2018-2024 disaster education in social studies curricula and 5th grade textbooks

Today, factors such as climate change, urbanisation and population density are increasing the number and impact of disasters. This situation makes it essential to instil disaster awareness and a culture of preparedness from an early age. Within this scope, the aim of the study is to examine how disaster education is addressed in the Social Studies Teaching Programmes published in 2018 and 2024 and in the 5th grade Social Studies textbooks prepared in line with these programmes. The 2018 textbooks, which form part of the study's documents, were selected using typical case sampling, while the 2024 textbooks were chosen using extreme and deviant case sampling. The study employed a qualitative research design, specifically the document analysis method, and descriptive analysis was used for data interpretation. Through this technique, disaster-related content and learning outcomes in the 2018–2024 curricula, along with texts, visuals, and activities related to disasters in the 2021–2024 textbooks, were thoroughly analyzed. The research results reveal that the 2024 Social Studies Curriculum approaches disaster education with a more systematic and student-centered framework, both structurally and in terms of content. In contrast, the 2018 curriculum addresses this topic in a more limited and indirect way, failing to provide a comprehensive framework for fostering disaster awareness. The 2024 edition of the 5th-grade Social Studies textbook offers a more comprehensive, systematic, and multi-dimensional approach to disaster education compared to the 2021 edition, with its conceptual diversity, visual richness, and up-to-date content. However, the lack of activities related to certain types of disasters indicates a need for further development of the content. Based on the findings, it is recommended that disaster education content be enriched and supported with effective learning methods