NEEDS ANALYSIS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF AN ILLUSTRATED STORYBOOK ON EARTHQUAKE MITIGATION TO ENHANCE CHILDREN'S DISASTER LITERACY

Marya Septyana (Universitas Negeri Jakarta)
R Sri Martini Meilanie (Universitas Negeri Jakarta)
Ade Dwi Utami (Universitas Negeri Jakarta)

Multidiciplinary Output Research for Actual and International Issue (Morfai Journal)
Vol. 6 No. 6 (2026): Multidiciplinary Output Research For Actual and International Issue

Disaster literacy is a critical component of early childhood education, particularly in earthquake-prone regions such as Bengkulu, which lies along the active Sumatran Fault Zone and experienced two major earthquakes (M 7.9) in 2000 and 2007. Despite this persistent risk, most early childhood education (ECE) institutions in Bengkulu have not integrated contextual learning media into their programs, leaving children's understanding of disaster largely abstract. This study analyzed the need for a Bengkulu-context picture storybook to build earthquake-mitigation literacy in early childhood. A qualitative descriptive approach was applied, involving 15 ECE teachers in Bengkulu City through a structured questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, analyzed using frequency distribution and the interactive model of Miles & Huberman. Storybook use in ECE remains limited and dominated by generic themes unrelated to local hazards; only two schools (13%) owned an earthquake-mitigation storybook, 73% of teachers reported difficulty developing their own instructional media, and all teachers (100%) expressed a need for a Bengkulu-context storybook drawing on local architecture and cultural heritage. A picture storybook grounded in Bengkulu's geological identity and cultural heritage is proposed as a contextually authentic medium for cultivating disaster preparedness from an early age, alongside a teacher's guide that addresses the accompanying competence gap.