Decision-making processes of children in the context of sustainable diets

Peer-reviewed / Manuscript (original contribution) received: July 31, 2018 / Revision accepted: February 07, 2019

Part 1: The role of knowledge in decision-making processes

Introduction

As part of the Global Action Program on Education for Sustainable Development, the United Nations has made the strategic decision to continue the program established by the UN decade of “Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)” [1]. In addition, ESD is given special consideration in the fourth of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 4, Section 7) and, according to the German Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (Kultusministerkonferenz), it should be promoted as a matter of priority in schools [2]. The development of decision-making skills – which is to say the skills to reflect on and make responsible decisions that are conducive to sustainable development (SD) – among learners is the clear aim of ESD in the relevant educational policy concepts, curricular concepts, and pedagogical and didactic concepts [3–5].

As has been addressed in the key German-language didactic concept “REVIS” (Reform der Ernährungs- und Verbraucherbildung in Schulen [Reform of Nutrition Education and Consumer Education in Schools], 2003–2005), consumers can contribute to the societal process of SD as a whole through considered consumption behavior in the field of nutrition. This can also effectively support their own health [6–8].

But how can the needed decision-making skills be acquired in school lessons and what are the prerequisites for the pupils that play a role in acquiring these skills? The EKoN-E research project deals mainly with the question of what the prerequisites are and focuses on learners’ prior knowledge and values. This first part of the article focuses on the role of knowledge.

Abstract

The qualitative research project EKoN-E (Entscheidungsprozesse von Kindern im Kontext einer Nachhaltigen Entwicklung mit dem Fokus Ernährung [Decision-making processes of children in the context of sustainable development with a focus on diet]) aims to investigate how school pupils (age 11–12 years) carry out decision-making processes and the role that their knowledge and values play in this. Part 1 of the article focuses on the role of knowledge. Using a learning sequence, school pupils (N = 97) were prepared to make decisions through the development of knowledge, among other measures. Afterwards, the course of their decision- making processes was recorded through individual interviews (n = 27) using the thinking aloud method. Qualitative analysis of the content was then performed using Mayring’s method. The results show that the level of knowledge generally does not determine how the decision-making process plays out. However, “expert knowledge” about certain individual aspects of sustainable development appears to be a prerequisite for children using knowledge of the relevant aspects in their decision-making processes. Therefore, it follows that lessons should support both the development of knowledge and the incorporation of knowledge into decision- making processes in a targeted manner.

Keywords: sustainable diet, decision-making skills, knowledge, children and adolescents, sustainable development, nutrition education

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