Abstract:

In recent years, food literacy has been increasingly identified as a valuable 21st century skill which all learners in compulsory schooling should experience. Food literacy is not only about food and nutrition science, but also knowledge and skills related to the whole food system, as well as food preparation and cooking skills. A study was conducted in Malta in 2021, which aimed to explore how food topics and cooking skills were being incorporated in Primary classrooms from Year 1 to Year 6. An online survey was carried out with practising teachers using a questionnaire with both close- and open-ended questions. Fifty-one teachers completed the survey. The majority of these were females, between the ages of 23-45, and worked in a State school. An equal share of the respondents had 11-20 or 21+ years of teaching experience in the Primary sector. Teachers teaching all Year groups replied, though the majority taught Year 2 (5-6-year-olds) or Year 5 (9-10-year-olds). A majority had been exposed to a few years of Home Economics during their own schooling. Nearly half of the teachers were very interested in food and nutrition (F&N), and slightly less were very interested in food preparation and cooking (FP&C). A clear majority – more than 3 in 4 – were self-taught with respect to teaching F&N or FP&C to Primary level students. About half of the teachers perceived themselves as having very good F&N knowledge, and very good FP&C skills in general; whereas around 4 in 5 felt good to excellent self-efficacy to teach F&N and FP&C to their students. With respect to learning activity content, from highest to lowest, the most covered meals were snacks, breakfast, packed lunch and lunches; the most covered drinks or food groups were water, fruit, vegetables, fresh fruit juices and smoothies; the most covered food system and sustainability processes were food hygiene, food waste, food safety, seasonal festive dishes, traditional local dishes, traditional local foods and composting. Topics such as supper as a meal, rabbit meat, nuts, herbs and spices, growing crops at home, home-rearing of animals for food, nutrition or sustainability labels, health claims on packaging, or foods and dishes from other cultures were covered much less often. Food topics were most commonly integrated with literacy and science lessons. Close to 90% of the teachers had done some FP&C in the classroom. The most common items prepared/cooked were, in rank order, pizza, healthy sandwiches, smoothies, fruit kebabs and wraps. According to the teachers, students enjoyed making pizza, sandwiches and coconut balls the most, and they similarly enjoyed eating most pizza, sandwiches, cookies and biscuits, wraps, muffins and cakes and coconut balls. Top reasons why some teachers did no FP&C with their students were lack of resources, concerns regarding classroom management and lack of personal knowledge or skills. About half of the teachers reported having a school kitchen garden and around half of these had used it to teach. Learning activities including sowing and planting, watering and harvesting. Whilst this study shows that food literacy is addressed in Maltese Primary classrooms, it seems that what is done is often based on teachers’ interests and competences within a limited cross-curricular approach. There is urgent need for an integrated food literacy curriculum for the Primary level, supported by teacher training and appropriate resources.

Keywords:

Food literacy, Primary school, food and nutrition, cooking, education, Malta.