Transforming Community-Based Learning through Contextual Simulation: A Practice Architectures Analysis of Foundational Literacy, Numeracy, and Financial Literacy

Abstract

Teaching foundational literacy, numeracy, and financial literacy in nonformal education presents challenges in connecting knowledge with children's everyday experiences. This study aims to analyze the transformation of learning practices in the CALISTUNGKEU (Baca-Tulis-Hitung-Keuangan) program through the development of contextual simulations using the Theory of Practice Architectures (TPA). The study employed a qualitative approach with a single-case study design and retrospective document analysis. The case examined was a community-based learning program conducted from September to November 2025 in Teluknaga, Tangerang Regency, Indonesia, involving children ranging from kindergarten to primary-school age. Data were obtained from planning documents, instructional records and evaluations, tutor meeting minutes, game documentation, available participant reflections, and end-of-program tutor evaluations. The analysis involved a chronological reconstruction of learning practices and coding based on the dimensions of sayings, doings, and relatings, as well as cultural-discursive, material-economic, and social-political arrangements. The findings indicate a reconfiguration of learning practices from relatively separate subject-based instruction toward contextual activities that integrate verbal instructions, game materials, participants' actions, and social interactions. The Ping-Pong Ball, Word Retrieval, and Bottle Cap games illustrate how material designs can shape different patterns of participation, including cooperation, word recognition, and responses to instructions. This transformation involved not only the selection of game-based methods but also evaluations across sessions, resource arrangements, role allocation, and the establishment of activity rules. The study concludes that contextual simulation can be understood as a process of pedagogical practice reconfiguration in nonformal education. The findings explain changes in learning conditions and forms of participation rather than demonstrate causal improvements in learning outcomes.