SCIENTIFIC LITERACY IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF IPAS (INTEGRATED NATURAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE) AT JABAL NUR INTEGRATED ISLAMIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Abstract

Scientific literacy has become a central goal of basic education worldwide, yet its enactment inside newly fused curricular subjects remains poorly understood, particularly in faith-based schooling contexts. Indonesia's Merdeka Curriculum merged natural and social science instruction at the elementary level into a single subject, IPAS (Ilmu Pengetahuan Alam dan Sosial), creating new pedagogical demands for teachers who must simultaneously build disciplinary science knowledge, civic-social understanding, and, in Islamic integrated schools, a values-based worldview. This qualitative case study examines how scientific literacy is conceptualised, enacted, and constrained in IPAS teaching and learning at Jabal Nur Integrated Islamic Elementary School. Using a single-site case study design informed by naturalistic inquiry, data were intended to be generated through semi-structured interviews with the principal and IPAS teachers, non-participant classroom observation, and document analysis of lesson plans and instructional materials, analysed thematically. The discussion synthesises four analytic themes: the fusion of natural and social science content into thematic units; the use of ethnoscience and Islamic values as contextual bridges for meaning-making; persistent constraints in teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and assessment practice under the fused subject; and the cultivation of scientific attitude and identity within a religiously framed learning environment. The article situates these themes against the PISA 2025 scientific literacy framework and the broader ethnoscience and Islamic-education literatures, arguing that scientific literacy in integrated Islamic elementary schools is best understood as a triadic negotiation between disciplinary science, localised social meaning, and religious epistemology, rather than a purely cognitive outcome.