What are student preschool teachers learning about diet in their education in Norway?

Abstract

This article is based on a qualitative study on diet education among student preschool teachers. The problem under discussion is: What does a student preschool teacher learn in his education about food, meals, and nutrition? The material used in the article comprises interviews with student preschool teachers at one university and one college in Norway. Preschool teacher education is a three years university college study with bachelor degree. The survey results show that student preschool teachers do not receive even the most element training, when it comes to food and meals, including nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, although education must prepare them for a job outside the kindergarten. Practical cooking was almost completely absent in their education, including hygiene. Most student preschool teachers did not know what fat they were to use in cooking. Food and senses, allergies, and food and culture were not discussed in their education. There was little correlation between the formal curricula in connection with food and meals and the training the preschool teacher students received in their education.

Nutrition related knowledge and attitudes of mothers and teachers of kindergarten children

“…A research carried out in Greece also showed that the teachers had deficient knowledge of nutrients due to the structure of teachers training program [28]. Even in Norway, a survey of student preschool teachers highlighted the deficiency of curriculum in preparing these future teachers in dealing with their important task [29]. Identifying the gaps in care givers' education can turn stones and make a great difference in years ahead by addressing them [30].…”

A Study on Role Orientation and Professional Development of Early Childhood Teachers in Preschool Education in the Context of Big Data

“…Defining the role of the teacher from a holistic, cyclical perspective views the teacher as an actor who takes a spiral approach to thinking and teaching. Both in terms of the interactions between teachers, children, and parents and in terms of the occurrence of time, the actions taken by the teacher are consistently repeated, re-examined, and reevaluated [1][2][3]. This non-linear spiral of ideas and proceeding steps is a trait of the early childhood teacher and is related to his/her view of children's learning, i.e., the idea that children construct knowledge in a spiral manner rather than in a linear or staged manner [4][5].…”

“…Nini Wang. Applied Mathematics and Nonlinear Sciences, 9(1) (2024)[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] …”