Greeting

“Ocean and Marine education” is the basic principle of “coexisting with the ocean” on a primary and secondary education level.

In order for children, and us, to “coexist with the ocean”, one has “to be familiar with, to know the ocean” and from that make use of the knowledge and ability to think, judge and express “to protect and utilize the ocean” specifically.

The basic principle of “coexisting with the ocean” is the basic premise of the underlying specific aim and significance of ocean and marine education, which is: 1. the prevention of ocean disasters, 2. the conservation of the ocean as land, 3. the utilization of marine resources, 4. the development of marine industry (water industry), 5. the maintenance of marine environment and the conservation of marine life, and 6. the development of marine-based culture and art; these six aims appear to signify the field of ocean and marine education curriculum.

However, considering the various situations in the current world, we think that we should indicate a more focused direction. Therefore, we have three keywords to offer: environment, life and safety. The ocean supports us as well as an environment that we enjoy, it connects various forms of life as well as serves as a sphere filled with life, an influencing element for survival. When utilizing the ocean, we think that it should be treated like public goods (Res Publica). Such an ocean and marine education, just might deliver all our hopes.

Our mission is to promote marine education within primary and secondary education.
Promoting ocean and marine education, is not students to abandon textbooks for a time to give them a chance to know the appeal of the ocean, and not to cultivate a handful of marine researchers. Careful selection of educational content for 10,000,000 elementary and junior high school students and 3,000,000 high school students and curriculum for 1,000,000 teachers must be prepared.

Our mission was partly achieved in 2017 when there was praise of the enrichment of marine education when revising curriculum guidelines in elementary and junior high school. However, the revision concerned mainly the account of territories and territorial waters in social studies and only one of the three basis of ocean and marine education, safety. In order to implement the true meaning of ocean and marine education, we oceanography experts and education experts will continue to work with school teachers.