Introduction This study examines the pedagogical readiness of prospective elementary school teachers to develop peatland-based disaster learning resources and media in Sumatra. It addresses a persistent gap in disaster education research by examining whether future teachers can translate local risk issues into developmentally appropriate classroom materials. Methods A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted, yielding 604 valid responses from prospective elementary school teachers across 9 semesters. The 12-item Likert-type instrument covered lesson planning, resource selection, media development, classroom implementation, risk communication, and reflection. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, a Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis tests, and an exploratory univariate general linear model. Results Readiness clustered in the moderate-to-high range. Mean scores across semester groups ranged from 63.08 to 70.92, and most respondents fell within the moderate and high categories. Gender differences were not significant. Semester level and home province showed significant differences in bivariate tests, whereas secondary-school background did not. However, when tested simultaneously, gender, semester level, home province, and secondary-school background did not significantly explain readiness, and all effect sizes were small. Discussion These findings indicate that teacher education programs should not assume that background characteristics automatically translate into pedagogical readiness. Instead, programs should provide structured practice in source evaluation, contextual adaptation, media design, and age-appropriate pedagogy for peatland disasters in elementary classrooms. Beyond Sumatra, the study contributes to global disaster risk reduction and teacher-education debates by showing that contextual risk pedagogy is best strengthened through intentional, practice-based preparation rather than demographic background alone.
Noviana et al. (Wed,) studied this question.