Post-Disaster Volunteering after the 2023 Earthquakes in Türkiye: Impacts on Children and Preservice Teachers

Abstract This study examines the psychosocial support program implemented after the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes in Türkiye, focusing on its impact on children and volunteer preservice teachers, and comparing it with the roles of professional educators. Using a qualitative design with thematic analysis, the findings show that the program supported emotional recovery, social connectedness, and resilience among children, while fostering pedagogical skills, emotional resilience, and civic awareness in volunteers. Volunteers contributed through flexible, creative, and relational approaches that not only complemented but also diverged from professional educators by providing unique forms of engagement and impact that professionals could not achieve. The study highlights how volunteering in crisis contexts supports both children's healing and volunteers’ professional and civic development, underscoring the need to empower faculties of education to more actively promote volunteering among preservice teachers.