Korean elementary school students' perceptions of relationship with marine organisms

The world’s oceans provide numerous habitats for sea organisms and also have a tremendous impact on human life within the domains of food, oxygen, climate control, fresh water sources, transportation, and the development of history and culture (Mayer & Fortner, 1985). Hence, the public’s ocean literacy, that is the understanding of the mutual influences shared by the ocean and humankind, is integral to the Earth’s sustainability¹ and the well-being of humankind (Cava, Schoedinger, Strang, & Tuddenham, 2005). Based on our review of the relevant literature (Ocean Project, 2009; Steel, Smith, Opsommer, Curiel, & Wagner-Steel, 2005), few empirical studies have investigated the public’s ocean literacy worldwide. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge at the time of this publication, there are no known published studies of East Asian participants’ ocean literacy. Of the few surveys administered in this field, research conducted by the Ocean Project (1999, 2009) revealed that the general public in the United States is not knowledgeable about ocean issues related to the health of the marine environment. Plankis and Marrero (2010) reported that this low level of ocean literacy is not limited to adults but is also evident among students in grades K-12. Therefore, these low levels of knowledge which may be pervasive in today’s societies suggest an imperative to increase ocean literacy and to foster environmental caring, connection, and advocacy globally (Scott, 2007).

To create a more ocean literate society, the Ocean Literacy Campaign was initiated by a group of marine educators and scientists in 2002 in the United States, and the ocean literacy campaign group developed the Essential Principles of Ocean Literacy [EPOL] (Cava et al., 2005). Considering the fact that the EPOL illustrates the inextricable connectedness between the ocean and humans, students' awareness of their connectedness to marine plants and animals is critical to the development of their ocean literacy. Although a number of research studies have explored students’ perceptions of plants and animals (cf. Barman, Stein, McNair, & Barman, 2006; Cummins & Snively, 2000; Eagles & Muffitt, 1990; Kellert & Westervelt, 1983; Shepardson, 2002), of these aforementioned studies, few examined students' perceptions of their relationship with marine organisms. Furthermore, and previously alluded to, relatively little attention has been paid to modern day Asian contexts in terms of ocean literacy, particularly in Korea. This lack of attention is an interesting paradox since Korean Society has had a long history of cultural affinity with the ocean. Yet today the country’s coastal areas have been severely exploited and degraded (Je, Lee, & Jung, 2001). Also the younger student demographic (from 6 to 12 years of age) has not often been considered for investigation within Asian cultural contexts. Thus, given these arguments, and the lack of empirical research studies on this topic, it would seem that there is a warrant to investigate Korean students' understandings of their relationship with marine organisms and how their awareness of the ways they are connected to the ocean realm informs their ocean literacy.

This exploratory study was instigated to answer the following three questions:

What are urban Korean elementary students’ experiences with marine organisms?
What is the nature of urban Korean elementary students’ awareness of their connectedness to marine organisms in the Korean cultural context?
What is the nature of urban Korean elementary students' valuing of marine organisms?

This research and the answers to the questions provide marine environmental educators and practitioners with insights into how students perceive their connectedness to and values of marine plants and animals. This study’s findings also highlight what educators might consider when they facilitate marine environmental learning experiences with the goal to increase ocean literacy among this demographic and possibly other students with similar cultural backgrounds.

¹Sustainability in this paper refers to Environmental Sustainability which can be defined as the maintenance of natural resources such as soil, atmosphere, forest and water (Goodland, 1995). Understanding humans’ influences on these limited resources is essential to set the goals of levels of sustainability and to bring human’s responsible actions.