Exploring Civic and Patriotic Orientations through Regional Literature: Evidence from Pre-Service Teacher Education in Kazakhstan

Abstract

The preparation of culturally responsive and socially responsible teachers requires educational approaches that connect professional learning with local cultural contexts. Regional literature represents a potentially valuable but underexplored resource for fostering cultural awareness, civic reflection, and pedagogical understanding in teacher education. This study examined how participation in a regional-literature-based instructional module was associated with changes in pre-service primary school teachers’ civic and patriotic orientations and explored participants’ perceptions of the educational value of regional literary materials. A quasi-experimental mixed-methods design was employed. The quantitative component involved a pre-test-post-test nonequivalent control-group design with 100 pre-service primary school teachers at K. Zhubanov Aktobe Regional University in Kazakhstan, including 51 students in the experimental group and 49 in the control group. The qualitative component consisted of thematic analysis of 87 written reflections produced by students in the experimental group during the intervention. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests, while qualitative data were analysed following Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis procedures. The findings revealed statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups at post-test, with participants in the experimental group demonstrating substantially higher levels of civic and patriotic orientation. Qualitative findings indicated that regional literature functioned as a source of cultural and historical understanding, a catalyst for emotional and civic engagement, and a pedagogical resource for future teaching. Together, the findings suggest that engagement with regional literary materials may support cultural understanding, civic reflection, and pedagogical awareness among future teachers. The study contributes to research on teacher education, culturally responsive pedagogy, and place-based learning by highlighting the potential of regional literature to connect cultural heritage with teacher preparation in multilingual and culturally diverse contexts.