The Ati Inhabitants in the Eyes of Education Students

Introduction: Ati is an ethnic group of people inhabiting the mountainous areas of Guimaras. They have organized leadership structures, cultural traditions, and can withstand from conflicts and struggles. Objective:  This  study  ascertained  education  students’  level  of  cognizance  on  Ati Inhabitants’  leadership  structures,  cultural  traditions,  and  conflicts  and  struggles  in Guimaras Province. Methods: This descriptive-correlational study utilized a duly-validated researcher-made questionnaire  administered  through  Google  Forms  among  thirty  (30)  conveniently selected education students. The statistical tools used were frequency count, mean, standard deviation, and Person's R testing set at .05 level of significance. All statistical computations were processed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Results: The result showed that education students have “high” (M=3.76, SD=0.52) cognizance.  Moreover,  there  were  “significant  moderate  positive  correlations”  (r(30)=0.527, p=0.003) on the cognizance of education students on Ati Inhabitants’ leadership structures, cultural traditions, and conflicts and struggles. Conclusion:  Students’  cognizance  depends  on  their  views  and  understanding  of indigenous peoples in building human knowledge. Thus, they are considered as one of the agents in spreading and preserving indigenous perspectives.