Enhancing Numeracy Skills for Learners at the Margin Utilizing Concrete Manipulatives: A Community-Based Participatory Action Research

The current research utilized a community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) approach to explore and enhance the learners’ numeracy skills. The active involvement of the community members is crucial in designing and developing learning strategies. Four groups of participants collaboratively work together to attain the research goals: mathematics education students forming the research team, community members providing insights on local resources for teaching numeracy, school mathematics teachers, and the learners themselves, who were evaluated through pre- and post-intervention assessments. Data were collected through interviews, Numeracy Skills Assessments, focus group discussions, and reflective journals to identify learners’ numerical gaps and design contextualized learning activities. The introduction of concrete manipulatives such as taklong, stones, banana leaves, uhay, and bolo played a significant role in teaching numeracy. The learners showcased low initial proficiency in certain numerical competencies. Learning activities enriched with concrete manipulatives led to increased engagement and understanding of mathematical concepts, reflecting improved numeracy skills despite initial gaps. Integrating local materials into the curriculum resulted in a contextually rich learning environment that enhanced numeracy understanding and mastery. The study advocates for the continued use and development of localized learning tools to raise numeracy skills, recommending that education authorities support curricula incorporating community-generated resources. Furthermore, collaboration between educational institutions and local communities is suggested to create transformative materials that connect academic learning with real-life experiences, providing a template for best practices in localized teaching strategies.