“I need the sea because it teaches me”1
A qualitative case study on the current integration of ocean literacy in surf education and
what actors and factors can influence surf instructors in Lisbon, Portugal.
Lina Dahl
University of Gothenburg
School of Global Studies
Bachelor thesis in Global Studies
Spring term 2023
Supervisor: Matthew Justin Tuggey
1 Neruda, P. (2004). On the Blue Shore of Silence: Poems of the Sea. Rayo
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Abstract
Ocean sustainability is more prevalent than ever. With our oceans degrading at rapid speeds
many states and organizations turn to increasing ocean literacy in populations as a way of
ensuring sustainable behaviors. While states and organizations work with it effectively in
their policies it is important to look at how it is for the people that work with recreational
sports that can promote ocean literacy. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to
examine the current integration of ocean literacy in surf instruction in Lisbon, Portugal, and
the actors and factors that can influence the surf instructors to integrate it. It focuses on
identifying the main actors and factors influencing the challenges. Iris Marion Young’s theory
of social connection and a Penta Helix model of governance is used to analyze the findings.
The study utilizes a combination of semi-structured interviews and participatory observation
to explore how surf schools are integrating ocean literacy concepts into their teaching
practices. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis, and then coded to reveal the actors
and factors influencing the surf instructors. Overall, the study highlights the complexity of
social connection in regards to integrating ocean literacy in the context of surf schools. It
found that the main actors that influenced were the government, the Portuguese surf
federation, the surf schools, and the students. The main factors were larger societal structures,
such as the capitalist economic system, social norms and values, power dynamics, and the
context of the lesson. The findings have implications for surf schools in Portugal and beyond,
as well as for the broader movement towards ocean literacy education.
Keywords: Ocean literacy; ocean sustainability; blue space activity; surfing; theory of social
connection; Penta Helix model
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Table of contents
Abstract..................................................................................................................................... 2
Table of contents....................................................................................................................... 3
List of abbreviations.................................................................................................................5
Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................6
1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 7
1.1 Background and problem assessment............................................................................ 7
1.2 Purpose and research question..................................................................................... 10
1.3 Boundaries....................................................................................................................11
1.4 Subject relevance..........................................................................................................11
2. Conceptual theoretical framework................................................................................... 12
2.1 Previous research..........................................................................................................12
2.2 Theoretical framework................................................................................................. 14
2.2.1 Ocean literacy......................................................................................................14
2.2.2 The Penta Helix model of governance................................................................ 16
2.2.3 Theory of social connection................................................................................ 17
3. Method.................................................................................................................................19
3.1 Empirical method......................................................................................................... 20
3.2 Analytic method........................................................................................................... 22
3.3 Limitations to the chosen methods...............................................................................23
3.4 Ethical considerations.................................................................................................. 24
4. Results................................................................................................................................. 25
4.1 Current integration of ocean literacy in surf instruction.............................................. 27
4.1.1 OLP 1.................................................................................................................. 28
4.1.2 OLP 3.................................................................................................................. 28
4.1.3 OLP 5.................................................................................................................. 29
4.1.4 OLP 6.................................................................................................................. 31
4.2 Challenges of integrating OL into teaching practises.................................................. 32
5. Analysis............................................................................................................................... 35
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5.1 Penta Helix model........................................................................................................ 35
5.1.1 The government...................................................................................................37
5.1.2 The surf federations............................................................................................38
5.1.3 The surf schools.................................................................................................. 38
5.1.4 The surf students................................................................................................. 39
5.2 Theory of social connection......................................................................................... 39
5.2.1 Larger societal structures.....................................................................................40
5.2.2 Power dynamics.................................................................................................. 42
5.2.3 Complex connections and partnerships...............................................................44
6. Conclusion and closing discussion.................................................................................... 45
Bibliography........................................................................................................................... 48
Appendix................................................................................................................................. 51
Appendix 1: Interview guide..............................................................................................51
Appendix 2: Table 1........................................................................................................... 52
Appendix 3: Table 2........................................................................................................... 52
Appendix 4: Figure 1..........................................................................................................53
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List of abbreviations
EEZ - Exclusive Economic Zones
EU - European Union
NGO - Non-Governmental Organization
NOS - National Ocean Strategy
OL - Ocean Literacy
OLP - Ocean Literacy Principles
PIA - Priority Intervention Areas
SG - Strategic Goals
SGD - Sustainable development goal
UN - United Nations
UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
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Acknowledgements
I am immensely thankful to the surf schools that took their time to generously participate in
this study. Without their insights, experiences, and time this study would not have been
possible. The findings of this research were greatly enriched by their willingness to share
knowledge and experiences, in all forms, with me. The invaluable guidance, expertise, and
unwavering support of my supervisor, Matthew Justin Tuggey, made this study possible. The
directives I have received will be with me throughout my academic career. In addition to this,
I would like to thank all my friends and family for supporting me throughout this process.
The contributions from the participants and my supervisor have made a lasting impact, and
for that, I offer my heartfelt thanks.
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1. Introduction
The distinctive geological epoch that humans are living through today is referred to as the
Anthropocene. It is considered the time where mankind has produced a significant change in
the geology and ecosystems of the planet (McCormick, 2018;234). The Brundtland report
was produced in 1987 and provides a definition to sustainable development which is used to
this day. The definition is when the development “meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Brundtland,
1987;43). The United Nations (UN) created a unifying framework for sustainable
development in 2015, naming it the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This includes
17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), that have been accepted by all member states,
that are at the center of the 2030 Agenda and stresses the need for global partnerships (United
Nations, n.d.).
The ocean is currently under massive pressure from human induced activity, such as
pollution, ecosystem degradation, and overfishing (United Nations, 2022). Humans must
thereby act fast to effectively mitigate and adapt to the changes happening in the ocean, and
this lies at the feet of the international ocean community (Murphy, 2022). The changes in the
ocean create disruptions in the ocean resources that are a necessity to ensure the well-being of
the human population (Arico, 2015; 3). To be able to ensure a healthy and productive ocean
for both current and future generations the relationship that humans have with the ocean must
be repaired and a discourse change needs to be made about the value of the oceans (Arico,
2015; 6). The challenge of facing this unsustainable use of ocean areas and resources call for
stakeholders to change behaviors but also for a common framework for governance and
management of the ocean (Arico, 2015; 11).
1.1 Background and problem assessment
The ocean has shaped the lives of Portuguese people historically and culturally
(Direção-Geral de Política do Mar, n.d;19) which is why marine conservation is central to
Portugal's work with the SDGs, especially when it comes to SDG 14 (life below water)
(Alves et al., 2022). Portugal's coastline comprises one of the worlds largest Exclusive
Economic Zones (EEZ) and is 48% of the European Union's (EU) member states’ maritime
waters (Direção-Geral de Política do Mar, n.d;7). This is one of the several reasons why
Portugal has formulated a National Ocean Strategy (NOS) for 2021-2030. This time period is
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considered “the United Nations (UN) decade of Ocean Science for sustainable development
2021-2030” (UNESCO, n.d.). This decade “aims to ensure that ocean science will support,
assist, and guide the SDGs with a focus on SDG 14, life below water” (Koutsopoulos & Stel,
2021;10).
In the Portuguese NOS they have set 10 strategic goals (SG) as well as 13 priority
intervention areas (PIA) for the country (Direção-Geral de Política do Mar, n.d;99). In
strategic goal number 8 (SG8) their intention is expressed as “improve education,
qualification, culture and ocean literacy”. The targets for the goal include making sure that
schools include the topic “ocean” into numerous of their activities, and the increase in
training centers focusing specifically on water sports (such as sailing, surfing, and canoeing)
(Direção-Geral de Política do Mar, n.d;99). There are many more targets in line with SG8 but
these will not be further explored in this study. Priority intervention area 2 (PIA2) is in line
with SG8 and talks about “education, qualification, culture and ocean literacy”. In this PIA
the investment of targeting young children to do water sports is mentioned, this is carried out
with the aim of facilitating a closer connection between individuals and the ocean in order to
improve their ocean literacy (OL) (Direção-Geral de Política do Mar, n.d;41). Portugal
thereby is set out to work with OL in a youth-centric way. The Portuguese NOS does
however not mention the tourism that this recreational activity attracts, and how it can be an
opportunity for local spots to reach the global area in educating OL. This is an important
omission in the Portuguese NOS and needs highlighting, which is why this research focuses
partly on this aspect.
According to Fernández Otero et al. (2019;6) “there is insufficient awareness about the
importance of the ocean for humanity in general, particularly for economic activities.”. A
conclusion can therefore be drawn that the importance of OL is greater than ever and crucial
in fighting the depletion of the ocean that can be seen in today's society. Societal change will
be feasible through improving OL in the population, as the new generation that is ocean
literate will be able to secure a healthy ocean (Koutsopoulos & Stel, 2021;18). As mentioned
by Garcia & Cater (2022;2428) “marine ecotourism can support the development of
place-based ocean literacy, but this can only be achieved through “effective partnerships”.
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The definition of Ocean Literacy (OL) was formed in 2002 by a group of experts in the field
of ocean science and is the definition that will be used throughout this thesis. The definition
is:
“Ocean Literacy is an understanding of the ocean’s influence on you and your
influence on the ocean. An ocean-literate person: understands the Essential
Principles and Fundamental Concepts about the ocean; can communicate
about the ocean in a meaningful way; and is able to make informed and
responsible decisions regarding the ocean and its resources.”
(Payne & Marrero, 2021;22).
In order for the larger public to become sufficiently ocean literate, research firstly needs to
focus on understanding how the ocean influences people and how people influence the ocean
(Uyarra & Borja, 2016;1). The first step in this process would be to understand how different
actors work with integrating OL into their education, resulting in a higher OL in the students.
Kelly et al. mention that OL can be a tool that results in pro-environmental attitudes and
behaviors towards the ocean (Kelly et al., 2022;124). These actors that work with educating
OL can be surf schools and how they integrate OL into their teaching practices, as this is one
of the recreational sports that the Portuguese NOS talks about.
Millions of people travel to coastal regions around the world to participate in the recreational
activity of surfing. Lisbon, Portugal is one of these areas where tourists from all over the
world come and learn or practice the skill of surfing. However, both new and experienced
surfers frequently fail to recognize the deep and complex relationship that surfing involves
with the ocean. OL, which is understood to be the knowledge of how the ocean affects human
society and vice versa, is essential for encouraging ethical and sustainable surfing behavior as
well as supporting the conservation and protection of marine ecosystems. In addition to this,
the potential of surf schools to teach OL to a wider audience is not used to the extent that it
can be used. This audience also has a potential to be spread internationally which can
contribute to spreading OL to the global arena. When this study refers to “student” it will
refer to all types of surf students, and “tourist/ walk-in student” will refer to the students who
are there for only a short period of time while “youth” will be the domestic youth that
Portugal has invested in when talking about OL.
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Many tourists contact surf schools to be able to participate in lessons in the recreational
sports. The tourists that go to Portugal for surfing have increased in recent years (Machado,
2018;695), which makes this a perfect opportunity to reach the global arena in a local spot. In
this situation, surf school teachers play a crucial role in educating and encouraging surfers to
acquire a greater understanding of, and respect for, the ocean. Surf school instructors may
motivate their students to care for the environment and develop a culture of environmental
stewardship by including OL into their teaching methods. This is also in line with United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) climate strategy
“changing minds not the climate” (Koutsopoulos & Stel, 2021;vii).
1.2 Purpose and research question
The purpose of this study is to explore the current integration of OL in the context of surf
education and how different actors and factors can influence this integration. It was done by
looking into a specific local spot, in the form of a case study. When looking at surf education
the study will explore two different groups of students, being international and domestic
tourists and domestic youths. The tourism aspect of the surf education related to the global
arena of spreading OL. The study will focus on the current teaching practices and the actors
and factors influencing the challenges regarding the integration of OL into teaching practices
of surf school instructors.
1. How do surf instructors currently integrate OL into teaching practices?
2. What different actors and factors play a role in influencing the surf instructors on the
integration of ocean literacy in their teaching practices?
a. Which actors play a role in influencing the teaching of OL by surf instructors?
b. Which factors play a role in influencing the teaching of OL by surf
instructors?
Research question 1 is answered through the empirical data of the interviews and is more
descriptive in its nature. Using this method of collecting data for the findings limits the
research to only being able to look at the perceptions that surf instructors have regarding this
subject. Therefore, participatory observation was used as a compliment to the interviews to
enable gathering more data that did not only rely on perceptions. The answer to this research
question laid the ground for answering research questions 2 and its sub questions, which are
more interpretive in their nature. Research question 2 explains and examines why the answer
to research question 1 looks like it does in this case, using the theoretical framework of this
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study to examine different actors and factors influencing the surf instructors. Therefore, the
different research questions compliment each other.
1.3 Boundaries
Multiple distinctive boundaries were made for this study.
1. The study will focus on surf schools, specifically the ones in Lisbon, Portugal
2. The study will be defined by, and shaped around, the 7 ocean literacy principles.
As the study will focus on surf schools, boundaries were made for the participating surf
schools. The boundaries for this was:
1. The surf school has lessons for either domestic youths or walk-in students.
2. The surf school is based in the Lisbon area
3. The surf school had time for an interview online and could have the researcher
observe the surf school when in Lisbon if it would fit in the researchers and their
schedule
Further boundaries made in the study will be discussed in chapter 3. Method.
1.4 Subject relevance
Despite the significance of ocean literacy in surfing education, there is a lack of research
about the integration of OL in this area as well as actors and factors influencing the surf
instructors. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate how surf school instructors
view their current work with integrating OL and the actors and factors that can influence the
integration. This study aims to advance knowledge of the opportunities and challenges of
integrating ocean literacy in the context of surfing instruction. Overall, this study fills a
significant gap in the body of knowledge and has applications for surf instructors, surfing
associations, and policymakers that wish to advance ocean awareness and sustainability in the
surfing sector.
As NOS aims to improve the ocean literacy of the Portuguese population, it is of importance
to see how schools working in blue spaces, such as surf schools, can contribute to this by
increasing the awareness of their students so it can guide sustainable behaviors and informed
decision making (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, 2018). This study
contributes to the understanding of the role of ocean literacy in surf education and instruction,
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and provides insights into what actors and factors influence surf school instructors and the
integration of ocean literacy into their teaching practices.
2. Conceptual theoretical framework
This study will primarily focus on one theory and one conceptual model, interconnected with
one another and with the concept of OL. The theory being explored is the theory of social
connection developed by Iris Marion Young in 1990. This theory can contribute by providing
a framework for understanding and analyzing the social connections around surf instructors
and how they can foster and promote OL. The model explored is a modified version of the
Penta Helix model of governance. It can contribute by understanding the actors around the
instructors and how they are interconnected in terms of influence they have on the integration
of OL into teaching practices. The theory and model are two different ways of looking into
the relationships that are around the surf instructors, and both draw attention to the
relationship between the actors in the context of this study. They compliment each other by
providing the research with two different perspectives on the relationships in the network.
This study will primarily operationalise the ocean literacy principles (OLP) by identifying
main indicators. It will look at how OL is integrated through these OLP and the indicators
identified.
2.1 Previous research
Previous research on environmental and ocean literacy focuses mainly on formal schools and
education of the youths of the world, which is seen clearly in how the Portuguese NOS
focuses on education and domestic youths and fails to recognise the importance of
international and domestic surf tourism. This policy shortcoming is interesting to look at as it
can be seen throughout the previous research of the topic. Only a few studies can be found
that have put adults or informal education in focus, rarely with a combination of both. It also
mentions how to spread knowledge about the environment, referred to as environmental
literacy. The existing literature that focuses on adults does it through tourism. An example of
this is Garcia & Cater (2022). Their study focuses primarily on tourism connected to
recreational sports.
Studies on ocean literacy connected to recreational sport can be found in limited research. A
study conducted in Mallorca, Spain examined “how stakeholder collaboration can contribute
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to increased ocean literacy through empirical work on scuba diving” (Garcia & Cater, 2022).
The study focuses on the act of tourism and how the different stakeholders within the
recreational sport play different roles in the knowledge transfer of ocean literacy. In
conclusion the study found that there was insufficient knowledge transferred to the scuba
diving students about ocean literacy, specifically about the mediterranean sea. These
shortcomings were a result of the conditions around the instructors. The staff at the diving
centers are poorly trained, the whole tourism industry is neglected by the government when it
comes to the tourism sector, and there is a weak corporation between different stakeholders
within the sector. (Garcia & Cater, 2022;2434-2440).
Garcia & Cater (2022;2432) used the pentahelix multigovernance model to examine the
relationships at work between the critical stakeholders in the context of ocean literacy in
scuba diving tourism. This model stems from the triple helix model but includes the
dimension of civil society, in their case non-governmental organizations (NGO), to the model
in order to fill the complete scope of the research and the relevant stakeholders.
Another factor that was found, in Garcia & Caters (2022) study, affecting the amount of
ocean literacy knowledge being passed on was the type of tourism in place. The tourists
engaging in the recreational activity of scuba diving were most-likely to be walk-in tourists in
contrast to prior bookings. It was also shaped by marine diversity, sea scapes, sea conditions,
and the quality of the staff (Garcia & Cater, 2022;2433). Many of these features are similar to
that of the recreational sport of surfing, such as the sea conditions, the quality of the staff, and
the character of the tourism usually being walk-in. Their study maps out the key actors in the
activity of recreational scuba diving to be “the marine environment where the dive takes
place; the stakeholders; the divers; the scuba diving industry, and the host community”
(Garcia & Cater, 2022;2431). This study will use similar methods to identify the actors, by
using the empirical data and the Penta Helix model.
Ocean literacy has been connected to surfing in a few studies. The most prevalent study for
this thesis is the study conducted by Fox et al. (2021) showing how “interaction in coastal
ecosystems inform blue space user’s awareness of the ocean” and connects it specifically to
the ocean literacy of surfers. The study aimed to see how engaging in the recreational sport of
surfing could create a greater understanding of the connection to the ocean through the ocean
literacy principles (Fox et al. 2021;3). The indicators to be used in this study are derived from
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Fox et al. (2021) by using the same reasoning that they have used for defining their
indicators, but creating one's specific for this study based on the OLPs.
With the base of this study using the connection between surfers and OL found in the study
by Fox et al. (2021) and the knowledge transfer of ocean literacy to recreational sports by
Garcia & Carter (2022) it will fill existing knowledge gaps within the academic community.
This thesis focuses on the recreational sport of surfing and the challenges of integrating ocean
literacy into teaching practices of surf instructors in Lisbon, Portugal. Therefore, being in
another geographical space, looking at another recreational sport, and using a modified
version of the penta helix model and the theory of social connection, it will fill the existing
knowledge gaps in literature today.
The policy shortcomings of the Portuguese NOS, and the lack of research regarding OL in
connection to recreational sports, make this case interesting to look at. The opportunity
Portugal has to educate, through surf instruction, a global arena in OL is being overlooked by
the government and instead it only focuses on the domestic youth.
2.2 Theoretical framework
The theoretical framework of this study will lay the ground for the analysis to help answer the
research questions. Research question 1 is more descriptive in its nature, and the answer to it
lies in the findings of the study. The research is aware that not much analysis is made to
answer this question but that it instead uses the descriptive nature to help the reader
understand why research questions 2 needs to be looked at. Research question 2 is more
interpretive and analytical in its nature and will therefore use the Penta Helix model and the
theory of social connection to explore the relationships that influence the integration of OL.
OL is defined and conceptualized here, to give the reader a broader understanding of what the
concept entails, as it is the concept that forms the whole study.
2.2.1 Ocean literacy
Ocean literacy was defined in 1. Introduction and the focus of this section is instead to
conceptualize it for the context of this study. The 7 OLP aim to “achieve a society that fully
understands the influence of themselves – as individuals and as a population – on the ocean
and the influence of the ocean on them.” (Fernández Otero et al., 2019;1).
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The seven OLP are:
1. The earth has one big ocean with many features
2. The ocean and life in the ocean shape the features of earth
3. The ocean is a major influence on weather and climate
4. The ocean made the earth habitable
5. The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems
6. The ocean and human are inextricably interconnected
7. The ocean is largely unexplored (Fernández Otero et al., 2019;2).
In 2005, the Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts of Ocean Literacy were formed
in the US as a guide to help incorporate OL into the educational system in the US. (Payne &
Marrero, 2021;21). The framework used in the US was the start of a growing global initiative
within OL (Payne & Marrero, 2021;22).
Global initiatives around OL are many and global actors such as the EU have worked
significantly with OL in the past years. Sea Change is an example of a project created by the
EU to work with the relationship with the ocean of the European citizens. ResponSEAble is
another EU-funded project that worked with more audiences in Europe. The focus projects
were not limited to a specific audience, but instead aimed to provide education to a wide
range of individuals. UNESCO is another global actor that has worked with OL and recently,
in 2017, published “Ocean Literacy for All: A Toolkit” (2017). This toolkit provided by
UNESCO envisions a future where ocean literacy can lead to citizens taking more personal
responsibility for the ocean. (Payne & Marrero, 2021;24)
The OLP can be easily connected to different ideas in science. By recognizing these
connections, it becomes possible to identify the underlying OLP embedded in everyday
language. (Payne & Marrero, 2021;25). Using these different ideas in science, the indicators
of OL can be derived for the different principles.
It is important to note that the formation of these definitions, concepts, and principles of OL
were under circumstances where the authors took a western science perspective and that the
role of other cultural perspectives must now be considered as it is a global concept (Payne &
Marrero, 2021;30).This study will not focus primarily on this, but will throughout the thesis
keep it in mind and hold a discussion on it in relevant parts.
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Ocean literacy and its principles will help the study answer research question 1: How do surf
instructors currently integrate OL into teaching practices?. This will offer insights into the
current situation of the integration of OL and can thereby make the other research questions
more understandable. The answer will be relatively descriptive and therefore the question
will be answered mainly in the findings of the study, see section 4.1 Current integration of
ocean literacy in surf instruction.
2.2.2 The Penta Helix model of governance
The Penta Helix model of governance is a framework for fostering inclusive and sustainable
innovation through cooperation among five key actors: the public, business, academia, civil
society, and government (Carayannis & Rakhmatullin, 2014;233-236). The model is based on
partnerships between all five actors and that those relationships are essential for the
sustainable development of innovation. According to Carayannis and Rakhmatullin
(2014;233-236), the Penta Helix model has been used in a variety of situations, including
regional development, sustainability, and social innovation. It has also been used to
investigate how the general public might support social change and sustainable development
(Mazzucato, 2016; 153).
The Penta Helix model highlights the necessity of involving citizens and other stakeholders
in the innovation process, as well as the significance of open and transparent communication
among all five actors. It also acknowledges that innovation is a complicated, multifaceted
process that takes into account environmental, social, cultural, and economic aspects
(Mazzucato, 2016; 153).
The actors that influence the integration of ocean literacy into surf instructors' teaching
practices can be examined through the Penta Helix model. The Penta Helix model draw
attention to the relationship between the actors in the context of surf education through
different labeling and roles assigned to actors. To create efficient teaching methods that
encourage sustainable ocean practices calls for cooperation amongst numerous stakeholders,
including five key actors that were identified using the model. An adaptation of the Penta
Helix model of governance is useful to look through to see how the relationships among
different actors can shape challenges that surf instructors face when it comes to the
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integration of OL into their teaching practices. By looking at this problem through a Penta
Helix model of governance, the relationships within the surfing industry is made visible.
The role of surf instructors is unique when it comes to promoting ocean literacy. They have
direct access to surfers from all over the world and thereby also have access to using this as a
tool to increase OL globally. The challenge they encounter lies in effectively transferring the
knowledge to the students, when a lot of the knowledge consists of scientific concepts, which
is why the Penta Helix model will be used to identify the main actors that fit in the model.
The Penta Helix model of governance has to be modified in order to suit this study
specifically. The five main actors that can be identified in this study are therefore; the
government, the surf federation, the surf schools, the students, and the surf instructors. The
stakeholders' roles are similar to the original model and therefore this study finds it relevant
and acceptable to thereby change the stakeholders to fitting ones in the modification. More
about the roles assigned to these actors will be discussed in section 5. Analysis.
Overall, the Penta Helix model of governance provides a framework for addressing the
challenges of integrating ocean literacy into the teaching practices of surf instructors. This
model will help the study answer research questions 2: What different actors and factors play
a role in influencing the surf instructors on the integration of ocean literacy in their teaching
practices?. By promoting collaboration between various stakeholders, the model can
facilitate the development of sustainable teaching practices that promote a deeper
understanding of the ocean. The framework can be used to foster inclusive and sustainable
innovations, however, using this framework has the potential of dictating how the researcher
interprets the challenges. Using the framework can thereby affect if the researcher is able to
see challenges that sit outside of the model, making this a limitation of using the Penta Helix
model of governance. The model will now only be named “The Penta Helix model” as it is
not the same model as the original one, after the adjustments.
2.2.3 Theory of social connection
The theory of social connection developed by Iris Marion Young emphasizes the significance
of understanding the larger social and political context in which social connections are
created. This emphasizes the significance of knowing the social and cultural variables that
affect human's relationships with the ocean through human-human relationships (Young,
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2007;191-221). This study does not only discuss human-human relationships but broadens
the definition to include other prevalent relationships that humans have, for example. with
institutions and other larger societal organizations, it also includes the surf schools and the
surf federations.
According to Young (2007;191-221), social connections are more than personal interactions;
they are also influenced by larger societal structures and institutions. This can relate to
aspects of surfing including regional surf culture, the commercialization of the surf industry,
and environmental regulations that have an impact on the health of the ocean.
Young claimed that power dynamics and social inequities affect social interactions rather than
keeping them neutral. According to Young (2007;191-221), there are five types of oppression
that potentially prevents people from forming healthy social connections: violence,
exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, and cultural imperialism. This relates to matters
such as unequal access to surfing resources, the marginalization of particular groups within
the surfing community, and the environmental damage brought on by human activity in the
context of surfing and ocean literacy.
Young's theory highlights the significance of developing institutions and societal structures
that foster wholesome interpersonal relationships and are more equitable and inclusive
(Young, 2007;191-221). This emphasizes the significance of developing a more inclusive and
democratic surf culture that promotes equal access to the ocean and shared responsibility for
its health, which is particularly relevant to the objective of integrating ocean literacy into the
teaching practices of surf instructors.
When using the theory of social connection to analyze the findings, this study will use the
terms “social network”, “social capital”, and “social support” in order to help characterize
what is being discussed. The social network related to the actors around the instructors that
have a role in influencing the integration of OL. The social support refers to positive
reinforcement and encouragement from the actors around the instructors. The social capital
refers to the opportunity of resource allocation of the different actors.
Iris Marion Young's theory of social connection helps this study identity main relationships
between the actors and draw attention to their influence on the actors and factors we are
18
looking at. It is valuable for analyzing the factors as it emphasizes the significance of
recognising structural barriers to the case of surf education. As stated, the power dynamics
and social systems are factors that can be looked at in order to unravel how institutional
constraints, cultural barriers, and socioeconomic situations influence the access and
participation within the integration of OL in surf education. With the two different
perspectives offered from the Penta Helix model and the theory of social connection, it helps
the analysis by offering insight into the social connections and ultimately helps uncover
systemic challenges that the surf instructors face. This theory is used to answer research
question 2: What different actors and factors play a role in influencing the surf instructors on
the integration of ocean literacy in their teaching practices?. It is used to see the
relationships that influence the instructors in a different perspective than the Penta Helix
model does and allows for a wider analysis of the actors and factors that play a role in
influencing the surf instructors.
3. Method
This study will take the form of a case study. Along with the research design it is important to
consider terms that are ways of assessing qualitative research. Lincoln and Guba (1985) have
proposed 4 terms that show the trustworthiness of qualitative research. These 4 criteria are
credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. (cited in Bryman,
2021;363-364).
The credibility of the study was ensured by using respondent validation. Respondent
validation is when the respondents of the interviews get to access the findings of their
respective interviews, and the transcription of their interview to ensure that there is a good
correspondence between the researchers findings/interpretations and the respondents
experiences (Bryman, 2021;364-365). The transcribed interviews were sent to the
respondents for them to review and verify that they agreed with everything that was stated.
The respondents also had the opportunity to correct anything that was stated wrongly in the
transcriptions.
The transferability of the study was harder to ensure, as this study focused on one specific
case and had a non-probability form of sampling. Due to this nature of the study the results
and analysis of the study are not fully applicable to other surf schools, or other recreational
ocean activities in relation to ocean literacy. It does, however, provide an understanding of
19
the actors and factors that influence surf instructors can face, and a similar method can be
used to explore other cases and their integration as well as actors and factors influencing
them.
The dependability of the study was worked with by supplying auditing of the research in an
accessible manner. The auditing approach in qualitative research implies that records of all
the different phases and forms of the research are kept. This means that by the end there
should be full records of the research that are accessible if someone should want to read them
(Bryman, 2021;366). The auditing takes the form of a journal and field notes, to be provided
if the reader wants to take part of it. The journal includes all thoughts about the process as
well as notes of why different choices were made during the time of the research.
According to Bryman (2021) confirmability works with objectivity and how the researcher
should be working in a way that does not let their own personal values interfere with the
findings of the research (Bryman, 2021;366). The researcher of this study worked
continuously throughout the study by checking the data and analysis, ensuring that the study
would be repeatable. For this specific study, the researcher worked consciously with avoiding
an emotional attachment to the subject, as the subject is centered around the recreational
activity of surfing in Portugal which is also an important subject personally for the researcher.
3.1 Empirical method
The chosen empirical method of data collection was qualitative and therefore was done by
semi-structured respondent interviews and participatory observation. Semi-structured
respondent interviews were chosen due to the possibility of asking follow-up questions when
needed on the subject (Bryman, 2021;193). This let the interviewer guide the interview in the
direction of the purpose of the research (Bryman, 2021;193). This research method also
allowed for reflections to be made by the respondent, which is why a qualitative form of
research method was chosen. Another reason for the chosen research method was the
problem of time-constraints within the research, having to keep the respondents answers
within the scope of the research. The abductive nature of the research was also made possible
by having semi-structured interviews complemented with participatory observation.
Semi-structured interviews were also chosen due to the possibility of interviewing a surf
instructor regarding a topic that is directly influencing them, meaning that they had the best
knowledge on the subject. Interviews could then ask about both how the instructors
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personally integrated different OLP in their lessons, and what they perceived were challenges
for integrating it. This was thereby first-hand knowledge that made the study possible.
The 6 respondent interviews were held online with surf instructors within the chosen surf
schools. These interviews were all held individually and were between one interviewer and
one respondent. The interviews lasted between 30-60 minutes. The aim with the research was
initially to have approximately 5 interviews with different surf teachers, which was achieved.
Saturation was also achieved within the subject so it was decided to not look for more
respondents. The interviews were then fully transcribed by the interviewer and sent to the
respondents for cross-checking. The interview guide was formed around the concept of OL
and surf instructing. However, OL as a concept was not mentioned or discussed until the end
of the interview. The rationale for this strategy was to ensure that the participants' answers
when discussing the current integration of OL was not affected by the concept in itself. The
concept was instead introduced later on to discuss the challenges, and to open up for a wider
discussion of the concept. When the concepts of OL were talked about it opened up for more
reflection and discussion between the interviewer and respondent that helped the researcher
gain more insight into the subject. After the interviews and the transcription was done the
researcher worked with the material by creating initial themes and codes, see section 3.2
analytical method, and then the participatory observation took place.
Participatory observation was chosen due to the possibility of accessing the lessons that the
surf schools have with their students as well as gain insights into how the surf school worked,
and the current integration of OL could be looked at directly. The researcher could then see
the integration of OL into teaching practices, and ask the instructors questions as it happened
to see what their immediate thoughts were. It also opened up for talking more about the
challenges in integrating OL in their teaching practices. The participatory observations were
between 3-5 hours long and were made possible at 2 out of the 6 surf schools. The integration
of OL was looked at in the 2 different schools, by joining the lessons and being part of the
participants. The researcher had an active role, meaning that the researcher took part in the
lessons as a student as well as spent time with the instructors, owners, and managers of the
school when they were working to gain insights in their work with OL. The participatory
observation was formed in a way that allowed the researcher to gain as much insight as
possible on the work of surf schools. There was a train strike during the time the researcher
was in Portugal so access to the beach was limited and did not always fit the times of the
lessons. The participatory observation was done through the researcher participating in a
21
lesson and then talking to the instructor while being there. This made it possible to see first
hand how the lessons could integrate OL into their teaching and made it possible to see how
the teachers interacted with the other students in the lesson.
The lessons that the schools had were observed through participation. In this situation the
researcher gained insight into how the instructors were able to work with OL, what they said
to their student, what the teaching methods were, and if there were any observable challenges
to it. During the time when there were no lessons the researcher instead followed the owners,
managers, and instructor around asking questions and being part of the main activities that
they would do during the day.
The choice of having two methods to collect the empirical data was made due to it enabling a
wider range of data being collected in regards to the integration of ocean literacy in surf
education. The interviews provided perceptions of the surf instructors while the participatory
observation provided insights into how the integration looked in the actual lessons.
The sampling for the interviews and for the participatory observation was done through
purposive sampling. This type of sampling is considered a non-probability form of sampling
as it removed the randomness of the participants for the research. Purposive sampling was
done due to the fact that it allowed for participants being chosen that would ensure that the
research questions could be answered. (Bryman, 2021;177, 378). In the case of this research,
the sampling was held so that the respondents were people from surf schools in Lisbon,
Portugal that work with the lessons held at the surf schools. This ended up being both surf
school owners and surf instructors. The sampling was done through both email and
Whatsapp. Whatsapp was the secondary choice in the case that the respondents did not
respond to emails.
3.2 Analytic method
The analysis of the data was done through a thematic analysis. An abductive method was
chosen in order to ensure that the field could steer the ways that the analysis was to be done
and what themes would be looked for while coding (Bryman, 2021;22-23, 355). The coding
had a few themes that were in line with the theoretical framework, relating to the indicators
of OL such as environmental problems, weather and climate, and therapeutic benefits, but
was also be open to finding new themes that the theoretical framework had not yet explored
(Bryman, 2021;22-23, 355, 537-541). Clarke’s general method of thematic analysis was
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mainly used for the coding and it includes a six-stage process. The six stages are:
familiarization, initial coding, identifying themes, reviewing themes, defining themes, and
evidencing themes. (Bryman, 2021;538).
The OLP will be operationalized by indicators and used in the analysis of the current
integration of OL into teaching practices. As stated before, the indicators were derived from a
similar reason to that of Fox et al. (2021). After the interviews were held, a thematic analysis
was conducted and the main themes and codes were compared with the OLP indicators to see
what indicators were integrated in the lessons, according to the interviews. Similar methods
were used in the participatory observation, but used the themes directly from the interviews
to analyze the participatory observation and see what could be seen which OLP were
integrated in the lessons.
Criticism has been aimed towards coding as a way of conducting an analysis of qualitative
data. Bryman (2021) means that the context of what the participants have said and their
perceptions might be lost in the process (Bryman, 2021;537-541). However, as this study had
time constraints, the method of doing a thematic analysis using coding was done and a
discussion was held about how to ensure the credibility of the study.
3.3 Limitations to the chosen methods
Multiple limitations to the chosen research design can be identified. In the empirical method
of the research three main limitations were identified by the researcher. The first, and main,
limitation was the choice to conduct the interviews online via Zoom. This was chosen due to
the time constraints and location differences of the researcher and the respondents. This can
be considered a limitation because it was tougher for the research to identify non-verbal cues
of the respondents. It is also harder to have a flowing conversation through Zoom due to
connectivity issues, and technical problems did happen during some of the interviews.
However, any problems with this were later fixed by clarification asked at the participatory
observation.
The second limitation was language barriers. Although all the participants spoke English to a
satisfactory extent, it did create some problems while explaining more difficult subjects. This
was handled by asking for clarification, or even using google translate to get a better
understanding of what the respondent wanted to convey.
23
The third limitation was that surf instructors are steered by the weather and conditions of the
ocean which could create some problems when it came to both the interviews and the
participatory observation.
Limitations of the analytical method was that the chosen method of a thematic analysis is a
time-consuming process and as this study had time constraints it could easily affect the
content of the themes and coding.
3.4 Ethical considerations
This study followed the guidelines from “vetenskapsrådet” regarding the principles of
research ethics. (Vetenskapsrådet, 2017). The main ethical considerations of this study
followed Diener & Grandalls (1978) breakdown of ethical principles and include harm done
to the respondent, deception, invasion of privacy, and informed consent (cited in Bryman,
2021;113).
Invasion of privacy was worked with in two ways. Firstly, all the respondents are anonymised
to the extent that their surf schools name and their personal name are not to be included in the
thesis. However, the location of the surf school, Lisbon, is mentioned. Considering there are
over 100 different surf schools in this region it would be hard for someone to find out exactly
which surf instructors conducted the interviews. Secondly, the invasion of privacy was
considered by making sure to not ask questions outside the realm of the study. The
interviewer made sure to look for signs of discomfort from the respondent and steered the
interview away from subjects that made the respondent uncomfortable. The researcher did
however not encounter a situation where this happened but still made sure to look for signs of
discomfort in case it would happen.
Informed consent was worked with by informing the participant in the beginning of the
zoom-call all the respondents rights which included the extent of anonymization, their right to
withdraw from the study at any time without consequence, the methods of data collection,
and the aim of the study, but leaving out important information that can affect the respondents
answer, and asking for consent for recording and transcribing as well as analyzing the
interview. To ensure confidentiality and anonymity, all data collected in this study is kept
confidential and is only accessible to the researcher. Participants' identities are not disclosed
in any written or oral reports or presentations, and all data is stored securely and
anonymously. Participants were informed of the confidentiality and anonymity of their
24
responses. The transcription of the interviews were sent to the respondents to make sure that
they agree with everything that was transcribed. Consent was asked for the recording of the
zoom-meeting. The zoom-meeting was only handled by the interviewer and will be deleted
after the thesis is handed in and passed.
Deception was worked with by making sure that the respondent knew what the study is about.
Some information needed to be left out in order to make sure that the respondents' answers
were not affected by the study. However, none of the information left out was of any
significant value to the respondent. In the initial email sent out to the respondent the
researcher stated that the study was about “ocean sustainability” and looking specifically into
the lessons of surf schools. OL was not mentioned in the initial contact, to ensure that the
respondent did not learn about it beforehand which could have affected the answers given,
and the reliability of the study. However, at the end of the interview the concept of OL was
brought up and more of the study was explained to the respondents.
Harm done to the respondent was effectively handled by the combination of all the above. As
well as the consideration of positionality of the researcher, ensuring that there is both
transparency and reliability in the study (Bryman, 2021;131-132). This positionality was
done by working with the relationship between the respondent and the interviewer and how it
could have been affected by self-awareness and preconception. The researcher provided
ample time for participants to reflect and respond to questions, to ensure the comfort of the
participant. One factor that could affect the positionality was that the researcher is a surfer
themselves, which can both affect the study positively by creating a greater bond and trust
with the respondent, but it can also affect it negatively by the respondent feeling the need to
prove themselves to another surfer.
Finally, to avoid any conflicts of interest, the researcher will disclose any personal or
professional relationships with participants and will not use any information obtained in this
study for personal or professional gain.
4. Results
The results section of this study will not solely focus on presenting the findings from the
empirical data gathering. It will also help answer research question 1: How do surf instructors
currently integrate OL into teaching practices?. To be able to answer research question 1
some analysis will be made in the results part, but not significant amounts. This is done due
25
to the descriptive nature of the question. Contradiction between the findings in the different
methods will also partially be discussed, to set the scene for answering research question 2.
The participants in this study, see table 1, are anonymous and will be given pseudonyms in
order to keep track of their characteristics.
Table 1
Coding and characteristics for the participants
Participant code Surf instructor Surf school owner Involved in
participatory
observation
Adam x
Ben x x x
Chris x x
Dean x x
Eric x x x
Fabian x
Note. Code names and characteristics for all the participants are displayed in this table. It is
showing if they are a surf instructor or a surf school owner or both.
The results will be presented by direct quotes from the participants, meaning that any
grammatical errors made in the interview will not be adjusted, making some quotes harder to
understand than others. However, to make sure that the meaning of the quotes are not
different from the original, it was decided to keep the original direct quotes.
The result will be divided into two main parts. The first part will focus on the current
integration of OL into the teaching practices of surf instructors. This is to get an overview of
how the surf instructors perceive their current work with OL and to set the scene for the
analysis, which focuses more on answering research question 2.. The findings will come from
both the interviews and the participatory observations, as the findings from the interviews
focus on the perception of the surf instructor while the participatory observation sees it from
another perspective first-hand. The second part will focus on the challenges surf instructors
face to integrate OL into their teaching practices, and specifically the actors and factors
26
influencing these challenges. These findings will also come from the interviews and the
participatory observations.
4.1 Current integration of ocean literacy in surf instruction
In this part the perception of surf instructors will be discussed in terms of teaching methods,
safety aspects, and surf culture. Surf instructors' perceptions of OL can influence their
teaching methods, this includes everything from their own learning of different teaching
methods, to what they believe is the most effective way of integrating OL. The perception of
how the surf instructors integrate OL into their teaching methods will be looked at. It relates
to the aspect of safety measures as the instructors have to be able to ensure the safety of their
students, especially when dealing with harsh conditions at sea. For example, the risk
assessments the instructors have to make might influence if they have the possibility to
integrate OL into their teaching practices. Lastly, it relates to surf culture in the way the surf
community values and interprets the ocean can influence the extent that the surf instructors
integrate OL into their teaching practices.
The results include how/if the surf instructors integrate OL into their teaching practices, and
what they believe is most important for students to learn. It was found in the interviews that
OLP 1, 3, 5, and 6 were the OLP that were integrated into the teaching practices, both in
direct and indirect ways.
In the interview, Adam explained how the students can benefit from learning OL by saying
“[...] if you know what's around you the probability of being successful and enjoying the
experience it gets higher [...].” furthermore Chris expanded upon that with “I believe in the
more you know the better you can interact with it”. Fabian broadened the scope and included
that everyone should be taught OL “I think everyone should know, everyone should know
about it. Not even just the students or the surfing instructors. I think everyone in society in
general should be more concerned about those type of things.”. Different reasons were also
given to why they believed there were benefits with teaching OL, as Fabian puts it “[...] if we
work with the tourists they could come here. They could come to Portugal and they would go
everywhere they're from and they could spread the word”. Evidently, it is visible within this
context that the instructors thought it to be important to integrate OL into teaching practices,
27
and that they were aware of the benefits that OL can have for the students themselves, and for
the environment as a whole.
The participants described the different ways they integrate OL into their teaching practices.
All participants connected it in different ways to the safety precautions and used various
methods to be able to convey the message to the students. Different methods included
drawing in the sand, pointing out at sea, and including the students in activities that would
help them learn.
When asked about the instructor's perspective on what is the most crucial for the students to
learn in order to surf various answers came up, the most common answer was connected to
OL. As Chris puts it, “[...] respect the ocean and not fear the ocean.”. Ben explains it as
“When I take kids for the first time to the beach for a learning session one of the goals is they
have to understand the sea in a different way.”. All the participants agreed that knowledge
and understanding for the ocean is essential when learning how to surf.
4.1.1 OLP 1
OLP 1 is “Earth has one large ocean with many features”. For OLP 1, two of the surf
instructors showed evidence of teaching about the vastness of the ocean to their students. It
was in connection to marine pollution and talked about when discussing where plastic ends
up if disposed of in the ocean. Fabian was asked how they teach OLP 1 to their students and
they answered “So like in a, you know, funny way [...] I always tell like yeah, if you leave the
bottle there, it's gonna go to Brazil or something. So, it's gonna go real far away”.
4.1.2 OLP 3
OLP 3 is “The ocean is a major influence on weather and climate“ and evidence of
incorporating this into lessons was found in all participants, to different extents. Every surf
instructor connected OLP 3 to the briefing and the safety precautions part of the lessons in the
interviews before the concept of OL was introduced, talking about waves, currents, winds, etc
in connection to surfing and what is essential for the students to know about regarding the
ocean in order to stay safe, as Adam explained it
[...] we explain exactly what are we dealing what size what tide are we
actually surfing about what's the inside what's the outside part of the ocean we
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always like to, I know that people want to go in the water as soon as they can
but it's so important that they just understand what's going on and we do this
not only with adults but with children as well for them to actually understand
the environment where they are like if you are surfing on high tide, if you are
surfing on low tide what's going on what's the way where the wind comes
from the current because it's actually super important for people to understand
that there's a little bit of science around here [...].
Ben went on to explain to the students exactly how the wind and weather influences the
ocean “[...] when you tell them that the tides [...] directly influence in the way of the waves
breaks, when you tell them the winds something about the winds [...].”. This could also be
seen in the participatory observation with Ben’s lesson. The students were asked if they knew
what type of wind was blowing during that day in the beginning of the lesson. Ben then
explained to them the direction of the wind and how it affects the current, as well as how that
ultimately affects their surfing.
Eric gave insight into how they manage to teach this to especially children that are beginners
[...] one of the aspects in the summer camp that I teach is um things like high
tide low tide weather systems, but we do it I do it all in a very kid-friendly
way. So the low pressure will be like a flying onion and high pressure will be
like a fried egg. And then I will explain the isobars that and then I will actually
in person and during their surf experience they can relate high tide to low tide
because they see it in real on the beach.
The summer camps are with children that spend more than just a lesson with the
school. The students thereby were not mainly walk-in students for this camp but
children living in the area.
4.1.3 OLP 5
I was standing next to Ben’s surf school and waited for the students to arrive while Ben was
inside fixing stuff. Beside me was the outside seating area of one of the restaurants on the
beachfront. Here, loads of people gathered to escape the sun and get something refreshing to
drink. The social spirit filled the air, as well as the smoke from cigarettes that the people were
29
smoking. As I was enjoying the scene Ben came out holding a net and decided to quickly
clean up the area around the surf school. Within 30 seconds he had already fished up over 20
cigarette butts. I asked Ben where these butts came from, why there were so many and they
answered "people they sit and smoke and have fun and you know they just throw.". After Ben
had explained this they told me the intention was not to throw it away but keep it until the
students came to show them the amount of trash on the beach. Their intention was to use it as
a teaching tool for the students, to remind them of the importance of environmental
stewardship.
This vignette is used to describe a situation where OLP 5 is used in surf schools. OLP 5 is
“The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems” and this OLP is commonly
associated with marine pollution and environmental problems in the ocean. Evidence of
integrating OLP 5 into teaching practices was found in four of the six surf schools, to
different extents. Ben and Eric worked with it to the highest extent and integrated it
thoroughly into their practices. Ben explained how they integrate it “We have a class it calls
plasticology and sometimes we talk about that kind of stuff and the problem of the plastic in
the ocean.” and Ben also showed significant integration of it during the participatory
observation, which can be seen in the vignette. Eric explained how they work to integrate
OLP 5 into lessons
So, we have surfing when it's low tide and then when it's high tide, we stop
surfing and we do other activities. So some of the other activities are beach
cleaning. And all that kind of stuff explaining and showing stuff what's on the
beach and going through the plastic bags and seeing what we found.” and “
[...] we show them in certain areas on the beach there's more of it and certain
areas as less because that's where the currents taking it and that kind of stuff.
However, it appeared to be challenging for other instructors to integrate OLP 5. All surf
instructors showed a willingness and an aspiration to integrate it more but there were
constraints that made it challenging. Fabian explained it “[...] sometimes that we talk about it
because we saw trash on the beach or we saw trash on the ocean. [...] I think it's something
we should be more.” and Ben stated “[...] you have to think that you have to maintain the
ocean clean and healthy or else you can't do that and you can’t take advantage from it. It is
very important to pass that message to the kids.”.
30
The integration into teaching practices varied from discussing the topic when encountering it,
having it as a standard in the beginning of every class, and integrating it to a high extent into
classes. However, the surf instructors that had the opportunity to integrate it to the highest
extent also had classes that were set times, or that were in the form of summer camps. These
lessons were not with tourists but with students or children from around the area. These
instructors had a higher possibility of integrating OLP into their teaching practices in
comparison to the surf schools that only had lessons with walk-in students, due to time
constraints on the instructors that taught the walk-in students.
4.1.4 OLP 6
OLP 6 is “The ocean and humans are inextricably interconnected” and is usually connected to
the therapeutic benefits of blue spaces. The evidence of integrating OLP 6 into teaching
practices was found in all the participants and usually connected to the skill of surfing and
using safety as a way of explaining it. Chris explained it as
I normally tell that to all my students [...] that they have to be aware and
focused is mainly I use the excuse of safety. Well, it's not an excuse it actually
real also but my real intent is for them to be aware of themselves into you
know in to find this moment of union but I sell it as you know you have to be
focused in order to be safe you can’t panic so you have to be relaxed, you have
to use your breaths to calm yourself down you have to be aware of what's
going on around you so you have to observe got to feel your body, you have to
feel the current and all of these things that are masked as safety rules or
something like that is actually bringing them closer to this total awareness [...].
Eric stated, during the interview but also elaborated on it during the participatory observation,
that their surf school also does “ocean therapy” together with people with disabilities. This is,
however, not integrated straight into the normal classes that the school holds. The
participatory observation held at that school did not either mention it. For the same school, a
lesson was held during the participatory observation but it was a lesson held for walk-in
students. This lesson did not include any information in connection to OLP 3.
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The integration of OL in teaching methods was found in different ways in all participants in
the interviews, however, the participatory observation contradicted this. Out of the two
participatory observations, one instructor integrated OLP 3 and 5 significantly into the lesson
while the other instructor did not integrate any OL at all. It was found that the integration of
OL was enhanced in the lessons that were for recurring students, such as youth from the
country, and reduced in the lessons that were for walk-in students, such as tourists. Table 2
helps illustrate the integration of OLP during lessons, found in interviews and participatory
observation.
Table 2
Integration of OLP, findings from the empirical data
Participant OLP 1 OLP 2 OLP 3 OLP 4 OLP 5 OLP 6 OLP 7
code
Adam x x x
Ben x o x o x o
Chris x x x
Dean x x x x
Eric x x x
Fabian x x x
Note. The OLP that were found integrated when discussing it in the interviews are marked
with x. However, the participatory observations showed different results and are marked with
o. Not all participants had both interviews and participatory observation, these will be marked
by a gray scale around their participant code.
4.2 Challenges of integrating OL into teaching practises
Several challenges to integrating ocean literacy into teaching practices could be identified in
the data. One of the more direct problems had to do with different management aspects of the
surf schools, including time-constraints and the fundamental fact that surf schools are
businesses that have the necessity to keep money in consideration. Fabian put this in simple
terms by saying “[...] time is money because if I don't give the lesson the right way, I don't
have time to give the lesson.” meaning that the time for the lessons might not always be long
32
enough to integrate OL into it. As Adam put it
I don't know if the management of the surf schools is really interested in doing
this. You know because they see it like as a business so like the minutes that
probably we can use to actually inform people about that it's minutes that they
are losing on something else.
Adam also mentions the effect that the surf school can have on each other, “[...] if one school
starts to like pay attention or in a proper way into this everyone is going to follow that it's
that's for sure.”.
Another challenge identified was the interest level of students and instructors. Chris means
that for surf instructors “I think all only maybe a small percentage of surf teachers really take
care about this.” and Adam explains the different types of students they receive
[...] we get a little bit of everything that you know there's that student that
comes and actually it's interesting about what's going on and wants to learn
about surfing but there's the other kind of student that just pops up like
spontaneously. Like doesn’t even know where he is, just came from a night out
from the day before you know and just wants to have a little bit of fun.
Specifically, Adam explains the students that might not care as much “[...] it doesn't really
matter if the instructor is telling you what's going on in the ocean why we are doing this. He
just wants to go in the water and have fun.”.
During the interviews, a challenge related to the government was identified, namely that the
instructors lacked awareness of Portugal's work with OL. As Chris said when asked about if
they knew about the Portuguese NOS mentioning OL “No, I mean I don't know about it. No,
so maybe I never really investigated about it.”. The government did however support some
schools. As Ben explained it
I have some support in my school where I teach in my high school now. I have
some support of hours of work, instead I have five classes in school. I have
four classes and one class to do to learn surf to teach surf. So they give me
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hours of teaching for surf lessons. And the kids come to my surf school and
they don't buy anything and they have free surf lessons.
No support was given to lessons that facilitated walk-in students, it only focused on support
given to be able to have lessons with students from schools around the area. The schools that
gained support from the government could facilitate both domestic youths and walk-in
student but the resources would only go to the lessons with domestic youths.
Another challenge for the instructors was having the right knowledge to begin with. To be
able to integrate OL into their teaching practices, surf instructors thought it to be important
that they had the right knowledge. They identified it to be a challenge that some instructors
might not have or think they do not have the right knowledge. As Chris states “I think many
surfers don't or surf teachers don't have the knowledge of the exact terms and so they're also
afraid to make mistakes. So they would rather not talk about it.” and Fabian adds to this “I
would say that it would be better for them [the Portuguese surf federation] to rethink what
they teach because most surf structures they go with without any experience.”.
A challenge that was mentioned by multiple of the respondents was an insignificant social
capital from the Portuguese surfing federation. When the instructors got their teaching
licenses they did not learn enough about how to teach ocean literacy to their students. Fabian
said “[...] they don't teach you how to say it to people.” and “He [the surf instructor] doesn't
know how to explain like the rip currents to people. He doesn't know he doesn't know really
what the rip current is to himself that well.” and when asked if they learn about OL in the
course Eric said “We do but one thing is learning about it. And the other thing is in practice in
real life.”.
Chris also talked about The Portuguese surf federation and how it can influence surf schools.
As Chris said
I'm talking about now like the basic surf schools that give you know, like big
groups and are just working not very well. I'm not sure if they would care. But
maybe they would maybe it's if it was it was promoted by the surf Federation.
34
Dean took it to the level of explaining that the Portuguese surfing federation, in turn, does not
get enough support from the Portuguese government to begin with
I think the core for the Federation is to have support to the national team to be
in international championships. And the amount the Portuguese State give to
this kind of federation that is much smaller than the football or tennis or
another sports another bigger sports or famous sports. It's hard to share and to
have people to work. In Federation of surf work full-time job two people.
Challenges were also connected to the relationship between the actors. Some instructors
mentioned that they would want to see better trained lifeguards and maritime police that were
more focused on the job. As Erik said “The Maritime police there aren't very many of them
for a big Coast.” and
So that's why I say that if lifeguards were really well trained. And again, I'm
not saying they're not badly. They're not really well trained. But if they if they
were you it would be a different kind of police. You have the maritime police
who could do their thing and the lifeguards who could do those things but one
of the problems is not enough of both of them [...].
During the participatory observation at Erik’s school it was made possible to discuss the
possibilities for the surf instructors. Erik mentioned that the instructors at his school are
mostly migrant workers, coming mainly from Brazil, and that Erik employs them in hope of
being able to help them. However, the migrant workers don’t usually have time to get the
certification when they get to Portugal and so they start working without certifications.
During the lesson I joined with one of Erik’s instructors no OL was integrated into the lesson,
and the hard skills of surfing was the only focused during the lesson.
5. Analysis
Integrating OLP into surf lessons was perceived as relatively straightforward by the interview
respondents. However, when going on to discuss influences it became evident that it was not
as easy as anticipated. It is therefore interesting to look at the relationships between the
actors, and how they influence the instructors, by looking at a Penta Helix model and the
35
theory of social connection. The model and theory can help by providing different
perspectives on the relationships of the actors and how they, and factors, influence the surf
instructors in different ways. They will help the study by answering research question 2:
What different actors and factors play a role in influencing the surf instructors on the
integration of ocean literacy in their teaching practices?. This research question is more
interpretive which is why it is being answered in the analysis. An interesting note is also that
the findings in the interviews and the findings in the participatory observations somewhat
contradicted each other, shown in table 2. These contraindications, and what they mean, will
be discussed in the analysis.
5.1 Penta Helix model
When discussing the influences on the surf instructors in integrating OL into their teaching
practices, multiple perspectives came up. These included different dimensions of partnership
challenges that manifested themselves around the surf instructors. The four most prevalent
partnerships were with the government, the surf federation, the school, and the students. The
Penta Helix model can facilitate the analysis by providing a framework. This framework
highlights the roles that the different actors have and looks at their relationships and
interaction, with each other and with the surf instructors. Therefore, the model encourages the
analysis to identify stakeholders, understand roles and relations, evaluate power dynamics,
and map out dependencies that can be a result of all these together. The understanding of
roles was done through labels and help by drawing attention to the different relationships in
the context of this study.
All the relationships stem from findings in the interviews, where the instructors had discussed
actors around them that have a significant influence on their integration, either direct or
indirect. Every actor and the relationships and partnerships will be discussed later on, as they
all signify important partnership and relationship challenges. The five actors that were found
to have significant influence on the integration of OL can be represented in a Penta Helix
model, see figure 1. The relationships are complex and affect each other in different ways, the
main focus will be the relationship the actors have with the instructors, represented by light
gray arrows in the figure.
36
Figure 1.
The network of actors influencing the instructors, represented in a Penta Helix model.
Note. This figure explains the actors in the case of surf instruction in Portugal, it shows the
actor network and how they are all interconnected.
In the Penta Helix model it can be concluded that the government is the supervisor, the
Portuguese surf federation the supporter, the international surfing association the trainer, and
the surf instructors the facilitators, and the students the citizens. These different terms play
different roles in the Penta Helix model, with different responsibilities within the model. The
supervisor oversees the policies and guides the actions of others. They hold the
decision-making power and provide leadership. In this model, the supervisor is the
government and acts through policies, like the Portuguese NOS, and resources allocation.
The trainer is someone who educates other people within the model. The international surf
association takes on this role as they are the ones certifying the surf instructors to make sure
they have the right amount of knowledge within the subject. The Portuguese surf federation
takes the role of supporter, they can act by providing assistance to the actors within the
model, such as the surf instructors. The facilitators fall onto the surf instructors themselves,
this study has assigned them that role in the model due to the fact that they are the center of
the topic being addressed. The students then take on the last role of citizens since they are
only part of the model as someone attending lessons. However, according to the model, they
still have responsibility to take part in activities that can help shape the policies.
37
The actors will be individually examined and discussed in detail. The surf instructors play
their own crucial role in this context. They have to take responsibility in attending the
training programmes, if possible, to develop their knowledge and skills about integrating OL
into their teaching practices. It has to be noted that not all individuals have the opportunity to
engage in this, however, that will be brought up in factors influencing integration of OL.
5.1.1 The government
The government plays a role by providing funding and regulations that support OL in the
teaching practices of surf instructors. The funding can be aimed towards educational
resources or training programmes for the surf schools. This funding can also be allocated
towards aiming additional resources to other stakeholders, such as lifeguards, surf
federations, or the maritime police, so that the surf instructors have the possibility to improve
their job performance. Eric gave insights into this in the interview and the participatory
observation by talking about how the government doesn’t allocate sufficient resources to
maritime police and life guards, making the surf instructors job more difficult. As also stated
in the interviews, the government does not supply the portuguese surf federation with enough
money to have more than 2 full-time employees.
The way that the government affects the instructors first hand can be seen through policies
and regulations. Ocean literacy integration can be significantly impacted by government
policies and legislation related to environmental education, coastal conservation, and
sustainability. While insufficient or nonexistent policies might hinder surf instructors' efforts,
policies that take ocean literacy into consideration can foster an environment where ocean
literacy is prioritized. These policies and regulations can also manifest themselves in
lifeguards, and the maritime police. The government has a possibility to affect the
environment around the instructors, and several of the participants mentioned how better
trained lifeguards and maritime police could help their work.
5.1.2 The surf federations
The Portuguese, and international, surf federation can advocate for the integration of OL at a
broader level. They can also collaborate by developing policies and initiatives that promote
OL in the surfing community, and include it in the certification of the surf instructors, on an
international and national level. Being the trainer and the supporter in the model they can
38
significantly influence the instructors with knowledge included in the certificates. It was
found in the interviews that one significant challenge to integrating OL was the lack of
knowledge that the instructors have about the subject. The Portuguese surf federation can use
their social capital to increase resources in the training opportunities.
When looking at the network around surf instructors it can be seen that the surf federation has
the possibility to influence the surfing community. As also found in the interviews, the
federation often supplies the schools and instructors with updated information regarding
different factors affecting their work. This is a forum that the federation can use to the
advantage of integrating OL into the teaching practices of surf instructors. It was however
also found in the interviews that the federations and the instructors do not have extensive
contact, and that the only contact that does happen is through the federation sending out
important information to the owners of the surf school, not to the instructors directly. The
relationship between these two actors mostly manifests itself through other actors, the surf
school owner, that supplies the instructor with important information.
5.1.3 The surf schools
The surf schools, meaning the managers/owners of the schools, play a significant role in
supporting the surf instructors by developing educational resources that can be integrated into
the teaching practices. They also play a collaborative role by ensuring the instructors have the
necessary knowledge and skills to be able to integrate OL.
The social network around the surf instructors plays a crucial role in the integration of OL.
Instructors can be influenced by the prioritization of various actors in the schools. If
environmental sustainability is valued in the schools, the surf instructors might have a higher
likelihood to integrate OL into their teaching practices while if the network prioritizes the
commercial interest, as Fabian said, the surf instructors might have a lesser likelihood to
integrate OL into their teaching practices.
5.1.4 The surf students
The clients/students have responsibility by contributing to influencing the instructors by
showing interest and actively participating in the parts of the lessons that focus on OL. The
clients/students can provide feedback, positive or negative, to assist the surf instructors in
39
improving their teaching so that the OL can reach more people. They represent the citizens in
the model.
Social support also plays an important role in the integration of OL into the teaching
practices. If the surf instructors receive significant social support, for example in the form of
positive feedback, the instructors might have a higher likelihood of integrating OL into their
teaching practices. The students bear a significant responsibility in creating an environment
where the instructors and/or the school feels both enabled and compelled to integrate OL and
ocean sustainability into the teaching practices. This can be seen in the findings when the
instructors discussed different types of students, and how they could influence to which
extent the instructors would integrate OL. If all these roles, partnerships, and relationships
collaborate it can create a community that helps and supports the integration of OL into
teaching practices.
5.2 Theory of social connection
The actors and factors influencing the integration of OL into the teaching practices of surf
instructors are displayed by looking through the theory of social connection. This allows for
the relationships between different actors to be examined in the context of this case. As
mentioned before, Young (2007;191-221) stresses the importance of larger societal structures
and power dynamics in terms of establishing healthy social connections.
When looking at the findings of how instructors integrate OL in their teaching it was found
that the specific context in which they did so played a significant role. For example, they
were able to talk about OLP 1 due to encountering a plastic piece when teaching and then had
the possibility to explain it directly. However, there are more factors affecting the integration
than the context of the lessons, which will be discussed in the next part.
5.2.1 Larger societal structures
As stated before, Young implies that social connections are more than personal interactions;
they are also influenced by larger societal structures and institutions. This study looks into the
specific social connections of shared values, collaborative networks, and community
engagement. This can relate to aspects of surfing including regional surf culture, the
40
commercialization of the surf industry, and environmental regulations that have an impact on
the health of the ocean.
The larger societal structures can mainly be divided into two parts. One is the capitalist
economic system that is currently prevalent in society. This can be observed in the context of
the commercialisation of the surf industry and how the government is affected by the political
and economic systems. The other one is social norms and values that directly affect the
instructors in how they can integrate OL.
The capitalist economic system
The actors are all affected by larger societal institutions that have the power to affect the
school and the instructors. In turn, the institution, being the Portuguese government, is
affected by the capitalist economic system as it is a mixed market economy. This affects the
decision-making and the shaping of the policies that they bring upon the instructors in
different ways. As discussed in section 5.1.1 the government has a role as a “supervisor” in
the Penta Helix model. The supervisor is thereby affected in their decision-making and the
policies they produce by the capitalist economic system. Being the actor with the
decision-making power and providing guidance, it can affect the schools by promoting
commercial interest, giving the instructors less space to integrate OL. As Adam said in the
interviews, if the managers are more business-oriented it can affect the way that they
integrate OL into their teaching practices.
The economic system manifests itself when looking at the social capital from the
government. The Portuguese government is supplying some of the surf schools with
resources to be able to teach more youths surfing. Seeing this, Portugal is already working
with a form of social capital by supplying resources, however this resource delegation is
youth-centric and only focusing on the formal education of the country, not including the
recreational activities. As Ben stated in the interview, the government supplies them with
resources to support the part of the schools operation that deals with the domestic youths,
coming from schools and having it as part of their curriculum. The government does not
supply any support to Ben school in regards to the students that are walk-in students, and this
is also seen in the other participants' interviews. For the schools that have operations dealing
with domestic youth and in cooperation with formal schools, the government supplies
resources, but not to the ones only engaging with walk-in students.
41
The findings also revealed that the instructors lack knowledge about the government's work
with OL, and therefore did not know that the state is promoting teaching OL in recreational
activities such as surfing. This means that the government is not supplying the instructors
with significant information about why this is important to teach to the students about OL.
As the network is prioritizing commercial interests it becomes apparent that larger societal
structures are at play, where the capitalist economic system is affecting the teaching practices
of surf instructors. The network around the instructor prioritizes the market, and economic
growth, over environmental sustainability, which is affecting the integration of OL. It was
found in the interviews that the instructors talked about the surf schools being businesses
when discussing challenges. As a result of the market and the need for students/clients being
happy with the product they purchase, the instructors were more aimed to make sure that the
students had a fun experience and could get value out of their surf lessons, such as being able
to stand up, rather than learning about OL. As some of the participants said, the money aspect
of the surf schools came into play here where the lessons were controlled by the managers in
a way that took out the possibility of integrating OL.
The relationship between the schools and the instructors, as well as the students and the
instructors are therefore influenced by larger societal structures, such as the capitalist
economic system that affects the schools and students through the commercialization of the
surf industry.
Social norms and values
Social norms and values are noticeable as a factor influencing instructors when looking at the
network around the instructor, and the support they receive from their network. As Young’s
theory mentions, larger societal structures have a role to play here and this connection is
influenced by societal norms and values. The norms and values of the network around the
instructors can ultimately influence the extent to which the instructor can integrate OL into
their teaching practices.
The social network around the surf instructors can manifest itself in a variety of ways. The
social network includes the surfing community, the student, the managers, and to some extent
the federation. From all of these actors, the effect they have on instructors is motivation to
42
integrate OL into their teaching practices. Participants mentioned that if other
schools/teachers were to start integrating more OL into their lessons, it would be a greater
possibility that they would as well.
As mentioned when analyzing the actors, the social support that instructors receive from the
network is important which can manifest itself in feedback from the student. If an instructor
who tries to incorporate ocean literacy into their teaching methods runs into resistance or
disinterest, they may be less likely to integrate OL. The social norm might then be what is
controlling the society in putting less value on environmental concerns or ocean protection.
As mentioned when talking about the capitalist economic system, Portugal is supplying
resources to some parts of the surf industry. As the government is affected by the economic
system, it could work with social support instead. Giving guidance within the tourism sector
in order to combat the youth-centric way of dealing with OL.
5.2.2 Power dynamics
In the network and amongst the actors there are power dynamics at play. As Young claimed,
power dynamics and social inequities affect social interactions. This might relate to matters
such as unequal access to surfing resources, the marginalization of particular groups within
the surfing community, and the environmental damage brought on by human activity in the
context of surfing and ocean literacy.
Social inequalities and power dynamics come into play in multiple of the different actors. For
the surf federation it can be related to the certificates, as not all instructors have the
possibility to get the certificate. During the participatory observation at Eric’s school, many
of the instructors talked about them not having the right certificate to be allowed to instruct
surfing. The surf instructors that did not have the certificate were from Brazil and had come
to Portugal for work. They did not have the same possibilities to get the certification before
starting to teach as they were in need of the money.
Young’s theory discusses five types of oppression that might prevent people from forming
healthy social connections; violence, exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, and
cultural imperialism. These can relate to this situation of unequal access to resources. This
analysis will only discuss exploitation, marginalization, and powerlessness, as they can be
43
connected to power dynamics in this case. Violence and cultural imperialism may be found in
other cases but did not emerge as prominent themes during the data collection of this case.
Exploitation can be connected to the situation where migrant workers go to Portugal to work
as surf instructors. The owners of the schools, such as Eric’s school, are keen to help these
people get work, and usually it leads to them not getting the certification directly. The
certification takes a while to get and therefore the migrant workers instead get employed
directly in order for them to start making money. This circles back to the challenges in
integrating as the instructors have a harder time integrating OL without the right knowledge
about it, which they could acquire through the certification. As seen in the interviews, even
the instructors with the certifications have a hard time integrating because of a lack of
knowledge about it.
The marginalization aspect has to do with social exclusion of the migrant workers. They
might come from backgrounds where there were different teaching methods and different
knowledge about how to work with ocean sustainability. OL is a western concept and might
therefore not be a concept that the migrant workers have talked about before. Without the
knowledge of it, they have no possibility to integrate it into the teaching. This leads to a
dependency status where the migrant workers are dependent on the holders of power to help
them gain significant knowledge about OL. Connected to the powerlessness, they are
dependent on someone else. This might even be a dependency that is on the salary they
receive from the owners. If the owners then are influenced by for example the capitalist
economic system, the instructors might not have the possibility to integrate OL.
OL being a western concept also shapes the actors that have the majority of the power in
shaping what it is and what it means. OL reflects how the ocean is viewed in the West in
terms of its ecological, economic, and cultural importance. Other indigenous and
non-Western viewpoints on the ocean have been generally disregarded, neglecting their
enduring ties, in-depth knowledge, and sustainable practices.
Similar to this, social networks with unequal power dynamics may have an effect on how surf
instructors incorporate ocean literacy into their teaching methods. For instance, surf
instructors who are a part of social networks where people, in this example the
managers/owners, are more powerful than themselves, they may be less likely to question
prevailing norms or values, which in this case prioritizes the commercial interests of the surf
44
schools rather than the integration of OL into the teaching practices. Power dynamics can be
seen to influence the access to knowledge and resources that can help the instructors with
integrating OL. When the school prioritizes commercial interest, the owner/manager can
withhold resources, or access to knowledge, that might have helped the instructor to integrate
OL. It also manifests itself in the relationship with the government, through the unequal
access to resources that the government hands out. The resources are distributed largely to
surf schools helping the youth. Instructors that are not part of a school that is part of this
programme does thereby not have equal access to these resources.
5.2.3 Complex connections and partnerships
Young’s theory highlights the significance of developing institutions and societal structures
that foster wholesome social connections. This can be manifested in equal access to the ocean
and removing any inequalities that are connected to this, such as inequality because of race,
gender, or other group association. As stated in the results part, there is also an opportunity of
globalism at play. In the findings it could be seen that Fabian talked about “spreading the
word” which is not merely an environmental statement, but a global societal statement.
The participatory observation of two surf schools was compared and showed significant
differences in the amount of OL that was integrated into the lessons. It is difficult to assert
that the analysis of the two surf schools is transferable to other schools in the region, or
around the world, as the case only involved two different schools. The findings did however
show significant differences between the schools that aligned with the challenges brought up
in the interviews. The two surf schools that were visited showed social connections at play.
Firstly Eric’s being a bigger school that did not receive any support from the government,
focused mostly on walk-in students. This instructor was not Portuguese and did not have any
certificate, and likewise did not integrate any OL into the lesson that was observed. Ben’s
school however received support from the government, and the owner held the lesson and
had a certificate. This lesson integrated OL and talked both about environmental awareness
and weather and condition in the ocean in connection to the lesson.
The two surf schools had different opportunities when it came to integrating OL into the
lessons. Eric’s school was dependent on the capitalist economic system, since they did not
receive any support from the government and had to run the business as a business should be
run, with profit in mind. While Ben’s school received support from the government and
45
thereby did not depend on the students coming back or recommending the school since it was
part of their curriculum to attend the surf lessons.
Another difference between these two schools was that at one school the lesson was held by
the owner, Ben, and there were thereby different power dynamics at play. Whilst at the other
school it was held by an instructor and so they had to answer to the owner which might have
given them less room to play by.
6. Conclusion and closing discussion
The purpose of this study was to explore the current integration of OL and how different
actors and factors can influence this integration in the context of surf education. To guide the
study, 2 research questions were asked; one more descriptive regarding integration of OL into
teaching practices and one more interpretive regarding the actors and factors influencing the
surf instructors.
The conclusions drawn from this study can be expressed by answering the two different
research questions in the study. The first research question was: How do surf instructors
currently integrate OL into teaching practices?. The findings showed a contradiction
between the different methods of collecting data about the integration of OL in the teaching
practices. In the interviews all the participants expressed ways they have integrated OL into
their teaching practices. They did it in a variety of ways that depended on the context of the
lessons. These were the weather conditions, safety precautions, encounters with plastic in the
ocean, and the desire from the students themselves. The participatory observation showed
another perspective of this. Both lessons had the right contexts to be able to integrate OL,
however, only one lesson actually did. These contradictions between interview and
participatory observation were looked at through research question 2.
The second research question was: What different actors and factors play a role in
influencing the surf instructors on the integration of ocean literacy in their teaching
practices?. The conclusion to this question is that there are a variety of actors and factors
influencing the integration of OL into the teaching practices of surf instructors. Actors that
play an important role can be visualized in a Penta Helix model and include the government,
the Portuguese surf federation, the surf schools, the surf students, and the surf instructors
46
themselves. The factors affecting the integration are the context of the lessons, power
dynamics, larger societal structures, and different types of social networks, capitals, and
support systems. It could be seen that these actors and factors were what differentiates
between the different surf schools in the participatory observation, and thereby lead to the
integration of OL in the lessons being different.
Concluding remarks can be made that there is further research to be done on the topic which
can help understand the challenges that surf instructors are facing. This can promote greater
ocean sustainability in the surfing community.
While the study addresses the current integration of OL into surf instruction, through research
question 1, it is crucial to engage in a discussion regarding whether OL needs to be integrated
or if it is already an inherent component of surfing. The discourse around it currently is as
two separate spheres of knowledge. Further research could focus on how the two bodies of
knowledge, one being the act of surfing and the other being ocean literacy, overlap with each
other. This could lead to a discourse that OL as a concept is already a natural component of
surf education.
As mentioned before, OL is a western concept and therefore for a thorough and global
understanding of the ocean and its conservation, it is essential to acknowledge various
cultural viewpoints and indigenous knowledge systems. Therefore, when exploring research
question 2 and the actors and factors influencing the integration of OL, it is important to note
that even these would derive from western viewpoints. Further research can therefore
promote a comprehensive and equitable ocean literacy that respects and values all cultures
and their distinctive ties with the marine environment by adopting a more inclusive approach.
This study has implications broader than the context of surf education. It highlights the
importance of stakeholder collaboration among various fields and how social connection can
promote or hinder integration of OL in surf education. The insights that this study has made
can be useful not only for the people within the surfing community but also for policymakers
within sustainability.
47
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Appendix
Appendix 1: Interview guide
Introduction:
● Thank you for agreeing to participate in this interview.
○ Ask for consent about recording.
○ Introduce myself, what I study, where I am from, and introduce the study topic
○ Formalities
○ Methods of data collection
● Do you have any questions before we start?
Background:
● Could you introduce yourself?
● Can you tell me a little bit about your background as a surfer?
○ What do you enjoy about surfing?
○ What does connection to the ocean mean to you?
● Can you tell me a little bit about your experience as a surf school instructor? Try to
talk about education, what do these guys think they are educating
○ At what levels do you instruct?
○ How long have you instructed for?
○ What do you enjoy about teaching?
○ Tell me about one of the best weeks of instructing you've ever had?
○ What do you think is important when teaching people how to surf?
○ How do you think knowledge about and connection to the ocean can be
beneficial for surfers and their experiences in the ocean?
Integration into Teaching Practices:
○ Can you describe how/if you integrate knowledge about and connection to the
ocean into your teaching practices?
○ What resources or strategies do you use to teach knowledge about and
connection to the ocean to your students?
○ Do you have any specific activities or lessons that you find particularly
effective for teaching knowledge about and connection to the ocean?
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○ Have you noticed any changes in your students' attitudes or behaviors towards
the ocean after taking your lessons?
Challenges and Opportunities:
○ Do you face any challenges when trying to incorporate knowledge about and
connection to the ocean into your teaching?
○ Do you see any opportunities for surf schools to further promote knowledge
about and connection to the ocean?
Closing:
● Is there anything else that you would like to share about your experiences or thoughts
on connection to the ocean and surfing?
● Do you want to know anything about what I am doing?
● Thank you again for your time and insights.
Appendix 2: Table 1
Table 1
Coding and characteristics for the participants
Participant code Surf instructor Surf school owner Involved in
participatory
observation
Adam x
Ben x x x
Chris x x
Dean x x
Eric x x x
Fabian x
Note. Code names and characteristics for all the participants are displayed in this table. It is
showing if they are a surf instructor or a surf school owner or both.
Appendix 3: Table 2
Table 2
Integration of OLP, findings from the empirical data
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Participant OLP 1 OLP 2 OLP 3 OLP 4 OLP 5 OLP 6 OLP 7
code
Adam x x x
Ben x o x o x o
Chris x x x
Dean x x x x
Eric x x x
Fabian x x x
Note. The OLP that were found integrated when discussing it in the interviews are marked
with x. However, the participatory observations showed different results and are marked with
o. Not all participants had both interviews and participatory observation, these will be marked
by a gray scale around their participant code.
Appendix 4: Figure 1
Figure 1.
The network of actors influencing the instructors, represented in a Penta Helix model.
Note. This figure explains the actors in the case of surf instruction in Portugal, it shows the
actor network and how they are all interconnected.
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