The effect of disaster education curriculum on disaster preparedness beliefs and disaster literacy of teacher candidates

Disasters cause social, economic and physical losses that deeply affect the lives of societies and individuals. Today, it is observed that both the frequency and impact of disasters have increased for various reasons. In this context, increasing social awareness and preparedness against disasters is of great importance. Increasing the resilience levels of societies and minimizing the devastating effects of disasters is only possible with effective disaster education. Disaster training will contribute to raising conscious disaster literate individuals who can make the right decisions before, during and after a disaster. It is considered important for teachers, who play a critical role in rising awareness of society, especially students, about disasters, to receive disaster training. In this study conducted on disaster education of teachers, who are the main actors of the education process, it was aimed to examine the effect of the Disaster Education Curriculum developed by the researcher on the disaster preparedness beliefs and disaster literacy of teacher candidates. In this study, which is based on the experimental design of quantitative research methods, a single group pre-test-post-test design was used and the opinions of prospective teachers regarding the program were evaluated in a qualitative dimension. The study group of the research consists of 26 teacher candidates who are taking the "Out-of-School Learning" course and studying at Kastamonu University Faculty of Education in the spring semester of 2023-2024 academic year. The data of study were collected using the "General Disaster Preparedness Belief Scale" to determine the effect of the Disaster Education Curriculum on the disaster preparedness beliefs of teacher candidates, "Disaster Literacy Scale" to determine the impact of disaster literacy and the opinions of the prospective teachers regarding the implemented Disaster Education Curriculum were collected using an "curriculum evaluation form" developed by the researcher. The data obtained from the scales applied as pre-test and post-test were analyzed using the SPSS statistical program. Dependent groups t-test was used to examine whether there was a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores. In the study, descriptive analysis was used in the analysis of qualitative data obtained through the curriculum evaluation form. As a result of the analyses, a significant difference was found between the disaster preparedness beliefs of the teacher candidates and the disaster literacy pre-test-post-test scores. As a result of the data obtained; it was seen that the Disaster Education Curriculum increased the disaster preparedness beliefs and disaster literacy levels of teacher candidates. As a result of the qualitative data obtained from the opinions of the prospective teachers, it was understood that the Disaster Education Curriculum was found to be effective and contributed to their awareness about disasters. In addition, they made suggestions to increase field trips and carry out dissemination activities.