One Ocean Exploration

One Ocean Exploration is a project about children and their understanding of the ocean. We study collaborative exploration and ways of building a pedagogical culture for children’s exploration.

Project Leaders

bilde av Elin Eriksen Ødegaard

Elin Eriksen Ødegaard

Research Director

bilde av Aihua Hu

Aihua Hu

Associate Professor Emerita

 

One Ocean Exploration

Children's understanding and perception of the world are closely linked to what they do. If children are given rich opportunities to play, move, explore, and sense by the sea, they may become interested and over time develop a foundational knowledge of the sea and its many biotopes and cultural meanings.

We would like to present you the trailer to the award-winning film, Ocean Portrait – Children by the North Sea: click here to see it.

The trailer illustrates the educational concept of Collaborative Exploration. For this, we won first prize at the Tromsø International Educational Film Festival for "The best pedagogical concept where film is used." The jury writes that the film is an outstanding example of the pedagogical use of film in the education of kindergarten teacher students. You can read more about the Ocean Portrait project that the film is based on here.

Our goal is to contribute to formation and hope. The preservation and protection of the ocean are among the UN's sustainable development goals, and in addition, the period 2021-2030 is the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. While ocean researchers contribute to marine science, we as kindergarten and education researchers contribute with knowledge on how kindergartens and teacher education can help ensure that new generations gain access to knowledge about the ocean and find pedagogical and didactic approaches that are suitable for the youngest children. Pedagogical research supports and develops children's initial experiences, understanding, and knowledge of the ocean, encouraging children and kindergartens to value the sea and life in and by the sea. The research design draws upon various scientific fields across child development, pedagogy, geography, marine biology, maritime tools, aesthetics, art, and experiential knowledge, and it takes an exploratory approach.

One Ocean Exploration is an initiative focusing on the ocean and exploratory educational cultures, encompassing several sub-projects. Many of these will conclude in 2024, but the team continues to develop the project following several new initiatives and invitations. For example, we continue to twin with UNESCO's Ocean Literacy Group in Italy, and we are following up on an invitation from ECNU Review of Education for a special issue on Emergent Ocean Literacy (2025). Other interested partners and sponsors can get in touch, and updates will follow.

Research dissemination 

Ødegaard, E. E. (in print for 2025). Building Glocal Mindsets in Early Childhood Education – A Pedagogical Response to the UNESCO Decade of Ocean Science. In Bøttcher, L., Winther Lindquist, D., Hedegaard, M. & Fleer, M. World Care and Sustainability. Springer.

Ødegaard, E. E. & Birkeland, Å. (in peer review). Conceptualising Emergent Ocean Literacy – exploring sensuous and spatial early childhood education and ecological care practices in coastal landscapes in Norway.

Ødegaard, E. E. , Birkeland, Å. & Oropilla, C.T. (2024)  A Pedagogy of Emergent Ocean Literacy – Narrative accounts of children’s explorations in the coastal landscapes of Western Norway Authors. KINDknow Notes Series, nr. 10, 2024.

Ødegaard, E. E.. & Hu, A. (2024). Improving quality ECEC through collaborative exploration: A Norwegian approach. Keynote to The 4th IFPS in Early Childhood Education & Familiy Education, 12.06. 2024, Shanghai, Cina.

Ødegaard, E. E. (2024). Emergent Ocean Literacy - A pedagogy for the early years. Keynote for PhD Seminar The 4th IFPS Early Childhood & Familiy Education. On invitation from Xangshi University, 18.06.2024, Xian, China.

Ødegaard, E. E. (2024). Improving quality ECEC through enhancing Play and Exploration -A Norwegian approach. Keynote to Playing & Exploring - China Norway Salon. On invitation from The Royal Norwegian Embassy in China and  Chengdu City International, 22.06, 2024, Chengdu, China.

Ødegaard, E. E., Oropilla, C. T., Hu, A., Torsvik, J., Gustavsen, M., Ingebrigsten, A. K. (2023). One Ocean Exploration Symposium - Barna ved Nordsjøen. Symposium at Norsk Barnehageforskningskonferanse; UiS, 2023-10-24 - 2023-10-26.

Ødegaard, E. E.; Oropilla, C. T. (2023). Sustaining Stories of the Seas: Intergenerational collaborative narratives enriching early childhood education. Paper at the conference Sustaining, knowing and 'living' the Blue; NTNU, 2023-06-15 - 2023-06-16.

Ødegaard, E. E. & Birkeland, Å. (2023). Emergent Ocean Literacy - Collaborative exploration of local ocean landscapes in early childhood. Paper at the conference Sustaining, knowling and 'living' the Blue; NTNU, 2023-06-15 - 2023-06-16

Ødegaard, E. E. (2023) Å skape kultur for utforskning. Barnehagefolk.

Ødegaard, E.E. Birkeland, Å., Marandon, A. Spilde, E. & Ingebrigtsen, A. (2023). Hvorfor har vi bølger i havet? Barnehagefolk.

Ødegaard, E. E. & Birkeland, Å. (2022). Emergent Ocean Literacy - a collaborative exploration of local ocean landscapes in early childhood education. Klimafestivalen - varmere, våtere, villere; 03.11.2022.

Dissemination and mentions in mass media 

Brekke, V. (2024). Stolte skodespelarar på filmframsyning - Øygarden kommune (oygarden.kommune.no). Omtale av filmkveld for barn, ansatte og familier involvert i Filmen Ocean Portrait – The Children by the North Sea. Øygarden, 21.05.2024.

Result, Tromsø Educational film festival (2024). 2024 Awards - Tromsø Educational Film Festival (TREFF) (uit.no).Juryens omtale av prisen “Best pedagogical concept where film is used” : Ocean Portrait – Children by the North Sea. 

Sandgrind,. S. W. (2024)  https://www.barnehage.no/film-forskning-hvl/vant-pris-for-film-om-barnehagebarns-utforskning-av-havet-1/255058. Omtale av filmen og prisen: “Best pedagogical concept where film is used” : Ocean Portrait – Children by the North Sea. Barnehage.no 20.3.2024.

HVL (2024) Filmen Havportrett – barna ved Nordsjøen vant pris for beste utdanningsfilm - Høgskulen på Vestlandet (hvl.no). Omtale av filmen og prisen prisen “Best pedagogical concept where film is used” : Ocean Portrait – Children by the North Sea, 19.03.2024.

Ødegaard, E. E. (2023). Utdanning om livet under vann starter i barnehagen. Barnehage.no 2023

Ødegaard, E. E. (2023). De yngste barnas stemme i klimadebatten. Paneldebatt, One Ocean Future på Statsraad Lehmkuhl.; One Ocean Week. 2023-04-19 - 2023-04-19

Berg-Olsen, O. R., Ødegaard, E. E. (2023). Høgskulen på Vestlandet med tilbud til de små under One Ocean Week. One Ocean Week [Internett] 2023-03-15

Ødegaard, E. E. (2021) Sustainability education starts in early years: Grounding ecological lifestyles and ‘glocal’ mentalities. Open Access Government 2021. 

Workshiops together with children

Hoffart, H. Ødegaard, E. E., Birkeland, Å. & (2023). Havsans - et forskningsbasert sanseverksted om hav for barnehagebarn. One Ocean Junior - Akvariet i Bergen, 13 april, 2023.

Ødegaard, E. E., Birkeland, Å. & Hoffart, H. (2022). Havsans - et forskningsbasert sanseverksted om hav for barnehagebarn. Kunstnerisk og museal presentasjon Forskningsdagene. 2022-09-23 - 2022-09-23.

Marandon, A. S., Marandon, A. Birkeland, Å. & Ødegaard, E. E. (2021-2023). Havprtrett – en serie verksteder med tre barnehager i Bergen og Øygarden.

Oropilla, C.T. (2022-2023). Intergenerasjonelle verksteder – en serie i samarbeid med Øygarden kommune og Klokkarvik båtforening.

Oropilla, C.T (2024). Hvis jeg hadde en tryllestav. Verksted for barn og familier i Klimaparken, Klimafestivalen Varmere, våtere og villere, mars, 2024.

Ødegaard, E. E., Reite, J., Rundholt, T,. Wergedahl, H, Aadland, E., Grønhaug, K,, Goia, F., Sandvik, V., Sælensminde, J., Ingebrigsen, A, Torsvik, J. & Oropilla, C. T. (2024). Bor det montre i havet? Fortellinger mellom generasjoner og forskere. One Ocean Week, Skoltegrunnskaien. 15 april, 2024.  

Oropilla, C. T & Fagerbakke, M. (2024). Havsans. Vivite: Havsamtaler. 9 juni, 2024

Films and presenations with introduction

Ocean portrait – The Children by the North Sea. Dokumentary film 30 min.. Director: F. Goia, Produsent: Mediesenteret, S. Havre og KINDknow, E. E. Ødegaard, Kunstpilotene og Marandon, A. S. 

Screenings:  

  • Bern, Switzerland, EthnoKino Film festival. September, 2024.
  • Sallis Benney Theatre, Grand Parade building, University of Brighton, Brighton, 05.09.2024.
  • Øygarden Kulturhus, Øygarden, 21.05.2024.
  • UiT, Tromsø Educational Film festival, 15.03.2024.
  • Mimes Brønn, HVL, One Ocean week, april 2023.
  • K2, HVL, 75 +5 års jubileum Barnehagelærerutdanningen og BARNkunne, 2023.
  • Brittania Hotel, konferansen Sustaining, knowing and 'living' the Blue; NTNU, 2023-06-15 - 2023-06-16.

One Ocean Havportrett  -Videodokumentar fra pilot, 7 min. Regissør Håkon Hoffart. Produsent: BARNkunne, E. E. Ødegaard.

Screenings:

Athen, Omep World Congress, July, 2022.

The Norwegian Royal Embassey, Webinar,  2022. 

 

Projects

Ocean Portrait

Ocean Portrait is an ongoing art- and research project in collaboration with Kunstpilotene. 

This project finished in 2024. 

Waves

Bølger (Waves) is a student project about 2-yearolds and their experience of waves.

This project finished.

Collaborative Exploration by the Sea

'Samarbeidsutforskning ved havet' (collaborative exploration by the sea) is a student project run by master student Janne Torsvik in 2022/2023.

This project finished.

Gender Perspective on Children's Exploration

This is a student project run by master student Monica Gustavsen in 2022/2023. It deals with how children's gender is expressed in exploration by the ocean.

This project finished.

Events

HAVSANS / OceanSense - workshops for Children and Kindergartens

Havsans (Ocean Sense) is a series of sensory workshops about the ocean, designed for children, kindergartens, and families. Altogether, we have had the pleasure of holding workshops with more than 300 children, kindergarten staff, and children's families.

Havsans was initially developed as a collaboration between artist Håkon Hoffart and the research team at (Insert hyperlink for the Norwegian version in Norwegian and the English version in English Elin Eriksen Ødegaard), for One Ocean - Exploration during the Research Days in 2022. Later, Håkon Hoffart and the team further developed the workshops to adapt them for One Ocean Junior in 2023, held at the Aquarium in Bergen.

In these Havsan's workshops, children experienced sensory impressions from the local shoreline, stimuli from ocean sounds, and deep-sea animals and organisms through images in books and on large screens. The children then had the opportunity to draw the life in the shoreline and the ocean depths, and Håkon Hoffart took the children's drawings on a multimodal journey, where the drawings met each other in playful digital representations. We also developed Havsans as a program for use in kindergartens. This program is detailed and published in the report A Pedagogy of Emergent Ocean Literacy – Narrative accounts of children’s explorations in the coastal landscapes of Western Norway, which can be downloaded for free.

This workshop was held in the fantastic premises at Skolegrunnskaien in Bergen, and more than 150 people, both young and old, visited that day. The workshop was organized by Elin Eriksen Ødegaard and involved several BARNkunne researchers and external participants: retiree Jarle Sælensminde from Øygarden and Klokkarvik Coastal Team, the NFR project TASTEwith Hege Wergedahl and Eli Kristin Aadland, master's students from MedieLab at HVL, and communication staff from HVL, Tallak Rundholdt and Jakob Reite. The food we served was sponsored by the Grieg Group.

Vilvite organized an open house with a program for Sensory Conversations on June 9, 2024. Here, Czarecah Oropilla and Inga Margrethe Fagerbakke (insert link) led Havsan’s workshops and developed a game for children and families to explore the shoreline and the ocean.