Project Assistant：CHANG,WEI-LUN

    This year, the Green Level (Beginner) Marine Educator Training Program organized by the Taiwan Marine Education Center comprised three subprograms that focused on water safety, fisheries, and marine litter. Teachers and preservice teachers who were interested in these topics attended these programs to learn how they could adequately integrate marine education into their teaching.

    The water safety program was held at the Sizihwan Marine Sports Center of National Sun Yat-sen University. This year, Taiwan Outdoor Exploration was invited again to host the program. The program was well received and attracted teachers from Kaohsiung, Tainan, and Pingtung. It featured sea-based activities, which enabled the attending trainees to experience firsthand the panic that could be induced by open waters and learn how they should handle such a situation. Through the program, the trainees gained further insights into water safety, risk evaluation, and competency-oriented teaching techniques.

    The fishery program was held in Hualien. It attracted teachers and preservice teachers from across Taiwan. The program featured instructions and demonstrations provided by the local marine education groups Fish Bar and Kuroshio Ocean Education Foundation. In addition, experts were invited to thoroughly explain the process of getting fish from the ocean to the plate (i.e., catching fish in the sea, selling them in a market, cooking them in a kitchen, and serving them on a table). Through this program, the attending trainees gained a better understanding of the process.

    The marine litter program was held at the Chiayi City Outdoor & Marine Education Center  . Although we all know that marine litter threatens the environment and ecology, we lack the awareness of our role in contributing to marine litter. Through a field trip to the Waisanding Sand Bar, a water quality test, and a tabletop game session designed to educate players on marine crises, the attending trainees learned the importance of reducing marine litter at its source, and they also picked up several tips on how they could make their lessons more diverse and engaging.

    In addition to the aforementioned programs, several other green level training programs were scheduled to be held this year. Unfortunately, most were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Only the programs based in Taitung County, Keelung City, Kaohsiung City, Hualien County, Yilan County, and Taipei City were held as planned. We look forward to the end of the pandemic, at which point more programs can be held to educate more individuals who are interested in becoming marine educators.