Barriers to Ocean Literacy in NSW High Schools - Curriculum

Ocean literacy refers to developing knowledge and skills related to the influence of the ocean on humans, and how humans impact on oceans. It includes understanding of the oceans by the general public, industries (fisheries, tourism, planning, etc), government sectors, students and a myriad of other groups. 

In running The Harbour School Sydney and also just as an active and informed global citizen, I'm a strong advocate for embedding ocean literacy in schools across subjects and faculties. I recently worked alongside the Marine teacher at my old school on a project, where Marine is part of the Science faculty and Science was one of the faculties that I supervised. I laughed when she told me that I was the reason the Marine labs ended up having 60 fish tanks!! She told me that she and the other Marine teacher came to me some years ago and told me they weren't going to be able to run the course properly the following year because too many students had picked the subject and they couldn't facilitate it with the current number of tanks. Apparently I told them that if that many students wanted to do the subject, that we would make it happen (probably not the best advice to give if you know the budget constraints working in a public school). She saw it as a really positive conversation and felt supported, which is lovely. The funny thing is that while I do remember the conversation, my overriding memories of that issue was trying to manage all the OHS issues - 60 fish tanks in a converted Science prep room, all needing electricity, all weighing a lot, and trying to manage the possible risk of flooding and/or electrocution risks. Yikes! While I've had experience in some of the practical components of promoting ocean literacy, this post is going to concentrate on some more structural issues in promoting and embedding ocean literacy in high schools in NSW. 

Australian Curriculum vs NSW syllabus
While there are moves to embed ocean literacy in the Australian Curriculum, NSW schools do not follow the Australian Curriculum. Yes the appropriate ministers at the time sign off on the curriculum developed by ACARA at various stages, but NSW has a separate educational authority - NESA (NSW Education Standards Authority). In NSW, we have an "adopt and adapt" model of Australian Curriculum implementation, meaning that NESA develop their own team of writers to interpret and rewrite a NSW syllabus that is loosely based on the Australian Curriculum, but it is not a direct match. The implications of this are that national initiatives to map aspects of ocean literacy to the Australian Curriculum, won't match the NSW syllabus.  A separate process needs to take place for NSW.

NSW Curriculum Reform
A review of the NSW Curriculum took place in 2018-2020, and as a result a lengthy process of curriculum reform has been taking place over the past few years which has seen nearly all syllabuses reviewed and rewritten. Advocates for ocean literacy often call for more ocean literacy to be incorporated into curriculum/syllabuses. In NSW the review and rewriting process for nearly all subjects is close to finished, so the inclusion of ocean literacy will likely need to wait until the next review and rewrite, which is possibly a decade a way. We can't wait that long. Teachers and organisations need to look at the existing subjects and syllabuses and develop units of work, case studies and experiences which directly link to existing syllabuses.

Marine Studies
Most advocates of ocean literacy assume that Marine Studies (either the 7-10 or 11-12 version), is likely to be the best subject to integrate appropriate content and experiences to embed ocean literacy. There are a few issues with how these subjects run in schools that hinder this.

A new Years 7-10 Aquatic Technologies course is due for implementation in 2027. This will replace the current Marine and Aquatic Technologies 7-10 course. Both the current course and the new course are categorised by NESA as being in the Technology and Applied Studies (TAS) faculty, rather than the Science Faculty. TAS is the faculty that used to be called Industrial Arts and includes Textiles Technology, Design and Technology, Engineering, Computing Technology, etc. The continued placement of Aquatic Technologies in TAS is not a good fit. While the subject often ends up being taught by a Science teacher, or through a collaboration with Science and TAS, it is often left in a situation where it doesn't quite fit in either faculty. While this is great for cross-curriculum collaboration, it has implications for budget allocation, appropriate rooming and staffing, and for advocacy when decisions are being made about which subjects will run. The subject would be better allocated to the Science faculty, due to the nature of most of the subject content.

The Marine Studies 11-12 course in NSW, is what is known as a Content Endorsed Course. It has no external exam, is completely assessed through school-based work, and it does not count toward the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR). Marine Studies does not appear on the Curriculum Reform timeline at this stage. These factors contribute to 11-12 Marine Studies having a diminished status compared to other HSC subjects, and makes it less appealing to students who are wanting to attend university. It also means that there isn't a clear pathway from studying Marine Studies in 7-10 to 11-12 and then on to university to study Marine Science. 

While both of these subjects are an excellent way to embed ocean literacy, and have a wealth of relevant content, in 2025 only 920 students chose to do 2 unit Marine Studies for the HSC, and only 21 students chose to do 1 unit Marine Studies in all of NSW. Attempts to reach the masses to address ocean literacy objectives through Marine Studies will have limited success in NSW, simply due to the size of the candidature.

Ocean Literacy in Science or Geography
If teaching ocean literacy through Marine Studies is not going to reach enough students then we need to consider other subjects. Both Science and Geography have been part of the review and rewriting process as part of the NSW Curriculum Reform, and both include content that is relevant to ocean literacy. 

Science is a mandatory subject from 7-10, and most of the different Board-Endorsed Science subjects for Years 11 and 12 are very popular. 2025 statistics: Biology (20,715), Chemistry (10,373), Physics (8,824), and a couple of less popular subjects - Earth and Environmental Science (2,678) and Science Extension (856). The mandatory 7-10 Science course provides the best opportunity to reach the largest number of students, with topics such as Living Systems (Stage 4 - Years 7-8), and Environmental Sustainability (Stage 5 - Years 9-10) providing an excellent opportunity to embed ocean literacy concepts and content. However, 7-10 Science is often targeted by a range of industries and special interest groups to incorporate extra content or programs - e.g. STEM, medical research, biotechnology, data science, energy and mining, space, artificial intelligence, and the list goes on. In short, there are so many programs and initiatives being targeted at Science subjects that there isn't much scope to have much influence. Science is a good option to embed ocean literacy in terms of content, but there are perhaps too many external demands and expectations on the subject to really get a foothold.

Geography is also a mandatory subject from 7-10. The 7-10 course includes a topic Water In The World (Stage 4 - Years 7-8), which takes up around half of the Year 8 Geography course and is an excellent opportunity to embed ocean literacy; Environmental Change and Management (Stage 5 - Years 9-10) which is about half of the Year 10 course; and the opportunity to use a variety of case studies and marine environments throughout the course. The senior course allows for detailed studies of kelp forests, coral reefs, wetlands, salmon farming, impacts of climate change, etc. Both the 7-10 and 11-12 Geography courses provide an excellent opportunity to embed ocean literacy into relevant content. However, in NSW schools Geography is allocated to HSIE (Human Society In Its Environment) faculties, (previously called Social Science). The interesting thing about this is that at Sydney University Undergraduate courses in Marine Science, and postgraduate courses in Marine Science and Management are in the School of Geoscience which is part of the Faculty of Science. This can lessen the standing of Geography compared to Science subjects, and can in fact result in competition between senior subjects in the two faculties with students often choosing between subjects with very similar content - Geography, Marine Studies and Earth and Environmental Studies. The result in this competition is that usually only one of these subjects will run in a school each year. As a senior subject, Geography has relatively low numbers. 2025 statistics: Geography 11-12 (4,420). I would argue that despite this, the junior Geography course presents the best opportunity to embed ocean literacy objectives, as the content is very relevant, it is a mandatory course and there are less competing demands on the subject.

Key points:
- It is imperative that we promote and advocate for teaching of ocean literacy in our schools.
- National curriculum mapping needs to take into consideration the unique "adopt and adapt" model in NSW.
- NSW Curriculum reform is close to finished and unlikely to occur again for a decade. Teachers and organisations must not wait for change and must embed ocean literacy in existing syllabuses.
- The size of candidature in Marine subjects in NSW is a barrier to effectively improving ocean literacy through the subject alone.
- Science and Geography, particularly the mandatory 7-10 courses, both present opportunities to improve ocean literacy, although Science has many competing demands and interests vying for time in the course, and Geography has limited reach in Years 11-12.