Disaster management in educational institutions, environmental and social awareness before and after disaster, and evaluation of earthquake awareness: Sakarya case

Disasters are natural processes that affect, interrupt and create negativities in daily life when they occur since the existence of humanity. The human factor is also very important in the growth of the negative effects of disasters. In societies that are conscious of disasters, the precautions taken before disasters and the preparations made for the consequences that may occur during and after disasters minimize these negative effects. For this reason, it is very important for people to be conscious of disasters that will create vital risks in order to continue their lives, to know and be aware of the characteristics of the environment and social structure in which they live, and to take measures to minimize the risks. The fact that people, especially children, do not know how to behave in various disasters that they may encounter brings with it some risks and dangers. Turkey is located within the Alpine-Himalayan seismic belt, and most of its area is located on land with first degree earthquake risk. Settlements with high population density are generally established on these risky areas. It also includes various disaster risks in terms of climate and landforms. The central districts of Sakarya have a structure with a high risk of first degree earthquakes in terms of seismicity. In the districts surrounding the center, various disaster risks have a low-level impact. The study is an evaluation on determining the level of awareness of teachers in educational institutions in Sakarya province against disaster risks and measuring their environmental awareness. With the study, it was sought to evaluate the impact and situation of teachers' experience of disaster in future life, and to examine the state of being prepared before disasters in daily life. In addition to these, teachers' ability to protect and guide students in a possible disaster while they are on duty at school, and their ability to use basic intervention tools during and during disasters were tried to be measured. In addition, this research seeks answers to these questions in order to determine the level of environmental awareness of teachers about disasters, the situation of their schools against disasters, and their competency to comply with disaster plans. There are various studies on the effects of disasters on teachers or on teachers' awareness of disasters. Some of these studies were carried out on the level of perception of disaster awareness on primary school teacher candidates. Again, in a study on the responsibilities of teachers in educational institutions in disasters, the effects of disasters on school administrators were examined. In another study, it was found that while it was done on the disaster preparedness of teachers, in some others it was done on the disaster literacy of teacher candidates. In the literature research, no study was found that directly measured teachers' disaster awareness and environmental-social awareness. This study will contribute to the literature on how disaster awareness and awareness of a teacher will help in a possible disaster and how it will be beneficial in reducing disaster risks. The study was carried out on teachers who actively work in educational institutions under the auspices of private or public in Sakarya. Within the scope of the study, teachers were included in the sample group for a special reason. This is because teachers are able to raise a generation that has continuity and to transfer the existing knowledge to these generations and to spread the knowledge to wider masses in the society. The study was handled to examine the general awareness level, environmental and social awareness of teachers about disasters. In this thesis, which is a qualitative study as well as quantitative data, data were obtained from online questionnaires prepared with 208 teachers working at different levels. Since various differences such as age, gender, and education level were tried to be provided within the scope of the study, only the criterion of taking an active role as a teacher in the education sector was sought on the sample group. The survey content was divided into three headings and in the first part, the general knowledge of the sample group was investigated with a total of 10 questions. In the second part, the level of disaster awareness was tried to be evaluated with a total of 12 questions directed to the sample group. In the third and last part, information was tried to be obtained with 18 questions asked about their environmental and social awareness. Correlations were established between the obtained data through the Microsoft Office Excel program. Again, the data obtained through the questionnaires were converted into graphics provided through google forms. In line with these results and before, some hypotheses were established and answers were sought for these hypotheses. The graph and correlation values of the data were interpreted at the same time and answers were sought for the hypotheses. In the light of the results obtained, it was determined that the majority of the teachers in the sample group experienced at least one disaster in their lives. It has been determined that situations such as being prepared due to disasters and participating in trainings to increase awareness are not seen enough. It was determined that a high result could not be achieved especially in teachers' awareness of their environment, and that no visible measures were taken regarding disasters in the regions and institutions where they work. Within all these results, it was determined that most of the schools were established on areas with high earthquake risk. It has been determined that most of the teachers working in these schools have experienced disasters. While it was determined that the teachers who experienced disasters did not try to make an extra effort to prepare for disasters in daily life, it was also evaluated that they were aware of the disaster risks that might occur in their surroundings and that they had information about possible disaster action plans in the region and in the schools where they were assigned, and that in a possible disaster, students could be evacuated to the safe area via emergency exits. There are some suggestions to be made depending on the evaluation of the survey questions. First of all, disaster risks should be determined starting from the province and local areas, and necessary studies should be carried out in schools and their surroundings according to disaster risks. Since the building has an important place in the loss of life and property in disasters, existing schools should be built in accordance with building inspections, and if necessary, structural reinforcement should be made in buildings that are used effectively. Gathering areas should be created in the school gardens or in the immediate vicinity and these areas should be shared with teachers and students. In order to reduce disaster risks in schools, teachers should be trained to increase disaster awareness in every period, and awareness can be increased in practice with planned and unplanned exercises. In addition, a more realistic application can be made to reduce the risks to be encountered in a possible disaster by ensuring that the students participate in the exercises. Emergency response units should be established in schools according to disaster risks. In these units, the school should be equipped with the necessary basic needs and first aid materials according to the number of students, teachers and staff, and these materials should be checked at certain intervals and renewed if necessary. In order for these units to be used in a healthy and effective manner, teachers should be trained and empowered.