Knowing how to use and understand recipes: What arithmetical understanding is needed when students with mild intellectual disabilities use recipes in practical cooking lessons in Home Economics?

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore what arithmetical understanding is needed when students with mild intellectual disabilities use recipes during practical cooking lessons in Home Economics.The settings were compulsory schools in Sweden attended by students with intellectual disabilities. Sixteen lessons in Home Economics during which cooking took place were observed. In total, 37 students and three teachers participated. All students had a mild intellectual disability. Their ages varied, but most were between 13 and 14 years old. The sociocultural perspective on learning, combined with a literacy framework, was used as a theoretical foundation for the study. Main findings are that students need an arithmetical understanding of (i) how to interpret numbers, (ii) how to interpret and use units, and (iii) how to compute when using recipes. The knowledge and skills needed to be able to use a recipe are featured in the concept recipe literacy, capturing both theoretical, declarative knowledge and the more practical, procedural knowledge. Recipe literacy can be used to theorize the use of recipes when learning to cook, as in Home Economics. K E Y W O R D Scooking, home economics, learning, literacy, recipes, socio-cultural theory of learning

Læring gennem mad og måltider i grundskolen: Teori og praksis fra Danmark, Sverige og Norge

“…Inte minst att läsa och skapa recept som baserades på erfarenheter i skolköket gav eleverna en särskild kompetens samtidigt som de övade sina färdigheter i svenska. Även andra kunskaper och färdigheter är nödvändiga för att förstå och kunna komponera recept, vilket uppmärksammats i studier om undervisningen i hem-och konsumentkunskap där forskarna argumenterar för användningen av begreppet "recipe literacy" (Brunosson et al, 2014;Granberg et al, 2017).…”

Hur skolor kan utveckla elevers funktionella kunskaper – en nordisk forskningsöversikt om undervisning av elever med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning

“…I det ingick att lära sig språk kring matlagning, matlagningstekniker, vissa maträtter, att mäta och att följa recept. I en annan artikel observerade Granberg et al (2017a) matlagning efter recept inom hem-och konsumentkunskap för elever med IF. De fann att eleverna behövde lära sig aritmetiska kunskaper för att kunna följa recept, såsom nummer/tal, mängder och beräkningar.…”

Digital Tools in Home Economics Education, Really? Carrying Out a Collaborative Project for Developing Learning Tasks With the Support of Digital Tools

“…Brante & Brunosson [6]) have shown that students have difficulties in transferring subject-specific knowledge from other school subjects or real-life situations. The reasons for this are the lack of an ability to see the link between different pieces of school-learned knowledge, having an incorrect understanding of various concepts or not understanding the meaning of learning tasks [7], [8]. The Learning and Digitalisation in Home Economics Education (LEAD) project aimed to reveal possibilities how to integrate students' previous knowledge (from other school subjects as well as from students' out-of-school learning situations) and to build organised knowledge structures in home economics education.…”