Browsing by Author "Antas, Aino"

The aim of the study was to examine the views of home economics teachers on the use of school meals as part of home economics education. The study explored the opportunities and barriers that home economics teachers perceived in the teaching of home economics linked to school meals. Also of interest were the views of home economics teachers on the common themes and objectives of home and school meals. Previous research has shown that school meals and home economics education have similar objectives, for example in terms of food and sustainability education. It is therefore necessary to deepen our understanding of the potential for this kind of cooperation in the field of growth. The theoretical background of the study is based on the concept of food education, as previous research has argued that it can be used to structure the ways in which food education can be implemented. In this study, the concept of food sense was used to support the analysis. The levels of food sense were used to clarify the views of home economics teachers on the use of school food themes in their teaching. The data for the study was collected through five paired interviews, i.e. a total of ten home economics teachers participated in the study. The interviews were conducted remotely in Zoom. The data were analysed using data and theory-based content analysis. The home economics teachers perceived school meals and home economics education as combining activities such as encouraging sustainable and healthy eating habits, practising interaction skills and learning about food cultures. In their view, school meals can be used as part of the home economics curriculum, for example by commissioning school food surveys, participating in projects or competitions, designing posters, running food councils and discussing related topics with pupils. The obstacles to the implementation of home economics education linked to school meals perceived by teachers included time constraints, the activities of the catering services and the existence of teaching documents. Better integration of school meals into education would require systemic and institutional changes, in particular. In order to support the development of food sense in home education, further research on the learning process for food sense in the context of home education should be carried out.