Browsing by Author "Elgström, Milla"

This thesis examined food education within children's food-themed television programmes. The aim of the thesis was to analyse the content and pedagogical elements of food-educational scenes in the programmes and to consider the potential they offer for the development of children's food skills. The theoretical framework of the thesis was based on the concept of food sense, developed within home economics, which approaches food learning through the aspects of understanding, situational applying, and redefinition of action. In this context, food learning is understood as a three-leveled and gradually deepening process. The data of the study encompassed all children's programmes available in Finland via streaming services,which could be identified as food-related based on the cover image and introductory text. There were a total of nine series that met the criteria. For each series, three episodes were randomly chosen for further examination. The final data consisted of 27 episodes. The method of analysis used in the study was dialogical thematization. The data were first thematized in relation to the three levels of food sense. Within these levels, the data were then organized further into themes related to the implementation of food education. The results of the study indicate that children's programs utilize tensions in accordance to the food sense framework in food education. The tensions were caused by hygiene, time, food characteristics, eating, and food aesthetics. Related applied solutions in the series included sharing of information, technological solutions, verbal communication, and applied cooking. The solutions caused learning, as well as changes in ingredients, attitudes, and preferences. Tensions were most commonly individual- centered, focusing on feelings or inadequate interaction skills of single characters. The solutions were more communal, such as asking for help from other people or jointly brainstorming solutions. Based on the results, the programmes aim to integrate the educational content into practical and everyday activities. However, the programs also make use of magic and non-realistic aspects in their content, such as anthropomorphic characters and imaginative technological inventions.