What are teachers' opinions about including topics of natural events and their risks in primary curriculum in Kocaeli (Turkey)?

According to the research findings from this study on the Primary Science and Technology Program, teachers in the working group knew that natural events topics were important and needed to be a part of the school curriculum. This is similar to the findings of Buluş-Kırıkkaya, Oğuz-Ünver and Çakın (2011): "Teachers were seeing important of the learning outcomes associated with disaster training in the science program." Half of the teachers interviewed for the present study think that natural events and the disasters they cause should really be taught in the Primary Science and Technology Program. They reported that, unfortunately, these are not really being included in the curriculum. It can be said that teachers have gained awareness of the subject's importance since natural disasters have recently been given a significant amount of attention in the media. The other half of the teachers interviewed in this study expressed that natural disasters are adequately included in the Primary Science and Technology Program's curriculum. Because there are some who think these subjects do not need to be included in the program, those teachers may feel burdened by having to prepare for the subject, designing practices, and encountering obstacles with implementation. Buluş-Kırıkkaya, Oğuz-Ünver, and Çakın (2011) determined that one of the biggest obstacles teachers face is the lack of adequate workbooks about disaster training. They also mentioned to importance of having disaster training sources and materials for resolving teachers' shortcomings of teachers. Safe living and natural disaster prevention interdisciplinary learning outcomes, which are stated in the Primary Science and Technology Program, are only considered by half of the teachers. According to the results of this study, that half of the teachers are defending that learning outcomes, units, and applied activities teaching students about nature events and their risks would be more useful if applied in all grade levels. According to Macauley (2007), trainings for disaster and civil defense are not only included in the official programs, but they are also required to be taken to the educational programs rather than just talked among the teachers. Cardona's (2007) "Disaster Prevention in Columbia and Curriculum Adaptation" study stressed that are required to give permission to learning different levels exercises in for nursery, primary, and high school education about experiences on risk reduction and disaster preparation. In this study, a suitable program was created for all grades. It was described to need to be known for each level class. The role of education in post-earthquake situations has been understood, and the program has been successful. The other half of the participant teachers expressed having negative opinions regarding the inclusion of these topics in the science and technology lessons, as they either do not have any ideas especially of interdisciplinary learning outcomes or they think that these subjects are more relevant for social science. On the other hand, Chang (2005), adopting an earth sciences education approach and in a critical analysis of the science program, underlined that these topics should be a part of the Taiwan science program as well as in earth sciences education.

Teachers also expressed that they have had some difficulties with the "Natural Processes Unit." These are mostly related topics with 8th grade and the unit is only placed at the end of the year. Because of this, there is no time to discuss these topics adequately. Most of the 8th grade students who are being prepared for SBS exam do not come to school during the last month of the year. Students do not pay adequate attention to these subjects because they are not covered in the SBS.

Furthermore, it was determined from this finding that some teachers were unaware that there had been questions on natural events and disasters in the SBS exam for the last two years. This situation can be perceived as illustrating teachers' carelessness and it can be explained by students' indifference as well. This finding is supported by Buluş-Kırıkkaya, Oğuz-Ünver, and Çakın’s (2011) study. The authors determined that they can be not enough perform disaster education. When this topics can be teached to students, at the same time they have to be prepared related to done national examinations by the Ministry of National Education.

Teachers also noted that they prefer interactive and visual methods of teaching to realize the learning outcomes related to disasters caused by natural events. They reported that doing the workbook exercises with students and facilitating discussions increased student participation. In addition, they reported showing relevant videos. This finding is similar to another finding in Taş’s (2003) study. In this study, the author reported that teachers preferred a narration method and mainly used the blackboard and maps for topics related to natural events. Teachers made a number of recommendations for ways to make it more effective and comprehensible to teach about natural disasters in the Primary Science and Technology Program. One such recommendation was that topics about natural events and disaster can be included in the first unit. Another recommendation was to include the topics in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. Also, exercise should be done more often, be simpler, and associated with daily life; the allocated time for these topics needs to be increased; an application related to disaster training should be implemented; simulation centers should be constructed; and the placement exam should be given after the school's closure. That finding is similar to another one stated by Taş (2003), who pointed out that, "Both the teachers and the students want a unit to take part in the program since Turkey is originated on a disaster belt which can inform them about foreseen disasters in Turkey." The importance of earthquake exercises was supported by Ocal (2007), who conducted a study on teacher candidates.

According to Dodson (2007), implementations can have a long-term impact on minimizing the devastating effects caused by natural disasters. In addition, Biles and Cobos (2007) think that analyzing disaster zones and roughly drawing or taking photos of the zones can be a good start and can provide fundamental knowledge.