Disaster Education

Literature Review

What is Disaster Education

Disasters are one of the lethal, natural, and complex phenomena that harm life on Earth.
There are hundreds of natural disasters in a year. Sometimes more in specific regions than the
others. Countries like Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Turkey have seen disasters in
recent times. The United Nations’ head of disaster planning has also encouraged people to
pay attention to the preparation for potential natural disasters as failing this would increase
the society towards becoming prone to disasters. This is due to the effects of climate change
as it has been increasing at a high rate every year (Permana. et.al. 2022, p. 1). It becomes
highly important to shift our concentration and pay heedfulness towards preparing for
potential disasters.

One way to educate especially people from a young age is through ‘Disaster Education.’ The
definition proposed by Shaw, Shiwaku and Takeuchi is “Disaster education, disaster risk
education, and disaster prevention education are different expressions that essentially mean
disaster risk reduction education” (Kitagawa, 2021, p. 2). We can also understand it as a way
where we gain knowledge about what are different disasters, how it happens, what we have to
do in time of emergencies, and essentially how to save ourselves as well as others. In
previous papers by Kitagawa, it could be understood that the term disaster education is
derived from school safety in the current multi-hazard framework (Avci, 2022, p. 126). Some
of the key components of Disaster Education are risk awareness, first aid, planning, early
warning signs, evacuation strategies, infrastructure, and resources provided by governments.
One must understand that disaster education is one of the important educational processes,
especially in today’s time and age. Disaster education plays a crucial role in teaching
individuals the necessary actions to take before any occurrence of disasters, during, and after
a disaster. It serves as a preventive and recovery measure against various life-threatening
disasters. “Disaster education is accepted as the only effective way to prevent disasters or
reduce their effects in acquiring knowledge and transforming this achievement into action
with technological progress” (Avci, 2022, p. 126). Disaster education also serves us as a
reminder of this ever-changing environment and how we as a society have to look after it.
A study conducted in the Indonesian context by Rofiah. et. al. (2021) sheds light on the
importance of disaster education for children with special needs. The study was conducted in
an inclusive school setting in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Where the research identified six
elements for disaster mitigating education in schools; (1) Initiative to conduct Disaster Risk
Reduction (DRR) education among children, (2) Inclusive environment and infrastructure for
learning, (3) Expanding the learning methods in DRR, (4) Empowering children, (5) School’s
awareness in holding disaster mitigation education and lastly (6) involvement of stakeholders
in disseminating the disaster education. The study also stresses upon the quality and
accessibility for disaster education for all, as this will support all students at the time of
hazards as well reduces any chances of risk.
A survey was conducted in Thailand by Muttarak & Pothisiri (2013), with 557 households.
The interviews with the households were taken after the aftershocks of numerous
earthquakes. It was revealed that as participants didn’t have any past disaster experience still
the education level of participants led to a positive disaster preparedness. Further, it was
found that formal education can help in preparing for disasters in a more proactive way by
which it also reduces risk to life.
Through proper disaster education and preparedness, we can generate awareness among
people plus it increases people’s sensitivity towards the environment and how as a society
everyone needs to come together and be responsible in understanding about disasters,
learning about disaster education and to be prepared when emergencies occur and act as an
accountable citizen of the society.

Disaster Education in Schools

The knowledge of disaster education should be transacted from school level. It becomes
essential that students of today are well aware about the disasters and the dos and don’ts
when an emergency occurs. It will not only be effective during disasters but also build a sense
of responsibility in them for the environment and the society. As Dewi suggests, mitigation
involves efforts to minimize the impact of natural disasters. Introducing disaster mitigation
and education, particularly from a young age, is crucial. One approach to mitigation involves
enhancing rescue drills for scenarios such as tsunamis, earthquakes, and landslides
(Herdiansyah.et.al. 2020, p. 2).
Disaster education is one of the crucial approaches that a school can take to ensure safety. As
schools too have a role and it is a major stakeholder in providing disaster awareness to
students, teachers, staff, and parents (Indyastuti. Et. al. 2023, p. 43)

What is also important to understand is that when children at a young age know about
hazards to environments which ultimately lead to disasters, they also become receptive to
harm towards climate and this creates environmental awareness among them. In many
countries, disaster education is embedded in the school curriculum. Such as Thailand’s
education curriculum includes disaster education since secondary grades. Transacting
Disaster preparedness knowledge like types of disasters, geographic conditions, and socio-
economic activities after completing Grade 6. By grade 9 students will know about disaster
preparedness and sustainable management of resources and environment-related knowledge
at a global level together with an understanding of international resources and environmental
cooperation and by grade 12 learners shall gain knowledge about changes and problems of
physical condition and disasters influenced by geographical factors, the interrelationship
between the physical environment and way of living. This will also prepare children for the
global changes in the coming future. (Wongphyat & Tanaka, 2020. p. 3)

A study was conducted by Herdiansyah. et.al (2020) in the Tanjong Anom District, Banten
Province, Indonesia with 180 students on “Disaster Preparedness Education”. The program
on which the research was conducted included materials related to the disaster, disaster
mitigation, simulations, and collaborations with stakeholders for the students to be aware and
understand the potential of disasters. The findings of the study revealed that children lacked
education regarding disasters, they were not aware of what actions to be taken. Moreover, the
study stresses on the importance of educating young children about disasters or emergencies
from an early age because this ensures the child’s own safety as well as “Education is one of
the effective means to reduce the risk of disaster” (Herdiansyah. et.al, 2020, p. 3).

One of the key aspects when transacting the knowledge of disaster education at the school
level is the challenges faced during the process. It is equally important to highlight the
problems and their causes vis-à-vis the need for disaster education in schools. Another
research was conducted in Iran by Seddighi. et. al, (2023), where two non-formal disaster
education programmes are implemented; The Earthquake and Safety School Drill Program
(ESSD) and Ready Students for Severe Days or DADRAS for preparing children for
disasters. Here the researchers identified 4 main challenges in providing disaster education to
school children. These were communication, planning, coordination, and logistics. However,
this study focused on non-formal education but it also sheds light on formal education in
schools which is done through the inclusion of disaster education in the school curriculum for
all levels, from first grade to the high school level. Moreover, the study also highlights that
the topic raised by various stakeholders, educators, and school principals was the aspect of
‘Recognition.’ From this, we can understand that it is significant to recognize the concept of
disaster education plus make it available to school students.

Disaster education serves as an efficient strategy for addressing recurring global disaster
risks, it ensures in implementation of measures for disaster prevention as well as minimizes
the overall disaster loss of life or property. Hence, incorporating disaster education and
instruction in school curricula emerges as a crucial method to disseminate and promote
disaster knowledge among young children. The main aim of this approach is to consistently
and effectively enhance awareness about disasters and add disaster prevention skills among
them which proves beneficial at the time of need.

The Importance of Disaster Education in Today’s Time

In today’s time and age, it has become significant to disseminate disaster education to
everyone. This is because of the increase in the frequency and impact of disasters in today’s
world. Many studies have previously described the pivotal role of disaster education and its
advantages in mitigating the intensity of its effects on people’s lives. One of the key
importance that disaster education holds in the current scenario is that through disaster
education people become more empowered to make informed decisions during the time of
crisis or emergencies. This saves them from taking any action which may become harmful.

When people are correctly educated against disasters that can safeguard them from any
harmful consequences that may cause a risk to their lives or the lives of others then certainly,
disaster education is a priority in today’s world. Hence, disaster education supports increasing
awareness among people and different countries through which they can carry out different
measures before, during, and after the disaster (Tsai et al., 2020). Also, disaster education
minimizes any risk that is, preventive action against disasters lessens the degree of damage it
could cause. One must also realize that as climate change is increasing at a high rate every
year, the severity of disasters is at its peak. Hence, disaster education plays a key role in
preparing people to make informed choices. Disaster education not only supports people at
the time of emergency but also cultivates a culture of resilience among people, which fosters
them to come forward and learn about disasters; it’s causes, risk reduction and evacuation
strategies, warning signs, and much more. This ensures a sense of safety and well-being
among communities.

Disasters can be of various forms such as earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, floods, cyclones,
wildfires, etc. However, factors that contribute to the need for disaster education are; climate
change, increase in population, lack of proper infrastructure in some regions, socio-economic
challenges, and disaster-prone zones. Therefore, in this context, accurate knowledge of
disaster education equips people with skills to respond efficiently during any danger.
Moreover, these diverse environmental challenges urge us to take up disaster education as
through this it will motivate people to build awareness and strength to reduce the impact of
natural disasters.

According to Irawan. et. al., “Development of Disaster curriculum has a purpose in cognitive
and affective domains. In terms of cognitive, students are expected to know the theory and
principles of disaster and be able to apply what has been learned in community life. Students
are required to have the ability to apply concepts, rules, and ways of dealing with disasters
appropriately to be applied in their environment correctly” (2018). Hence, disaster education
becomes an important aspect in the foundational knowledge of young children, which equips
them with better measures when dealing with crisis.

Another important aspect is the advantage of digitally enabled disaster education. In a study
conducted by Sakurai & Shaw (2022) in Muroran city of Japan. Where the research
highlighted a few aspects as Japan is one of the most high-risk zones for disaster, the
education regarding disasters or crises is provided to children from elementary to junior high
school grades in the form of evacuation drills. However, after a certain age, the involvement
in disasters becomes low and it serves as a threat to society. Hence, the use of digital
technology promotes the involvement of high school students in disaster education
programmes. The study used a cloud-based learning platform with a total of three workshops
being conducted and after the workshop the findings revealed that there was a significant
amount of change in the imagination, mutual aid, and interest of learners. Students' approach
towards attaining knowledge and their behavior about disasters displayed differences as
compared to at the start of the workshop. Therefore, we can see that the right use of
technology can support in communicating about disaster education and also enhances young
children’s interest in safety in today’s changing world.
One must also understand the need and importance of disaster education as a requirement for
the global community. As the population is growing worldwide with the increase in the
frequency of natural disasters, everyone becomes susceptible to the disasters' impact.
Therefore, education in disaster preparedness and its response is highly essential in order to
make people aware, and to make well-informed decisions, so that it minimizes the risk to life,
property, and environmental damage.