Early childhood teachers’ perspectives on literacy and numeracy in West Papua: a culturally responsive pedagogical approach

This study explored how early childhood education (ECE) teachers in Sorong, West Papua, conceptualized and implemented literacy and numeracy instruction within multilingual and low-resource contexts. An exploratory mixed-methods design was employed. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with 12 teachers, followed by a descriptive survey involving 63 additional teachers. Qualitative data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis supported by MAXQDA network visualization, while quantitative data were analyzed descriptively using SPSS.The findings showed that teachers understood literacy and numeracy as interconnected developmental processes grounded in phonological awareness, concrete manipulation, gradual symbolic mapping, and contextual meaning-making. Teachers implemented culturally responsive and multisensory pedagogies through storytelling, songs, movement-based activities, and locally available materials. However, home-school ecological support remained limited, particularly regarding parental involvement and access to learning resources outside school. Despite infrastructural constraints, teachers demonstrated adaptive and low-tech instructional practices that sustained children’s engagement and participation. The study highlights the importance of culturally responsive pedagogy, translanguaging, and embodied learning in supporting equitable early childhood education in frontier regions. The findings provide implications for teacher education and the development of AI-supported, offline-first learning interventions in underrepresented educational contexts.