Early childhood teachers' views and experiences with STEM-based disaster education practices

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand how early childhood teachers address the topic of disasters and STEM education and then, their experiences in implementing STEM-based disaster activities. Method: In this research, action research, one of the qualitative methods, was used. The research took place in a public school where the researcher works as a kindergarten teacher. The research was conducted with 4 volunteer early childhood teachers. Semi-structured teacher interviews, individual teacher reflections, and field notes were used as data collection methods. First, preliminary interviews were conducted with the teachers to understand their views on disaster education and STEM education. Teachers were then provided with and implemented STEM-based disaster activities designed with expert input. Each teacher recorded verbal reflections right after the activities. Finally, post-interviews were conducted to understand their experiences with the activities. The content analysis method was used to analyze the data. Results: It was found that the early childhood teachers who participated in this research were generally aware of the importance of disaster education and STEM education. The teachers stated that they provided disaster education to children by drawing on early childhood pedagogy through drills and in-class activities, and that they take into account the characteristics of the country and region they live in when choosing types of disasters. They explained that they implemented STEM-based activities mainly in the areas of science and mathematics and designed the activities around problem solving. Most of the participating teachers reported that they did not incorporate STEM activities frequently. Teachers claimed that disasters are not sufficiently included in the Ministry of National Education's Early Childhood Education Program and that the goals and indicators in the program are not sufficient for STEM-based activities. Teachers who implemented STEM-based disaster activities in this study shared that these activities contributed to children's academic and social skills and increased children's knowledge about disasters and STEM components. Teachers defined these STEM-based disaster activities as appropriate for the children's level, applicable, and transformative of their biases shared that they took on various teacher roles such as observer, guide, and self-critic during the process. Conclusion and Suggestions: This study found that early childhood teachers have some awareness of disaster education and STEM education and they are open to improving STEM education practices. The STEM-based disaster activities have the potential to provide multiple benefits to students and teachers, and teachers have positive perceptions of these activities. The STEM-based activities developed in this study can be used to raise awareness about disaster education. The topic of disasters and STEM education can be openly emphasized in the Ministry of Education's early childhood education program. Future studies can contribute to the literature by collecting data from students, diversifying the types of disasters in such STEM-based activities, and designing studies in which teachers create their own STEM-based disaster activity plans. Keywords: Early Childhood Education, Disaster, Disaster Education, STEM