Where is ocean literacy in oceanic islands’ schools? The Azores case

Abstract

Human life on Earth is possible and sustained mainly due to the ocean’s services that regulate the air we breathe, the climate and weather, and provide water and food. Moreover, the global economy and the regional incomes are based mainly on the resources, energy, transport and navigation, fisheries and aquaculture, tourism, and leisure, provided by the oceans. Ocean omnipresence in our lives is expected to be even more striking in ocean islands like the Azores Archipelago, but is this the case? This study explores the perception of Azorean school teachers on ocean literacy. This study aims to evaluate how ocean-related themes are incorporated into regular teaching activities and how Azorean schools are educating students to become environmentally responsive regarding ocean sustainability. Targeting SDG 14, an online questionnaire was sent to all public schools in the archipelago and distributed to teachers during the 2021/22 school year. A total of 426 answers from a potential target population of 5502 teachers were accepted as valid. We found that the teaching community has a generalised awareness of ocean literacy, which is not reflected in the pedagogical practice, as 58% of the respondents do not integrate ocean-related themes into their activities. Moreover, most schools in the archipelago are not integrated into ocean literacy projects. The results highlight the need to incorporate ocean themes in official curricula and manuals and develop easy-to-access ocean-related learning materials to ensure the ocean’s environmental sustainability.