Local Wisdom Integration as a Pedagogical Strategy: Designing Contextual Sociology Materials to Reinforce Social Identity among University Students

Abstract

Sociology teaching in higher education often prioritizes universal theories while marginalizing indigenous perspectives, limiting students’ ability to relate academic concepts to their lived realities. This study integrates Bugis local wisdom Sipakatau, Sipakainge, and Sipakalebbi into contextual sociology teaching materials to strengthen students’ sociological reasoning and culturally grounded social identity. Guided by the ADDIE model, the research used a mixed method approach involving expert validation, a validated questionnaire, classroom observations, interviews, and a one group pretest posttest trial with Sociology Education students in South Sulawesi. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively and with normalized gain scores, while qualitative data were examined through thematic analysis with triangulation. Findings show that the developed module was highly feasible and shifted classroom learning toward more dialogic and participatory interaction. Students demonstrated deeper understanding of social interaction and moved from individualistic to more relational and structural interpretations of social issues. Although causal claims are limited, the study contributes a novel integration of the ADDIE model with Bugis local wisdom as an epistemic framework for culturally responsive higher education.