Students’ perceptions of a marine education program at a junior high school in Japan with a specific focus on Satoumi

Figures & data

Figure 1. Location of Hinase in Bizen City. Source: Authors.

Table 1. Question items.

Question items	Target grades
What are the features of Hinase? Please describe your perception of Hinase	Seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-graders
What are the features of Hinase’s sea? Please explain your perception of Hinase’s sea. Do you feel an affinity for Hinase’s sea?
Do you like or dislike Hinase’s sea? Please describe the reason
What do fishermen do in their work? What are their personalities like? What is your perception of fishermen? Do you feel close to them?
What did you learn through the marine education program and activities? Please give your perspective	Eighth- and ninth-graders
Did your perceptions of the sea change after attending the marine education program at the school? How did your perception change?

Table 2. Number of students in groups interviewed in each grade.

	Seventh-graders	Eighth-graders	Ninth-graders	Total
Date interview was conducted (all in 2016)	April 20	April 20	April 27
Number of groups (three students in each group)	12	12	12	36
Number of students	36	36	36	108

Table 3. What are the features of Hinase?

	Seventh-graders (%)	Eighth-graders (%)	Ninth-graders (%)
Oysters/oyster okonomiyaki (Kakioko: local dish)/fish are tasty	13 (36) (One responded that oysters are tasty)	24 (67) (Ten responded that oysters are tasty)	18 (50) (One responded that oysters are tasty)
Abundant nature (e.g. the sea, mountains)	18 (50)	5 (14)	20 (56) (e.g. In Hinase, the relationship between the sea and community is close, where people live in harmony with the sea.)
Rural area (few shops)/local festival/peaceful (little crime)	10 (28)	8 (22)	4 (11)
Abundant fish catch/thriving fishing industry	2 (6)	7 (19)	4 (11)
The people in the community are kind	4 (11)	3 (8)	6 (17)
Eelgrass	2 (6)	1 (3)	2 (6)
Sunny (little rain)	2 (6)	2 (6)	0 (0)
Marine education program is offered	0 (0)	0 (0)	2 (6)

Note: The numbers in the table show the number of students who mentioned these words.

Figure 2. Do you feel an affinity for Hinase’s sea?

Table 4. What are the features of Hinase’s sea? (Responses of students in multi-grades gave).

	Seventh-graders (%)	Eighth-graders (%)	Ninth-graders (%)
Dirty (floating debris, green plankton)	5 (14)	3 (8)	5 (14)
Eelgrass grows (activities to restore eelgrass beds)	0 (0)	7 (19)	4 (11)
Oyster cultivation (oyster craft)	3 (8)	3 (8)	3 (8)
The sea is inhabited by various fish	4 (11)	5 (14)	0 (0)
I enjoy swimming in the sea	1 (3)	4 (11)	0 (0)

Figure 3. Do you like or dislike Hinase’s sea?

Table 5. Reasons that students like or dislike Hinase’s sea.

	Seventh-graders	Eighth-graders	Ninth-graders
Reasons why they like the sea
I have fun in the sea or on the beach (e.g. boating, fishing, swimming)	3	7	8
Many fish can be caught (abundant seafood; fish are tasty)/Oysters are cultivated	8	4	3
I feel close to the sea (the sea is part of the hometown)	2	3	7
The sea and Hinase are closely linked	1	0	2
I can work on marine activities in Integrated Studies (at HFHS)	0	0	2
The sea invigorates Hinase	0	0	2
Reasons why they dislike the sea
The sea is dirty and muddy (e.g. lots of algae)/There is no place to swim (because of many boats, etc.)	0	8	0
The sea smells bad	0	3	0
Reason for neither like nor dislike the sea
I am not sure because I rarely visit the sea (The sea is irrelevant)	3	0	1
The sea is contaminated with debris	0	2	1

Table 6. What is your perception of fishermen? (Categorized by the fishermen’s role, physical features, psychological features, and empathy toward the fishermen).

	Seventh-graders (%)	Eighth-graders (%)	Ninth-graders (%)
Fishermen’s physical features: They are strong and muscular, they are cool, they are male and middle-aged, they are tanned, they are energetic, they smoke, they are native Hinase residents	17 (47)	16 (44)	20 (56)
Fishermen’s role: They catch fish, they start work early in the morning, they give us oysters and fish, they take care of the sea and Hinase, they cultivate oysters, they work hard, they help support our lives	18 (50)	11 (31)	11 (31)
Fishermen’s psychological features: They are kind (in helping to learn, etc.), they are communicative and sociable, they appeared to be unfriendly before but not anymore (an impression before communicating with them in classes), they are amusing	3 (8)	12 (33)	15 (42)
Empathy toward fishermen: They look exhausted (e.g. the work seems to be hard; I am concerned about their health)	1 (3)	3 (8)	3 (8)

Table 7. What is your perception of the marine education program?.

	Eighth-graders (%)	Ninth-graders (%)
The activities were physically demanding, exhausting, and hard	15 (42)	10 (28)
I had fun	6 (17)	6 (17)
I recognized the difficulties and hard work of fishermen and other people who are engaged in work related to oysters and eelgrass	8 (22)	2 (6)
I felt a sense of accomplishment	3 (8)	4 (11)
Oysters are tasty (after experiencing the work)	2 (6)	3 (8)
The smell was strong (e.g. collection of drifting seaweed)	2 (6)	3 (8)
I was glad to learn that the work (e.g. increasing the eelgrass beds) helps clean the sea and benefits Hinase	2 (6)	2 (6)

Table 8. How did your perception of the sea change after attending the marine education program at the school?.

	Eighth-graders (%)	Ninth-graders (%)
I have become motivated to keep the sea clean and restore the environment (e.g. I feel that it is my turn to protect the sea environment)	6 (17)	17 (47)
I became interested in the sea (e.g. I was not interested before, but I have become motivated to learn more about the sea)	9 (25)	6 (17)
I have learned about the sea, including the effectiveness of eelgrass, and recognized its importance and issues.	9 (25)	5 (14)
I now feel grateful to fishermen (I think of fishermen’s efforts when I eat oysters; I respect fishermen)	6 (17)	4 (11)
I used to throw waste into the sea, but I have stopped	0 (0)	9 (25)
I now think that oysters are tasty (e.g. I did not like them before, but I can eat them now)	5 (14)	0 (0)
I started telling my family and relatives about the importance of fish	0 (0)	2 (6)
The activity helped increase communication with fishermen and other people in the community	0 (0)	2 (6)