Between good intentions and practical constraints: Swedish teachers’ perceptions of school lunch

Abstract

In Sweden, pupils eat tax-funded school lunches, often in the company of teachers. This article focuses on Swedish compulsory school grade (ages 7-15) teachers' (n = 823) perceptions of the school lunch in terms of intentions and daily practice. Analysis was based on written answers for an open-ended question that was part of a questionnaire focusing on teachers' attitudes towards school lunch as a pedagogical activity. It was found that participating teachers saw the potential of the school lunch, placing emphasis on the social interaction that takes place in the school restaurant and the possibility of meeting pupils in a more informal setting. However, a key outcome was teachers' depictions of the struggle between ideals and reality with the effect that teachers were not always provided with favourable conditions for school lunch interactions. It is important to address this in order to improve mealtime practices and the experience of school lunch.

Head teacher perspectives on school lunch: At variance with national policy

“…Pedagogic meals were primarily associated with simply being present in the school restaurant, and pedagogical activities were mainly seen as valuable to younger pupils. Similar results have been found when exploring school lunch from the perspective of schoolteachers (Berggren et al, 2021;Persson Osowski et al, 2013;Waling and Olsson, 2017).…”

Exploring Sustainable Food Education as Multi-professional Collaboration between Home Economics and School Food Catering

“…Overall, the issue of adequate time resources arose most frequently during the collaboration as an experienced institutional limitation on the multi-professional work (Table 2). This aligns with prior research in contexts such as school mealtimes (e.g., Berggren et al, 2020), collaboration for sustainable development in schools (e.g., Schnitzler, 2019) and the alliance of multiple professional groups (e.g., San . However, the results also illustrate how at least some of these boundaries were overcome during the collaboration and how the novel forms of professional practice also brought out opportunities for learning and change: this was exemplified in the more inclusive role of the school food manager within the school community and his new-found motivation to interact with students.…”

“…However, the lack of pedagogical study programmes offering professional or in-service training for food-catering personnel working in schools might hinder their willingness to function as food educators (Lintukangas, 2009). The mealtime situation has also other challenges and constraints in terms of providing education and guidance for students, such as tight time frames (Berggren et al, 2020) and the lack of integration into the overall pedagogical activities of the school (Berggren, 2020). One way of overcoming these challenges could be to encourage closer collaboration between those responsible for subject-based teaching and food catering, which could serve as a pathway for strengthening the pedagogical dimension of school mealtimes.…”

Strävan mot en inkluderande skolmåltid. Strategier för att ge likvärdiga förutsättningar

“…I en annan svensk studie uttryckte lärarna att den pedagogiska lunchen har en social potential som kan stärka relationsskapandet mellan elever och lärare. Begränsningar som en stressig miljö med hög ljudvolym och kort lunchrast bidrog dock till att lärarna oftast fick agera som vakt och tillrättavisa elever snarare än att umgås och föra goda samtal med dem (Berggren et al 2020b). I en annan svensk studie undersöks hur elever upplever skolmåltidssituationen socialt, fysiskt och emotionellt.…”