This year's SeaWeek theme is ‘Planet Ocean: How the ocean shapes the Earth’. Marine educators are holding events across Victoria and around Australia, and two of Monash University’s ‘ocean literacy’ proponents provide insights into why this campaign is so important and how schools can participate in teaching children about the ocean.

Alan Reid is a Professor of Education in Monash’s School of Curriculum, Teaching and Inclusive Education, and Isabella Strathairn is an early career teacher working in Victoria. This article flows from their recent investigation of Ocean Literacy in the Australian curriculum.

Dive into SeaWeek: Understanding the importance

In Australia, mainstream news often highlights the strained, unhealthy relationship between the country and its oceans. This coverage is a reminder that ‘ocean literacy' is poorly understood.

Ocean Literacy is defined as “an understanding of the ocean’s influence on you and your influence on the ocean”. An ocean-literate person understands key ocean concepts, communicates effectively about the ocean, and makes informed decisions regarding its resources. It's not just about knowing facts; it's about applying that knowledge for responsible decision-making.

There are seven Ocean Literacy principles as outlined below. Each principle can be used as a prompt for classroom discussions.

Why is Ocean Literacy so important?

This two minute UNESCO video tells the story of what ocean literacy is and why it matters. This video makes a powerful lesson starter.

Nearly all Australians live within 50 kilometres of the coast - 87% in fact. This equates to more than 22 million people and underscores the continuing need to understand the direct impact of the atmospheric, land and marine uses on our oceans.

As the world becomes better versed in climate issues, advocates argue that ocean literacy should be closely linked to climate literacy as they are interconnected. The ocean helps to stabilise the climate and our well being depends upon a healthy ocean. If children learn and understand that the ocean is not just a place of relaxation and respite but rather an integral part of life on earth, we will progress toward a more holistic governance of the ocean.

Challenges in Ocean Literacy Education

While SeaWeek is designed to be closely aligned with the Australian Curriculum, and the cross-curriculum priorities of Sustainability and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, the latest version of Australian Curriculum (v.9) has some gaps in terms of provision of ocean literacy. However, importantly it has been agreed by UNESCO’s 193 Member States to formally include ocean education in school curricula by 2025.

What do the experts say?

Harry Breidahl, a leading international marine and coastal educator based on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, was interviewed as part of our study. Asking about spaces in the curriculum, Harry told Isabella:

“You can’t teach science without teaching about the ocean. You can’t teach sustainability without teaching about the ocean. You can’t teach about climate and climate change without teaching about the ocean. And that’s why I love the definition of ocean literacy. It’s about our interconnectedness with the ocean. How we affect it and it affects us. The aim is to have every citizen in Australia understanding how the ocean influences them and how they influence the ocean to hopefully come to effective decision making about the use of resources - an educationalist’s approach.”

A Call to Action for Schools

SeaWeek is not just about a week of activities; it's an opportunity to enhance ocean literacy for all Australians. Schools can use a variety of resources (see School Resources below) to assess current ocean literacy levels, set goals, and collaboratively work towards improving understanding. Embracing this challenge will contribute to building a society that values and respects the ocean.

Our lives depend, now and forever, on the health of the ocean. Understanding the ocean is essential to comprehending and protecting this planet on which we live.

Here are some classroom tips to get you started:

Selected School Resources

If you’re keen to become more ocean literate or to learn how to teach or communicate ocean literacy to your students there are many excellent resources available. Here are a few of our favourites:

Social media

Follow SeaWeek and ocean literacy topics on social media via the following tags: #seaweek #seaweekaustralia #planetocean #OLP2 #oceanliteracy #oceanliteracyprinciple2 #lovetheocean #thinkocean #bluecurriculum

Ocean Literacy - our blue planet

ReefED

While there are hundreds of Reef Guardian Schools in Queensland and NSW, there’s a few in Victoria too, and they can also be found in India, South Africa, USA and Denmark. ReefED focuses on the Great Barrier Reef, and education resources cover topics for primary, middle and senior schools ranging from climate change and extreme weather, sea country connection, ecosystems and sustainability, habitats including wetlands, threats to the Reef, and biodiversity.

Activities focus on ‘Care, Learn, Action and Share = Stewards of the Reef’. Students can participate in citizen science projects, such as rapid monitoring through the Eye on the Reef portal, and actions aligned with the Reef 2050 Plan.

Don’t forget - other reefs are available! - including the Great Southern Reef and there are plenty of resources designed to support learning about that too, e.g. via picture books.

South Coast Sea Country

Offering a deeper dive into the notion of Sea Country, this NSW education program is designed to fit within the NSW Stage 3 syllabus and the Year 5 and 6 outcomes of the Australian curriculum. It supports students learning about Sea Country using videos and classroom activities and can be followed up with hands-on experiences and excursions delivered by Sea Rangers and other local Aboriginal educators. (See also examples of academic research about curriculum and collaboration, e.g. on ecopedagogical responsibilities during experiences in the field/water.)

Virtual Excursions

A series of FREE live virtual excursions are being offered on Wednesday 6 and Thursday 7 March to celebrate SeaWeek 2024. Ideal for those not close to the coast, Virtual Excursions Australia is one of many providers of accessible, low cost and low risk immersive marine education.

OceansIQ

“OceansIQ is a free online marine portal dedicated to sharing the Ocean's stories and resourcing marine educators to inspire, engage and encourage the exploration and protection of our blue planet. From scientist interviews, searchable species databases, imagery libraries and other tools that will assist in building ocean literacy nationally and internationally.”

Saltwater Schools

The Marine Stewardship Council provides a series of ocean-themed education resources aligned with the Australian curriculum. Covering a range of subject areas and topics, they also include event driven materials, such as for World Ocean Day, celebrated on 8 June each year.

Ocean literacy - Ocean Literacy Network (2015)

Covers the history of ocean literacy, essential principles and fundamental concepts.

Ocean Literacy Portal - UNESCO

Produced by UNESCO-IOC, this universal sharing platform provides resources and Ocean Literacy content and knowledge.

International Ocean Literacy Survey (IOLS)

The IOLS is a psychometrically valid and reliable community-based measurement tool for comparing levels of ocean knowledge across time and location. It is available in over 17 languages.

A new blue curriculum: a toolkit for policy-makers - UNESCO

A curriculum toolkit for developing Ocean Literacy, based on research and case studies from around the world.

Ocean Literacy - scope and sequence - National Marine Educators Association

While US-focused, this association provides many resources for those interested in the “45 fundamental concepts of Ocean Literacy.”

Have you put 8 June in your diary yet? … And are you ready to discuss how your education community is embracing the #LifeBelowWater challenge this year?

Resources

Want to find out more? Dig deeper with these peer-reviewed resources.

Claudet, J. (2021). The seven domains of action for a sustainable ocean. Cell, 184(6), 1426-1429.

Fauville, G. (2019). Ocean Literacy in the Twenty-First Century. In G. Fauville, D. L. Payne, M. E. Marrero, A. Lantz-Andersson, & F. Crouch (Eds.), Exemplary Practices in Marine Science Education: A Resource for Practitioners and Researchers (pp. 3-11). Springer International Publishing.

Fielding, S., Copley, J. T., & Mills, R. A. (2019). Exploring Our Oceans: Using the Global Classroom to Develop Ocean Literacy. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6.

Freitas, C., Francis, P., Bellgrove, A. & Venzo, P. (2023). Adopting Ocean-Themed Picture Books to Promote Ocean Literacy in Primary Education. Children’s Literature in Education

Gough, A. (2017). Educating for the marine environment: Challenges for schools and scientists. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 124(2), 633-638.

Koutsopoulos, K.C. & Stel, J.H. (eds) (2021). Ocean Literacy: Understanding the Ocean. Key Challenges in Geography. Springer, Cham.

McCauley, V., McHugh, P., Davison, K., & Domegan, C. (2019). Collective intelligence for advancing ocean literacy, Environmental Education Research, 25(2), 280-291.

McKinley, E., Burdon, D., & Shellock, R. J. (2023). The evolution of ocean literacy: A new framework for the United Nations Ocean Decade and beyond. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 186, 114467.

Rozwadowski, H. M. (2020). Ocean literacy and public humanities. Parks Stewardship Forum, 36(3).

Schwerdtner Manez, K., Stoll-Kleemann, S. & Rozwadowski, H.M. (2023). Ocean literacies: the promise of regional approaches integrating ocean histories and psychologies. Frontiers in Marine Science, 10:1178061.

Stoll-Kleemann, S. (2019). Feasible Options for Behavior Change Toward More Effective Ocean Literacy: A Systematic Review. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6.

Worm, B., Elliff, C., Fonseca, J.G., Gell, F.R. and others (2021). Making ocean literacy inclusive and accessible. Ethics in Science and Environmental Politics, 21:1-9.