Project Assistant：SHEN,CHENG-HAN

On the premise of improving marine literacy, the K-12 Education Administration of Taiwan’s Ministry of Education is developing a more holistic and forward-looking marine education curriculum. In accordance with the Administration’s marine education course and teacher development plan, which was first implemented in 2020, the Taiwan Marine Education Center of National Taiwan Ocean University was tasked with establishing bases for innovative marine curriculum as well as educational research centers (referred to hereafter as “marine education bases”) in counties and cities across Taiwan. This year (2022), 16 schools across Taiwan were selected and certified as marine education bases. The 2022 Consensus Meeting between K-12 Education Administration of Taiwan’s Ministry of Education and the Advisory Committee on Innovative Marine Curriculum and Educational Research Centers was held on April 27. The meeting was conducted as a video conference because of the COVID-19 pandemic; nevertheless, the advisory committee members and teachers from schools serving as marine education bases still participated enthusiastically.

Chang Chen-Chieh, director of the Taiwan Marine Education Center (TMEC), reported that in response to the emphasis on experiential marine education in the Executive Yuan’s Ocean Taiwan policy and on the basis of the two main functions of marine education bases established last year (namely “development and promotion of curriculum modules” and “provision of experiential marine education”), one marine topic will be selected for the marine education curriculum modules to be developed by each marine education base. The modules will also integrate content related to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations. These curriculum modules will be reviewed by experts and uploaded to the TMEC website for schools across Taiwan to download and utilize, thereby facilitating the provision of marine education nationwide.

The following 11 elementary schools and 5 junior high schools, spanning the northern, central, southern, and eastern regions and outlying islands of Taiwan, were selected and certified as bases for innovative marine curriculum and educational research centers in 2022: Gangxi Elementary School in Keelung City; Zhonggang Elementary School, Yehliu Elementary School, Shimen Elementary School, and Shimen Experimental Junior High School in New Taipei City; Long Men Junior High School in Taipei City; Zhubei Elementary School in Hsinchu County; Guangwu Elementary School in Hsinchu City; Hanbao Elementary School in Changhua County; the Yuguang branch of Yizai Elementary School in Tainan City; Keliao Elementary School in Kaohsiung City; Daxi Elementary School, Yuying Elementary School, and Nan-An Elementary School in Yilan County; Changbin Junior High School in Taitung County; and Jinhu Elementary School in Kinmen County.