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Teachers Don't Know What They Don't Know About Nutrition: A Case for Improving Professional Development
Author(s) -
Linnell Jessica,
Smith M.,
Brian K.,
Scherr R.,
ZidenbergCherr S.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.910.4
Subject(s) - nutrition education , curriculum , medical education , professional development , medicine , psychology , mathematics education , pedagogy , gerontology
Self‐efficacy (SE) and lack of nutrition knowledge (NK) are barriers to teaching nutrition. Lesson study is a professional development (PD) model observed to improve SE and NK in other subject areas. The objective of this pilot study was to examine the influence of this PD model in nutrition. Fourth ‐grade teachers (n = 8) participated in lesson study PD on Discovering Healthy Choices, a garden‐enhanced, inquiry‐based curriculum for the Shaping Healthy Choices Program. Pre/post questionnaires were used to evaluate SE and NK, in addition to prior experience teaching nutrition and resources used. Data were analyzed using t‐tests and Spearman's correlations. Changes in SE were not significant, however 3 increased (μ = 10), 4 decreased (μ = ‐9), and 1 did not change. There was a negative correlation between change in SE and those who reported teaching nutrition before (r = ‐0.69). Top resources reported were other teachers and Dairy Council materials, and none reported use of nutrition standards. There were no significant changes in NK; however, 4 increased (μ = 9), and 4 decreased (μ = ‐8). A negative correlation was observed between changes in NK and “not sure” responses (r = ‐0.90). These results generate new questions about PD for teachers, including: Does teaching using a comprehensive nutrition curriculum increase teachers' awareness of the complexity of nutrition? Does teaching nutrition require PD emphasizing basic nutrition and use of evidence‐based resources? These questions should be further examined to develop effective PD for teachers.