test was conducted to determine the multiple comparisons among the school type. Results revealed that there was a significant difference between Private and Public Category A level of student's knowledge in the history of Leon as revealed in the significant value of .014 as well as between Private School and Category C Public School level of students' knowledge in history as revealed in the significant value of .030. This means that there was a significant difference in the level of students' knowledge in history, showing that their level varies, which contributed to the difference.  Table 9 shows no significant relationships between the students' knowledge of Leon's sociocultural and political history (r=0.20, p=.758 and r=-.030, p=.651, respectively) and their exposure and participation in different municipal activities.

Discussion
The Grade 12 students' average level of knowledge in the history of Leon would imply that they already have stored knowledge about the local history of their town but not to the extent that they can be considered as highly knowledgeable. In the study of Cano (2016), she emphasized the place of residence as a primary basis for the awareness level of students. The slight difference in the mean score of the groups can be due to the fact that the majority of students from nearby barangays have easy access to transportation and community involvement in the town. With the help of teachers who were assigned as learning facilitators in particular school catchment areas, which considered the proximity of their residence with that of the learners, it provided safety and protection for the students (Pedroso et al., 2021). Nevertheless, the knowledge in the history of Leon of Grade 12 students coming from near and far barangays was of the same level. Although all types of schools were on an average level, the results showed that the students from private schools had higher mean grades than the mean grades of students from public schools. This is supported by the study of Domanico in 2001 (as cited in Buening, 2014) when he found out that the Catholic private schools were bringing their students to a higher level of achievement, despite the number of minority or poor students. This may be due to the different institutions and the community where the school is located. These are also elements from which the students can also learn about the history of their locality. The Private School in Leon is located at the heart of the municipal plaza, right beside the Historical Church of the Town. The school is the oldest operating secondary school in Leon. The majority of the stories pertaining to education, religion, and some of the successful Leoneans mentioned in the History of Leon Book were all part of the school's more than 100 years of existence. Aside from its rich history that can be imparted to the learners, the school's location gave it the best avenue for students to access the town's yearly activities easily. Analyzing the individual mean score of each income classification in their level of knowledge, the very high-income group has a higher mean score among other income classifications.
In the sociocultural aspect, students got most of the correct answers only for the items that are most likely familiar to them, and While there are items that students are very familiar with since these can be learned through practical interaction and involvement from their immediate community or barangay, there are also items that have the lowest proficiency parallel to the idea of Pedroso (2021) that students learn history beyond the four walls of the classrooms. These gaps in the level of knowledge of the students can be attributed to the present condition of the Philippine History in Elementary and Secondary curriculum, which conforms to the study of Cano (2016), which states that in the Department of Education Curriculum, Philippine History is directly taught in general without discussing first the local history of the people of the community. The chance for local history to be discussed in the secondary curriculum is to incorporate it into some HUMSS subjects in Senior High School Grades 11 and 12. If local history is used in teaching, it will provide the students with the opportunity to gain first-hand experience by improving awareness of history and students who are having active communication with their neighbourhood are allowed to learn about themselves and their past, words and concepts about the past, and they can make the easier connection between history and other disciplines (Oguzhan, 2015).
The mean grade of sociocultural aspect that is higher compared to political aspect implies that the Grade 12 students are more knowledgeable in sociocultural history than in political history; this may be due to the fact that the majority of the questions asked in sociocultural are ways of life in which they can easily relate to. Some of these are the town's beliefs, practices and traditions that their parents might have imparted to them or have learned from the community while they're growing up; these may include life skills, everyday activities and occasions. The terms or concepts might be ancient to them; however, by chance, these terms might have imparted to them with corresponding meaning to the present. The contemporary period got the highest mean score for both sociocultural and political history because it has the most recent events, and the people mentioned were familiar to them. The knowledge becomes the students own when it is learned within the background of an authentic context.
The average level of exposure and participation of students implies that the students aren't motivated enough to always or consistently watch, observe and participate in the different municipal activities of their town since they only choose the activities they're going to watch and participate in over those they thought would be entertaining to them. The students can be motivated to have active participation and exposure in their community consistently if they are aware and have fully understood that being involved in the different events of their town while at the same time learning more about the history of their locality would contribute a lot to their growth as Leoneans and as citizens that somehow will become a good foundation to their success later on. According to Hoskins (as cited in Perez & Templanza, 2012), people become more inclined to study something they can reach, easily grasp, and find personal and individual meaning. The personal and individual meaning may include the experiences and chronicles of these people or the events and happenings in the locality they belong to (Perez & Templanza, 2012).
Since there was no significant difference in the student's level of knowledge when classified according to a place of residence when analyzed, it would mean that both the students residing from near and far barangays have the same level of knowledge in History of Leon. It implies that the place of residence as being far and near to the town has nothing to do with their Proficiency in the history of Leon. However, it would be an advantage for those students living in nearby barangays since they can have easy access to transportation to attend the different activities in the town. The stored knowledge of students from near and far barangays may be attributed to the stories and experiences that were conveyed to them from their own immediate community or barangay. The shared experiences, norms and traditions in each barangay are essential since these are the main foundation of each community for them to grow, and as what Perez and Templanza (2012) have mentioned, that the never-ending search of every community for knowledge and information on what happened, what will happen and what is happening in their surroundings contributes a lot to their education and development.
As there was a significant difference in the students' level of knowledge in the history of Leon when grouped according to the type of school, the mean score would indicate that the students from private school are more knowledgeable in History of Leon than those students from public school. This is in consonance with Ysulan (2016) study, when the results revealed a significant difference in the learners' extent of knowledge on the history of Iloilo City when grouped according to the type of school. However, in his study, the learners from the public school have obtained a higher mean than the learners from the private school. The same goes when Gunes (2011) examined the relationship between high school type and language proficiency using students' placement test scores. Data analysis outcomes showed significant differences in all survey domains for the schools and grades grouping categories. The private school students rated school climate higher than the public school students on nearly all survey domains. This contradicts the results of the study conducted by Jones & Ezeife (2011), in which results revealed that there was no statistically significant difference between school size and students' achievement in Ontario, Canada. Moreover, schools allow students to learn about highly substantial lessons and illustrate the underplayed realities .
As there was no significant difference in the students' level of knowledge in the history of Leon when grouped according to family income, this means that students coming from different income classification groups have the same level of knowledge in the history of Leon. This contradicts the result of the study conducted by Lin and Han (2017) about the effects of family income on children's education. The results show that family income significantly influences children's education level. Ysulan (2016) also had an opposite result of his study on the learners' extent of knowledge on the history of Iloilo City; there was a significant difference revealed when he grouped the participants according to family income. However, it is in consonance with the study of Adzido, Dzogbede, Ahiave and Dorkpah (2016) on the assessment of family income on academic performance of tertiary students that the family financial status is not an essential predictor of higher academic performance.
There were no significant relationships between the students' knowledge of Leon's sociocultural and political history and their exposure and participation in different municipal activities. This is supported by the results of the study of Grubisich (2017) conducted to explore the relationship between participation in community service and student's academic success at a mid-sized Midwestern institution; the results from the t-test showed that there was no statistical significance in the participation in community service and students' academic success. Yet, the results are both not in consonance with the study of Taneo (2017) when the results of data analysis show that there are effects on the implementation of the Field trip learning method toward the conceptual understanding to improve the students' learning outcome of Local History. Furthermore, future generations will be better able to comprehend the facts of the situation , allowing them to cherish, care for, and protect the culture (Pedroso, 2020).

Conclusion
Students must have a basic understanding of local sociocultural and political history beyond the dazzling radiance of tangible wealth (Pedroso, 2020). Undoubtedly, people learned these skills from their immediate community as they grew up, and there was no institutional system to enrich this acquired knowledge other than formal schooling. Local history is incorporated into most Araling Panlipunan (Social Studies) subjects in Junior High School and Social Science subjects in Senior High School as a way to improve teaching methodologies and increase student interest in the broader subject being taught. Students will have the finest opportunity to gain knowledge and be more responsive due to the schools' active participation in all of the town's activities.
Regardless of the family's income or the distance between their home and the town, students can find a method to learn about the local history of their area, whether by accident or by design. Local history knowledge is collected through personal experiences and stories from their immediate community, including schools.
Funding: "This research received no external funding."