Teacher's and student's views on the effectiveness of disaster education in primary school programs

This study aims to determine the effectiveness of disaster education in the primary school curriculum by examining teachers' opinions on adding disaster education as a course to the primary school curriculum and measuring students' disaster education knowledge. The sample of this research, which was conducted using the mixed model approach, consists of 15 classroom teachers working in public schools in Şahinbey district of Gaziantep and 2700 4th grade students of primary school in Gaziantep. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with teachers and analyzed using the descriptive analysis technique. The interview form was created by the researcher by developing 10 questions in line with the literature review and expert opinions. While teachers stated that disaster education should be included in the primary school curriculum, they emphasized that the level of knowledge on this subject is insufficient and the curriculum should be strengthened with more comprehensive content. Quantitative data was collected using a scale developed by the researcher to measure students' disaster education knowledge and whose validity was confirmed by factor analysis. This scale was administered to 2700 fourth grade students and the data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The analyzes provided insights on determining students' knowledge levels on disaster education and integrating this knowledge into educational programs. The research offers suggestions that continuous in-service training programs can be organized to strengthen the knowledge and skills of teachers, and that disaster education programs for 4th grade primary school students can be customized in accordance with local needs and conditions, taking into account disaster knowledge and preparedness levels that vary depending on the location.