Food as a tool for learning in everyday activities at preschool: an exploratory study from Sweden

The purpose of this study is to explore preschool teachers' experiences in using food as a tool for learning in planned educational activities.

Overall, the authors conclude that it is possible for preschool teachers to work with food as a tool for learning in both planned educational activities and in meal situations. The results show that it takes interested and confident teachers who recognise that children are competent when it comes to food. For example, preschool teachers must allow the children to put into words what they experience. If the preschool teachers lack support from pedagogical leaders or kitchen staff, it is difficult for them to use food as a tool for learning in a meaningful and long-term manner.

The preschool teachers point at a number of benefits and barriers in using food as a tool for learning in both planned educational activities and during meals in preschool. Many of the preschool teachers find the introductory educational methods inspiring, concrete and easy to work with. According to the preschool teachers, this means that the children became more positive towards tasting new foods, and the children practised saying "no thanks" to specific types of food and to explain why. The most decisive barriers are lack of support from pedagogical leaders and poor collaboration with kitchen staff. Moreover, the study mentions the children's young age and limited verbal language, the low number of preschool teachers and lack of time as factors preventing the project.

The study uses an explorative design in three stages. First, the preschool teachers were introduced to two specific educational methods: "sensory education", also referred to as "sapere", and "cook and learn step-by-step". The first method was developed to support children's senses and language, and this is done by encouraging children to experience food with all their senses and then to describe their experiences when tasting, smelling and listening as well as touching different kinds of food. The latter method was developed to support children at preschool to bake or cook using a series of cards with pictures and text. Apart from this introduction, the preschool teachers received no specific training in using food in planned educational activities. In the second stage, the preschool teachers worked independently with the methods mentioned for one year, and in the third and final stage, the researchers collected data through individual and group interviews with the preschool teachers. A total of 131 preschool teachers from 14 preschools took part in the study, and the researchers conducted 20 interviews with 45 of the participating preschool teachers. A total of ten group interviews were selected for the analysis.

Sepp, H., & Höijer, K. (2016). Food as a tool for learning in everyday activities at preschool: an exploratory study from Sweden. Food & Nutrition Research 60(1), 32603, DOI: 10.3402/fnr.v60.32603