A Critical Analysis of Dramatization on Evacuation Drill

Abstract

This paper presents a critical analysis of dramatization used in an evacuation drill in Indonesian elementary schools. Practical safety procedures become more prioritized than theoretical knowledge when it comes to saving a life from the risk of a natural disaster. Evacuation drill provides practice of safety procedures that contribute to raising public awareness of disaster risk. Evacuation drill, then, becomes essential in promoting Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) awareness. During the evacuation drill, role-playing becomes a new trend to communicate DRR strategy to the school community. In this paper, the methods used for data collection are observation and interview. A three-step data process applied for data interpretation: transcription, coding, and description. A critical analysis presented with a focus on three-parameter: respond, remember, and readiness. Fourteen elementary schools were visited. Fourteen school principals and fourteen teachers were interviewed as the representative of their school communities. The observations show that roleplaying in evacuation drill affects the community's attention in DRR. The interview with the school principals and teachers shows positive responses towards role-playing during the evacuation drill. However, although the school community shows positive respond, the school principals and teachers also identified the challenge in conducting the evacuation drill with drama setting. About 57.1% of the school principals thought that dramatization during evacuation drill is time-consuming, and 64.2% of teachers also feel the same. About 42.8% of school principals admitted that their school community is not ready if the real disaster occurred. Meanwhile, 71.4% of teachers admitted that they might not act appropriately if the real disaster occurs. The interviews with the school principals also show that their attention towards evacuation drill does not guarantee the commitment from the school community to continue the program independently. About 78.5% of the school principals admitted they would continue the drill as long as there is an instruction from the local authorities. A dramatization, as the nature of role-playing, provides the emotional aspect that affects the ability to make a decision during a critical condition. However, the capacity of the brain to remember the detail of information is limited. People often forget the detail of information, but they often remember part of the information that interesting, exciting, and eye-catching for them. Further research for evaluating the implementation of evacuation drill in schools is needed to develop better DRR training and education for the school community.