International Cooperation: Interventions in Enhancing Disaster Education in Turkey

Abstract

After Marmara earthquake in 1999, disaster education of formal education system in Turkey has been drastically changed in 2005. It includes more units dealing with disaster education in different subjects, as interdisciplinary approach. However, teachers at schools were not fully responding to the changes; teachers themselves were not confident enough to teach disaster education.

To improve the situations, concept is developed, and approaches were taken from three dimensions; human resource, tool, and system. Regarding human resource, basic trainings for gaining knowledge of disaster risk reduction, and workshops for preparing lesson plans, and demonstration classes were conducted, inviting several teachers from Japan. After the enhancement of the practical disaster education, a contest of lesson plans was conducted. Regarding tools, handbooks were prepared among core master teachers, which can be utilized in classrooms easily by teachers. Finally for the sustainability, system was proposed and some has been operated. How to cascade the teacher trainings has been precisely planned in each province and methodology of monitoring and evaluation was developed, and inspectors at provinces were trained. The evaluation and monitoring report are shared at Ministry’s advisory group to reflect into their own policy for better implementation. At provincial level, the master teacher circle which intends to conduct demonstration classes for other colleagues was proposed. Inspectors in charge of disaster education are allocated, and core master teachers who instruct and advise other teachers for disaster education are proposed. At each school, one teacher being responsible for disaster education is assigned.

This chapter describes how lessons of Japanese disaster education were adopted and how the international cooperation was conducted.