Organisational elements for improving midday educational time in primary education

Abstract

At school, children learn to live together, take part in activities and develop healthy habits in different spaces and at different times when formal learning is not taking place. This study looks at the school lunchtime break – the period between lessons dedicated to lunch and play – and analyses administrative elements that can improve this space and foster the wellbeing of the children involved. A qualitative study is carried out using discussion groups with professionals who run these services and a photovoice study with children in the fourth and fifth grades of primary education in public schools in Catalonia. The results are relevant to five areas: training of professionals, relationships in the educational community, management of the service itself, fostering children’s participation and decision-making, and improving the physical spaces and school infrastructure in which school lunchtime activities take place. The article concludes with a set of recommendations that offer administrative and pedagogical guidelines for improving this time/space.