APPLICABLE METHODS IN TEACHING EARTHQUAKES TO

PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

Y. O. Izadkhah1 and V. Heshmati2

ABSTRACT

It has been demonstrated that earthquake education from the early ages of children in preschool levels can be
a suitable vehicle for increasing their knowledge to deal with earthquakes. Also, the transfer of this
knowledge to the family and to the wider community seems feasible and promising in the development of a
future seismic safety culture in the country. Various methods and activities have been designed and used in
different parts of the world for educating the preschool children for disasters. In this paper, few of the
applicable methods as well as other appropriate activities proposed by teachers are chosen, compared and
tested in 10 nursery schools in four various geographical areas of the capital city of Tehran with more than
200 children. Children of ages 5 and 6 have been tested and questioned and interviews have been undertaken
with teachers, administrators and parents. The results of this study reveal the most applicable and feasible
methods for teaching earthquakes to small children through evaluation and comparison of these methods.

Introduction
The unpredictable timing of earthquakes urges the need for considering the safety of the very young children
who form the future of any community (Izadkhah 2006). Preschool children are one of the most vulnerable
groups in any society and their protection merits enhanced protection. In kindergartens in Iran, children range
from two to six years of age. The six year old children in the preschool stage are prepared to progress to
primary schools. There are around 1043 private kindergartens in Tehran including: independent (those
governmental organisations which have got their own kindergartens), private (non-governmental) and
governmental. According to the Data Information of Welfare Organisation in 2006, around 60878 children
were attending preschool level in Tehran with 6734 teachers teaching in these kindergartens (Behzisti Tehran
Website 2007).

The preschool education is teacher-based and teachers use their own creative ways of teaching based on their
experience and tastes considering the outlines and contents which is provided to them by the Behzisti
Organisation. Besides, safety measures in other sectors are taught to children at preschool level. Issues such as

1
Assistant Professor, Risk Management Research Centre, Socio-Economic and Cultural Studies Dept.
International Inst. of Earthquake Engr. and Seismology (IIEES), P.O. Box 19395/3913, Tehran, Iran, Tel: 0098
21 222831116, email: izad@iiees.ac.ir
2
Education and Technology Expert, Public Education Department, IIEES, P.O. Box 19395/3913, Tehran, Iran,
Tel: 0098 21 222831116, email: heshmati@iiees.ac.ir
“how to cross a street”; “how to avoid eating contaminated food”; “how to brush teeth”; and “how to use the
dangerous utensils such as knives” is been taught by teachers using their discretion as to what is appropriate
for the children. However, the scope of teaching earthquake issues has a higher priority and is more controlled
than the above instructions concerning everyday threats. This is continuously supported by institutes such as
International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology (IIEES) due to the frequent occurrence of
earthquakes in the country.

Children’s Learning

The greatest legacy among the many contributions that Piaget (1969) has made to the understanding of
children in educational terms is the respect his theory inspires for children’s capabilities as learners and
architects of their own understanding. His theory also identifies other educational phenomena such as
children’s capacity for self-correction and self-instruction. These perceptions lend credibility to a view of
children as self-motivated and self-directing agents of their own development (Wood 1988, Izadkhah 2004).
Vygotsky (1962) drew attention to the historical and cultural relativity of knowledge and the importance of
social interaction, communication and instruction, (both formal and informal), in the transmission of that
knowledge. Additionally, the relations between children and adults are important, as is the role of teachers.
For subscribers to the Piaget theory, interactions between children play a major role in facilitating the course
of development as children are thought to stimulate each other towards more objective and rational
understanding. Vygotsky also emphasised on interactions between children as an important role in the
transmission of knowledge. There are a number of studies which lend credibility to these views. For example,
in a review of research, titled “Can Two Wrongs Make a Right?”, Glachin and Light (1982) discuss the
results of previous experiments which demonstrate that when children work together, in some circumstances,
they can effectively solve problems. Study of Brown et al (1984) also demonstrates peer interaction in
learning.

Hart in (1992) noted that children’s participation requires adults who are interested in listening to them and
helping them in developing their skills. In (1998), Hart states that over a number of decades, a sense of self-
control by children over their environment has been known. He further notes that children are able to easily
manage stressful experiences and can show initiative in new tasks and in forming relations with others. The
social and communication skills of children up to 7 years old adapted from Hart are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. The social and communication skills of children up to 7 years old

Children (up to 7 years) Social skills Communication skills

In addition, different types of activities for children such as learning through practice, team work, discussion,
role-playing, and demonstrations are among methods that can facilitate the process of learning that are
proposed by teachers in this study (Izadkhah 2006a). Kaul (1998) emphasises that children learn things from
active participation in its best way. Therefore, playing should be part of the activities for children. This makes
the children to experience the environment more and hence the learned definitions and practices become
clearer in their mind. This also leads them to think more logically. An environment that can motivate a child
has a great effect on the degree of his/her learning. This environment will:
1) Provide opportunities for child to confront various places, experiments and experience various things.
2) Provide situations where the child confronts the older people and various groups or peers and can exchange
ideas.
3) Guarantees the emotional support and security for the child.

In the next section, various media used in Iran for educating children about earthquakes are presented.
Selected Media

Different types of learning for children have been identified from various sources such as learning through
practice, working in groups, dialogues between children and teachers, role-playing, games, and practical
demonstrations that may all be effective depending on the context they are used. Again, it is argued that still
there might be some media that is more popular with different groups. Few of these media are employed in
this study to be compared and to identify the most favorite ones.

Songs

Audio and visual tapes can be beneficially used in preschool level, in addition to which children can benefit
from the messages conveyed by music, songs and films. In Iran, audio-tapes are used to disseminate safety
messages to families including recommended preparatory measures such as sheltering during earthquakes,
and recovery activities after an earthquake (Parsizadeh et al 2007). An audio-tape is produced by IIEES and is
used in Iran in kindergartens. The tape presents safety recommendations to be applied during an earthquake in
the form of a song, “Earthquake and safety”, accompanied by a lively music. Children are very receptive to
the song which is simple and easily understood. The tape also incorporates a simply worded conversational
explanation of some scientific principles relating to earthquakes and appropriate safety measures to be taken
in a manner which is appealing to children and welcoming to the parents. However, in this method, it seems
that children mostly learn the theory side of the practice, unless the learning is accompanied with performance.

Maquettes

One of the other media used for teaching children about earthquakes is maquettes. The instructor can teach
the safe and dangerous places by narrating a story. The children then are asked to have a look at the scale
model house and identify the right and wrong places to shelter. Additionally, children can be asked to
recognise if the positions of safe places to shelter were correctly chosen. Sometimes the children are asked to
propose suggestions on how to locate the homes appliances or how the people in the house should shelter safely.

Board Games

Board games have been designed to help children gain a better understanding of disasters. The board game
designed for teaching about earthquakes has 36 squares with a start and an end point. There are various
activities shown in the board game. The correct and inappropriate safety measures and sheltering are
illustrated in the board randomly and the children need to address what is asked from them by the teacher.
Children have to recognise these measures after they learned the story.

Glove Puppets

Teaching through glove puppets not only arouses the interest of children in learning but also improves their
understanding. However, not all teachers seem to be interested in taking the trouble of teaching through
puppets, as it requires writing the script and practising voice modulation. Nevertheless, experience has
demonstrated that children on their part seem to be thoroughly enjoying their lessons through the medium of
glove puppets. They would follow the story narrated by the puppet in detail and would like to get involve in
answering the puppet’s questions. They narrate the story afterward for their parents or peers in detail.

Drawings

Drawing is another media for promoting awareness among children and young people. Every year during the
‘Natural Disaster Week’ in Iran, there are additional activities provided for children, such as “Earthquake
Drawing Exhibitions and Competitions” to raise their awareness and knowledge of earthquakes. In this
method, the correct sheltering in appropriate places is taught to the children and they are asked to draw it on
the board or on a piece of paper afterward. By using this method, they can express their inner feelings through
drawing which helps the teachers to grasp the amount of children’s learning, the safety measures and correct
sheltering. Sometimes, after teaching about proper sheltering, a drawing will be shown to the children and
they are asked to show the correct and incorrect places on that drawing.

Role-playing

Role-playing and drama have become increasingly popular in working with children. Role-playing is one of
the effective means that usually attracts the attention of children. This provides them with the opportunity to
express their feelings and interact with each other. In this way, children become actively involved in a
realistic learning process and gain the opportunity to express their ideas and comments (Parsizadeh et al
2003). This approach is one the favorite medium for teaching disaster issues, used in most kindergartens and
primary schools in Iran, mostly in latter, and has received a considerable attention from the children’s part.

Methodology

10 kindergartens were taught by a team of two educational staff of IIEES. These kindergartens were chosen
based on their location in four various geographical areas of East, West, North and South in the capital city of
Tehran. They were: Fardaye Roshan, Iran Mehr, Melina, Molood, Narenji, Negin, Nina, Pooyandegan,
Shaparak, and Vista alphabetically.

257 children (118 girls and 139 boys) were taught through six methods explained above in two weeks and
were tested to evaluate their degree of knowledge and retention of the earthquake information and safety
measures after two weeks. Each group was taught 30 minutes in six different methods, shown in Fig. 1. Due
to the limited number of preschoolers in few of the kindergartens, a same method was taught in more than one
kindergarten.

Figure 1. Various media used for teaching earthquakes to preschoolers

Various tools were used in this study, such as questionnaires, interviews and personal observations. In the
questions designed for preschoolers, an attempt was made to provide open questions. As Peterson, et al (1999)
have stated, the answer to a closed question is readily available. But in the case of an open question, the
information is requested from the reader and the response will not be something generated by “guessing”.
Therefore, using yes and no questions was avoided in order to grasp the real understanding of the child on the
issue. The materials designed as well as questions asked addressed few issues such as earthquake definition,
correct actions during an earthquake, earthquake song, children’s interest in learning about earthquakes and
the transfer of learnt knowledge to the parents. There were also interviews with some of the children
randomly. Forms were conducted and distributed to children’s parents to see if the taught messages have been
gone across to the parents. In addition, there were interviews with the instructors in half of the kindergartens.
One of administrators stated that ‘children are motivated to learn about earthquakes and to tell their families
about this without feeling fear’. Teachers also indicated that repetition in teaching earthquake issues can
decrease the possible fear in the children and will increase their interest in learning about disasters. A list of
the findings was prepared after each class was observed. During these observations, a comprehensive written
record was made of all verbal responses and comments plus any significant non-verbal actions observed
during the class. Observations revealed the high interest of the children towards learning about disasters as
shown in Fig. 2 respectively, (songs, board games, maquettes, puppet gloves, drawings and role-playing).

Figure 2. Children performing/ learning various methods

Additionally, it was revealed that a few methods were more popular with the children, such as puppet gloves
and role-playing. The advantage of the former method is that children had learned all the details about the
story and narrated it to their parents as illustrated in Fig. 3.

120
100
80
60
40
20 Girls
0 Boys
Yes
No

Figure 3. Number of children who have transferred the puppet story to their homes

As noted, children were also asked questions individually about what they have learned and most of the
answers were correct. In addition, the teachers were also interviewed by the disaster expert, Fig. 4.

Figure 4. Interview with children and the teachers

It was also revealed that only few of the children were not listening or were disturbed by the distracting noises,
however, most of them were listening to the tutors carefully and with interest. The latter case did happen
especially in classes where the puppet glove was taught by the instructors. In addition, the children who were
taught through board games did have the knowledge of how and where to shelter, but did not perform well
when they were asked. In addition, it seemed that girls were listening more to what the instructor was
teaching than boys. Although in few classes, one or two boys were the source of distractions, but surprisingly
sometimes some boys provided more appropriate and to the point answers in comparison to girls.

Further observations from this study revealed the most appropriate methods and media used for teaching
children age 5 and 6 about disasters and few other issues such as:
- Teaching about earthquakes in the kindergartens play an important role in providing a base
knowledge of disasters in children.
- Teaching by glove puppets proved to be the most effective method in this study, since the children
explained the narrated story by the puppet in detail for their peers or families. They all seemed to
have learned the simple definition of earthquake properly and retained it in their mind.
- Role-playing was also very popular. In this method, children could think of tangible situation and
feel it naturally. This method stimulates their interest and makes them feel involved in the allocated
roles and responsibilities and to provide correct reactions. Based on the observation in this paper, it
seems that children could reach a certain level of self-confidence in confronting earthquakes through
role-playing.
- In general, practical performance received more attraction from the children. Children were asked to
demonstrate the correct sheltering in the time of an earthquake as shown in Fig. 5. They were all
interested to imitate the teacher or their peers and demonstrate their learning.

Figure 5. Children performed the safety measures based on their knowledge and what they learnt

- Due to the rhythmic nature of the earthquake song, it remains in the children mind for a long time
and with its repetition, the main message (safety against earthquakes) will be transferred to the
families. The point to be mentioned is that if learning by songs is not accompanied with another
method such as role-playing and appropriate postures, etc, it might not provide any correct clue to
the child on how to shelter in an earthquake.
- There was no sign of fear in children on the earthquake issue if they were taught with amusing
methods.
- A majority of children transferred what they have learned about earthquakes to their families.
- The number of children in a session made a difference on the way they performed in their classes,
however teaching in small groups is more effective than individual learning.
 - The degree of retention on taught earthquake issues was high among most of the children. It was
interesting to see that a majority of the children still deeply remembered what they have learned
about earthquakes after two weeks.
- The interest of teachers in using elective methods would make a difference in the way children learn
about disasters. Teachers insisted in attending “Training of Trainers” courses that is conducted and
taught by reliable experts who have knowledge and experience of disasters. They emphasised that
teaching about earthquakes should be considered as a continuous process starting from preschool up
to university levels.
- The role of parents to motivate children in learning about earthquake measures was important.
Therefore, there is a need to strengthen the perception of the parents toward earthquakes and learning
about them.
- Figure 6 illustrates the most favorite methods chosen by children stated in their interviews and
revealed from observations.

40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Puppet Role- Songs Board Models Drawing
Gloves playing Games

Figure 6. Favorite methods favored by the children

- The degree of motivation of the kindergarten’s administrators had a great effect on the way teachers
would become interested in teaching these materials. It is important for a teacher to create a clear
picture of earthquakes for the children in order for them to consider earthquakes as a natural and an
unpredictable phenomenon.

Suggestions and Conclusions

- A simulated earthquake should be conducted for children to evaluate their reactions in a real situation.
This method has been piloted before (Parsizadeh, et al 2003) and has had shown a great impact on
children’s learning. This can be done with advanced permission from the parents.

- Teaching about earthquakes needs to be started from early ages. This helps in shaping the knowledge
of children on the issue as they grow. It is worth mentioning that learning in this age and at this stage
is very deep and sustainable and children easily transfer what they learn to their families.

- Teaching about earthquakes needs to be inserted in the preschool children formal and informal
curriculum in order to be taught regularly. There is a section called “Earth” in the preschooler’s
teaching syllabus that earthquake issues can be inserted.

- Using a mixture of various elective methods and tools is also suggested to prevent children from
becoming bored. For example, the basic teaching can be done with a specific method such as using
puppet gloves. Then at the stage of repetition and practice, other educational tools such as role-play
can be used in order to stimulate the interest of children.

- Holding educational workshops for kindergarten teachers and administrators is needed. This helps in
creating a positive perception on earthquakes as well as to familiarise children with various
 educational methods effectively.
- Earthquake drills that are held annually for the kindergarten children in Tehran can be expanded
across the country. This is a good opportunity for children to perform what they have learned on
earthquakes in the form of various activities such as role-playing, songs, drawings, etc. Additionally,
as noted earlier, this helps in transference of the learned knowledge to wider groups of the society.

It is proposed that children can act as a key factor in the promotion of a safety culture, leading to disaster
prevention and risk reduction. Therefore, educating the children, as the future of any community at risk, can
be regarded as an effective strategy to communicate safety messages to the entire community and serves to
disseminate vital information to most of the population via the knowledge, skills and enthusiastic motivation
of children. The children convey messages throughout society, starting with their parents. Therefore, using
effective methods in teaching about disasters especially earthquakes can facilitate the process of learning and
sharing the information and experience with others. Various existing methods for teaching preschoolers have
been tested and compared in this study in order to come up with more effective methods in teaching disasters
to preschoolers in the future.

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