11:15 AM - 11:30 AM
[G02-03] Survey results of junior high school teachers' awareness of earthquake and tsunami in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan
Keywords:Nankai Trough Earthquake, Tsunami, Junior High School Teachers, Disaster Prevention Education, Natural disaster, Kobe City
According to the "Long-Term Evaluation of Seismic Activity in the Nankai Trough (Second Edition)" published in 2013, "Over the past 1,400 years, major earthquakes have occurred in the Nankai Trough releasing accumulated strain at intervals of approximately 100 to 200 years, with the Showa Tonankai Earthquake (1944) and Showa Nankai Earthquake (1946) being recent examples. Nearly 70 years have passed since the Showa Tonankai and Showa Nankai earthquakes occurred, and the possibility of the next major earthquake in the Nankai Trough is increasing. According to the "Update of the Probability of Earthquake Occurrence Based on the Long-Term Assessment by the Earthquake Research Committee" released in 2023, the probability of a major Nankai Trough earthquake occurring within the next 20 years has been raised to "about 60%. Despite this high probability of a Nankai Trough earthquake, the content and opportunities for teaching about Nankai Trough earthquake and tsunami disaster prevention education in junior high schools are not set in stone and vary from school to school.
The place where the first author works (Kobe City) suffered unprecedented damage from the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu Earthquake. The City of Kobe has designated January 17 as "Citizens' Disaster Prevention Day" to remember the earthquake and pass it on to future generations, and various related events are held around this day. All elementary and junior high schools in Kobe City hold "Earthquake Memorial" events on this day to commemorate and learn about disaster prevention, and junior high school students are perfectly capable of "shaking out" the disaster. By the way, there seems to be a gap in instructional content among junior high school teachers due to differences in their knowledge of earthquakes and tsunamis and their experiences with earthquake disasters. This is due to the fact that 28 years have passed since the earthquake, most of the teachers who were teaching at junior high schools at the time have retired, and there are fewer teachers who can speak about those days, as well as an increase in teachers from other regions and younger teachers. Another reason is that the curriculum for earthquake and tsunami disaster prevention is left to the discretion of each school.
Therefore, we conducted a survey of all teachers in 18 Kobe City junior high schools (22.0% of all junior high schools) on their attitudes toward earthquake/tsunami and disaster education. The purpose of the survey was to analyze junior high school teachers' attitudes toward Nankai Trough earthquakes and tsunamis and their education, and to use the results to promote disaster education in Kobe City in the future. The survey was conducted by means of a multiple-choice and open-ended questionnaire survey that asked about "knowledge about earthquakes and tsunamis," "awareness" of Nankai Trough earthquakes and tsunamis, "teaching experience," "handling in science and social studies (geography) classes," "what they want to know as instructors," and "whether they would like to receive assistance from specialists.
The survey yielded 339 valid responses. The percentage of respondents teaching Japanese, mathematics, science, social studies, English, and health and physical education was about 14% each, while music, art, and technical home economics were about 5% each. The age distribution of teachers was 24% in their 20s, 30% in their 30s, 18% in their 40s, 21% in their 50s, and 8% in their 60s or older. The amount of text in responses to free-text questions such as "How to handle in class" and "What I want to know as an instructor" was large, indicating a high level of interest in the Nankai Trough earthquake and tsunami. In the presentation, we will present some of the results of this survey.
The place where the first author works (Kobe City) suffered unprecedented damage from the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu Earthquake. The City of Kobe has designated January 17 as "Citizens' Disaster Prevention Day" to remember the earthquake and pass it on to future generations, and various related events are held around this day. All elementary and junior high schools in Kobe City hold "Earthquake Memorial" events on this day to commemorate and learn about disaster prevention, and junior high school students are perfectly capable of "shaking out" the disaster. By the way, there seems to be a gap in instructional content among junior high school teachers due to differences in their knowledge of earthquakes and tsunamis and their experiences with earthquake disasters. This is due to the fact that 28 years have passed since the earthquake, most of the teachers who were teaching at junior high schools at the time have retired, and there are fewer teachers who can speak about those days, as well as an increase in teachers from other regions and younger teachers. Another reason is that the curriculum for earthquake and tsunami disaster prevention is left to the discretion of each school.
Therefore, we conducted a survey of all teachers in 18 Kobe City junior high schools (22.0% of all junior high schools) on their attitudes toward earthquake/tsunami and disaster education. The purpose of the survey was to analyze junior high school teachers' attitudes toward Nankai Trough earthquakes and tsunamis and their education, and to use the results to promote disaster education in Kobe City in the future. The survey was conducted by means of a multiple-choice and open-ended questionnaire survey that asked about "knowledge about earthquakes and tsunamis," "awareness" of Nankai Trough earthquakes and tsunamis, "teaching experience," "handling in science and social studies (geography) classes," "what they want to know as instructors," and "whether they would like to receive assistance from specialists.
The survey yielded 339 valid responses. The percentage of respondents teaching Japanese, mathematics, science, social studies, English, and health and physical education was about 14% each, while music, art, and technical home economics were about 5% each. The age distribution of teachers was 24% in their 20s, 30% in their 30s, 18% in their 40s, 21% in their 50s, and 8% in their 60s or older. The amount of text in responses to free-text questions such as "How to handle in class" and "What I want to know as an instructor" was large, indicating a high level of interest in the Nankai Trough earthquake and tsunami. In the presentation, we will present some of the results of this survey.