14th May 2009
The mechanism of training
teachers/educators in disaster
prevention education
Justin Sharpe
Teacher, Beal High School
PhD candidate, Kings College London
Context:

After the Magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Pakistan on 8th October
2005 UNICEF estimated that 32,000 children were killed, 42,000
children injured, and 160,000 to 250,000 children left without
assistance (UNICEF, 2005). At least 17,000 child deaths occurred
when 6,700 school buildings collapsed. A similar proportion of deaths
among children were reported in the aftermath of the magnitude 6.7
Bam Earthquake in Iran in December 2003, with 30% of Bam’s
32,443 school children killed by the earthquake (UNICEF, 2004).
Children who have experienced natural disaster may
no longer have a home, school or family members to
care for them. This will result in a wide range of
risks. If there is widespread disruption and damage
to both the child’s home and to services accessed by
the child such as schools, playgroups and parks, this
can have a greater psychological effect on a child.
Children as capacity builders:
John Twigg, reported (2004) on the findings of a
Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment by the Palestine Red
Crescent which collected children’s drawings showing :
 They were well aware of the threats facing the community;
 Viewed disasters and their consequences as part of the
broader environment, not as self-contained events;
And most importantly…
 Were full of ideas for preparedness.
 Twigg also makes the point those current and future
projects:

“need to build on such activities to involve children
more fully in their broader mitigation and
preparedness work at community level”
What does and doesn’t work in disaster prevention:
Lindel and Perry (2000) found that belief in the effectiveness of
an action is the strongest predictor of adoption.

McClure (2006) and Palm and Hodgson (1992) similarly found that
people must personalize the probable consequences of disaster
before they will act.

Studies show that people are more likely to believe in the
effectiveness of a behavior when that behavior is promoted through
a story rather than through a technical presentation of facts (Heath
& Heath, 2008).

What does and doesn’t work in disaster prevention:
 Radio
dramas, fictional accounts, and dramatic plays have been used
effectively to increase risk awareness and implementation of
protective action throughout Latin America and Asia.
 In
other words…
 Make
your approach interactive and experiential - engage your
audience, rather than preaching at it.’ (Petal, M, 2000) This also leads
to a discussion of the hazards by children with their peers, teachers
and
parents.
 This
is an integral part of the education process as it leads people to
find out: ‘Can I do anything to reduce the risks?’ This would begin to
address the goal of public education about geo-hazards – to ‘change
people’s behaviour’ (Public Education for Earthquake Hazards, Sara
Nathe et al, 1999).
QuickTime™ and a
H.264 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
 Teachers
are not radically different from their students in many
ways and enjoy learning about new pedagogies and new subject
material.
 And
like their students, teachers will be more receptive to
imaginative and entertaining ways for engaging both them in
education for disaster prevention.
 So
part of the mechanism for teacher training is for them to test
their own multiple intelligences as put forward by Howard Gardner.
I
would series of table top exercises and actual physical exercises
where teams of teachers learn by doing reflecting and then doing
again with their students:

Emergency Go-Bag scavenger hunt or art activity for selection of items.

Games to develop response skills (e.g. Pull Aim Squeeze Sweep, bucket
brigades transferring water in or debris out).

Making table-top shake table model and simulating effects on building
contents.

Designing non-structural mitigation solutions and problemsolving,Researching safety of own school buildings and homes.

Transportation assistance skills,Activities developing Check, Call, Care and
life-saving skills.

Table top exercise based in an emergency scenario, with complexity added
over time to test a range of thinking skills in a crisis

Skits, poems and song-composition and performance based on what they
have learned.



This would not only help teachers understand and reflect on their
own strengths, but of those around them in their group.
It would be clear that even within a small group of teachers that
multiple intelligences theory has a practical application and would
impress the importance of flexible teaching and learning for
disaster prevention education.
This ties in with Carol Dweck (1999) theories of self. She labels
the two theories ‘Entity theory’, in which you believe that you are
born with a fixed amount of intelligence, and ‘Incremental theory’,
in which intelligence can be developed through effort and
engagement.
A
belief in fixed intelligence raises students’
concerns about how smart they are, it creates anxiety
about challenges, and it makes failures into a measure
of their fixed intelligence. It can therefore create
disorganised, defensive, and helpless behaviour.
A
belief in malleable intelligence creates a desire for
challenge and learning. Setbacks in this framework
become an expected part of long- term learning and
mastery and are therefore not really failures.
Instead they are cues for renewed effort and new
strategies.
(Dweck, 2000)


The first part of the quote above warns against a belief in fixed
intelligence as it can create, ‘disorganised, defensive and helpless
behaviour’. This is just what disaster prevention practitioners have been
battling with in adults whose response to hazard threats is to ‘do
nothing’, as they believe the hazard to be too big to do anything about or
believe
it
is
the
role
of
others
to
protect
them.
Ronan and Johnston (2001) examined the work carried out by (Weinstein
(1980), Perlof and Fetzer (1983) and others in order to explain why
people react in the way that they do when faced with living with
hazards. Their research suggests that lack of knowledge and
understanding coupled with a need for personal control, causes many of
those at risk to develop the concept of “illusions of unique
invulnerability”(Perlof and Felzer, 1983). This in turn allows them to
create a certain stereotype for the type of person likely to become a
victim of a hazard event; and if they don’t fit that stereotype, the
perceived risk to them is less. (Ronan & Johnston, 2001, p3).

Multiple intelligence theory can also be applied to develop curriculum
materials for teachers to use when teaching disaster prevention:
Linguistic
Intelligence - useful for getting students to re-write
advice and educational materials for children. This does not need
to be presented in an essay format but could also be used to
create a comic strip or even for planning out a storyboard for a
film
or
animation.
Logical/Mathematical
Intelligence - students with this as a
strength would enjoy undertaking the role of the seismologist
working out the epicenters of earthquakes using P-wave minus Swave seismogram data to triangulate the epicenter of an
earthquake
for
example.
Musical
Rhythmic Intelligence - students with these skills could
compose a song about the dangers in their community and a gobag rap for preparedness!
Bodily/Kinesthetic
- These skills can be used when deciding what items to put
in a go-bag and then putting them together, or filming short preparedness
films.
Spatial
Intelligence includes the ability to represent the spatial world
internally in ones mind – students with this skill will enjoy map-making,
surveying hazards in their community and even identifying escape routes and
helping
to
plan!
Naturalist
Intelligence - of great use when considering what types of action
or inaction may increase the risk from hazards, such as deforestation or
removing rocks from rivers that may increase flood risk, for example.
Intrapersonal
Intelligence - These students tend to know what they can and
can't do, but also know where to go if they need help. Students like this are
very good at forming and running committees, getting things done and seeking
out the right people to help them in the community.
Interpersonal
Intelligence - Students who have learned about how
to protect themselves, but want local government to help them to
achieve this in their schools and community would be good at
communicating this need to politicians, or school governors.
Existential
Intelligence is where the ability and proclivity to pose
(and ponder) questions about life, death, and ultimate realities.
Disaster prevention fit into this category well and the philosophy
of disaster prevention might be discussed – What can be done?
Why do some people ignore the threats or fail to take protective
measures? By exploring these issues as a class, students may be
more inclined to make their own decisions about mitigating for the
risk!
HOWEVER:
 Unless
the teachers have personalized the learning for themselves and have
engaged with the subject, effective learning for disaster prevention
education will not occur.
 What
teachers can teach and facilitate effectively both inside and outside
of the classroom depends on both their confidence with the subject as well
as in their own abilities and teaching styles to be able to promote active
engagements with the learners or students. Research has shown (O’Donnell,
2006) that there are significant academic gains to students from working
collaboratively in groups.
 This
academic gain may result in better knowledge and understanding, which
again may impact on both current and future decision-making regarding
protection measures from hazards at home, at school and in the community.
However an inexperienced or unconfident teacher may not attempt
collaborative working, as he or she may not be willing to take risks that may
lead to a noisy or chaotic classroom.
REMEMBER:
 Teachers
are NOT the only people working in education. In order to create
holistic and fully integrated disaster prevention education the wider school
needs top be involved. This includes teachers, managers, administrators and
support staff as well as students and their parents.
 When
individuals (including teachers and educators) must personalise the
probable consequences of disasters before they will act (McClure 2006;
Palm and Hodgson 1992).
 Barriers
to hazard adoption include doubt about the effectiveness of
particular measures, and lack of belief in one’s personal ability to carry them
out (Lindell and Perry 2000; Mulilis and Duval 1995). It is decisions about
the action, rather than specifics about the hazard that motivate risk
reduction behaviour.
An holistic approach to disaster prevention education:




There is a body pedagogical research that strongly indicates that experiential
learning, in which the experience of the learner at the heart of the strategy,
hold untapped promise for disaster risk reduction education.
Experiential learning holds that learners actively construct their own
experience (Boud, Cohen and Walker, 1993)
A more participative, learner-centred approach, emphasizing direct
engagement, rich learning events and the construction of meaning by learners is
promoted (Foley, 1995).
And of course much of the teacher training process is an experiential one with
planning of lessons, the teaching and interaction with students and then
learning to become a reflective practitioner in order to develop as a
professional and become a more competent and experienced teacher. It would
be relatively simple extend this process to the teaching of educators and
teachers for disaster prevention education and indeed could become integrated
simply into teacher training curriculum.


Drills, of course, are inherently intended to be an experiential learning activity.
Realizing the full potential of drills may require a more systematic and
reflective application of the theory. Complementary activities that engage
participants in learning by doing, experiencing and then, after reflection, acting
hold similar promise for disaster risk reduction education.
However unless the school takes drills and emergency planning seriously (not
just for the sometimes more abstract disaster scenario) but for every day
scenario’s such as an intruder on site, fire and lockdown drills, for example, then
the appropriate paper work, responsibilities and training of staff is unlikely to
have been carried out. Nevertheless, a teacher interested in drills because of
concerns for safety for students and staff, such as union representatives, may
be the type of teachers to target alongside head teachers and administrators.
Again ready made and easily adaptable resources need to be made available –
both virtual and hard copy, in local languages so that teacher advocates can take
the initiative themselves.
Conclusions:


Clearly everyone learns in different ways and if teachers recognise this,
their students will be enabled to think for themselves and with the right
knowledge gained in the classroom realise that they are responsible for
their own safety as much as it is their parent’s, teacher or society’s
responsibility. This self-efficacy and confidence will help them share
their knowledge and understanding with parents and other relatives who
may also begin to make their own adjustments for their own safety.
Teachers that have undergone training should be tested as to their
knowledge and understanding by allowing them to respond to a given
scenario and by adding complexity to the scenario both teachers and
trainers will see the limitations of the methods they are using to teach,
which will continue to develop reflective practitioners in the classroom
and in the wider community as part of the experiential learning cycle
which is said to have started with Confucius.

From various research sources we know that we remember:

5% of a lecture

10% of what is read,

20% of what is gleaned from audio visual sources (TV and Radio),

30% from demonstration,

50% from discussing with peers,

75% through practice by doing (such as learning to drive)

90% from teaching others.


So for truly successful and meaningful education for disaster prevention we
need to turn our students into teachers to make them understand what they
should be learning.
If teachers realize this as part of their training for disaster prevention great
progress may be made as the quality of teaching and learning for disaster
prevention will be such that it has a real and lasting impact on the attitudes
towards hazard events as their students develop an internal locus of control,
realizing that as individuals and collectively they have the ability and the
responsibility to protect themselves and more importantly, they act on this
knowledge.

Thank you