INTERDISCIPLINARY PROJECTS, FUSING OF STANDARDS IN THE FIELD OF FOOD SCIENCES WITH THE COMPETENCE OF THINKING AND SPEAKING IN PRESCHOOL

ABSTRACT

On the basis of our thesis stands the importance of the role of curricular projects and the creative didactic work of educators in educational institutions, for the fusion of the fields of standards with the approach based on the competencies of the subject. The Curriculum Framework of Preschool Education in Albania has the status of a political document, with national force. It is in full resonance with the curriculum in public education. The paper is conceived, referring to the basic dimensions of the health growth and education of the children in the age group 3-6 years. Our paper aims through language games in interdisciplinary projects at preschool age children to address the key competencies of the curriculum, fusing the standards of the field of health and nutrition with the competence of thinking and speaking. More precisely, this research treats the interaction of two standards in fields such as health and food where as a study reference we have honey as a food product of particular importance especially during the pandemic period, as well as the language development, thinking and speech. Based on the curriculum, an informative lecture specified for this value-added organic food product especially during the Covid 19 period was developed alternating with their perceptions towards this product. Our study is extended to 10 schools and 20 kindergartens of public education in the city of Tirana. We collected data from children and educators, with a sample of 500 children and 30 educators participating in the study, where 65% of educators combined language components in the implementation of the interdisciplinary project in preschool education classes, for knowledge of honey through language games. The methodological approach of this paper is based on observation, research, surveys, structured online questionnaires and lectures addressed to educators and children aged 3-6 years to improve knowledge about honey through language games. When structuring methodology, we have relied on the Ministry of Education and Sports literature, in the curriculum and the Strategy of pre-university education, on the draft of organic standards for Honey in Albania but also on many years of personal experiences in the field of education and food sciences. The analysis of the results is performed both in quantitative and qualitative terms. Statistical analysis of data was performed with programs Statistics 7 and Excel. The results showed that the perception of educators and children regarding the knowledge of the organic product (honey) is very optimal, where 100% of them showed that they knew it as a food product, but 55% of them did not have complete information on how to use it, time of use, quantity or perception of its quality. About 60% of the educators did not combine the field of nutrition with the competence of thinking and speaking but formal education added the attributes of these educators to fuse these fields using didactic and linguistic innovations. 41.7% of teachers use the roles of teacher and student during the structuring of the lesson, but in the conditions of the pandemic it became very difficult to realize the diary with competencies because the distance learning made it impossible for them to find the correct activity to adapt with competence. The effect of formal education on the perceptions of educators and children about honey as an organic product with added value especially nowadays, influenced the formation of their clear concepts about the attributes treated for food safety of honey. We suggest University auditors to train capable teachers to implement a new curriculum. © 2023, Consulting and Training Center - KEY. All rights reserved.