Bases teóricas especializadas

Previous research related to the exploration of stakeholders’ perceptions of school food, nutrition, health, and home economics education (mentioned earlier in Section 2.6) and six theories/ frameworks were taken into consideration in

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developing the conceptual framework of the thesis. These included; ‘stakeholder theory’ (Parmar et al. 2010), ‘diffusion of innovations theory’ (DIT) (Rogers 1995), ‘cyclical integration model of change management’ (CIMCM) (Berlach 2010b), ‘theory of curriculum implementation’ (TCI) (Rogan & Grayson 2003), ‘self-efficacy theory’ (Bandura 1977, 2005), and some constructs of the ‘consolidated framework for implementation research (CFIR)’ (Damschroder et al. 2009). A brief description of these theories and model/framework is given below.

Stakeholder theory

In accordance with the stakeholder theory, different groups and individuals play roles in success and failure in business organisations (Parmar et al. 2010). This theory has been particularly used in the business and management field, however it has been applied in other contexts such as sustainability (Hörisch, Freeman & Schaltegger 2014), health (Kok et al. 2015), and education (Jongbloed, Enders & Salerno 2008).Miles has recently attempted to classify the stakeholder theory and proposed the stakeholder theory definition classification model (Miles 2017). This model includes four classes of stakeholders. They are:

• Influencers - have the capacity to influence the operation of an organisation.

• Claimants - have a claim on an organisation but lacks control to ensure that the claim is attended by the management.

• Collaborators - co-operate with an organisation, but do not have active interest in influencing the organisation.

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The definition of the four stakeholder classes was considered in the development of the stakeholder model and the conceptual framework of this thesis. According to the above classification, the four groups studied in this thesis can be categorized as follows: teachers are ‘influencers’; food system professionals can be ‘claimants and/ or collaborators’, parents and young adults can be ‘claimants and/ or recipients’.

Diffusion of innovations theory (DIT)

Rogers described innovation as “an idea, practice, or object perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption” (Rogers 1995). An innovation has five characteristics. These are:

• Relative advantage - degree to which an innovation is perceived as better than existing idea, or practice.

• Compatibility - degree to which an innovation is perceived as consistent with the existing values, past experiences, and needs of potential adopters.

• Complexity - degree of perceived difficulty to understand and use the innovation.

• Trialability - degree to which an innovation may be experimented.

• Observability - degree to which results of the innovation are observable (Rogers 1995).

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According to the ‘Diffusion of innovation theory’, individuals’ perceptions regarding these characteristics determine the speed of adaptation of an innovation (Rogers 1995).The first three characteristics (i.e. relative advantage, compatibility, and complexity) were predominantly considered in developing the thesis conceptual framework. Accordingly, the stakeholders’ opinions regarding the advantages and importance of the new Food Studies curriculum, as well as the need and possibility of adapting it, were explored.

The cyclical integration model of change management (CIMCM)

This model proposes that all stakeholders should be involved in a continuous dialog during the formulation of the change and highlights the importance of teachers’ views of the change (Berlach 2010b). If there is no continuous involvement of teachers during the education change process, usually at the implementation stage, teachers feel that they do not have ownership of the change (Conley & Glasman 2008) leading to poor motivation (Berlach 2010b). The overarching principle of this model was taken into consideration in design of the thesis conceptual framework and Studies 2 and 3 (the exploration of teachers’ opinions regarding the new curriculum content, their confidence in teaching it and challenges they face in its delivery).

Theory of curriculum implementation (TCI)

This theory describes three paradigms that are important in curriculum implementation at the school level. These are:

• The extent to which the curriculum standards and objectives are put in to practice (i.e. profile of implementation).

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• Understanding of factors that facilitate or impede the curriculum implementation (i.e. capacity to support innovation).

• Support from outside organisations for the curriculum implementation (Rogan & Grayson 2003).

These three paradigms were all considered in design of the thesis conceptual framework. Accordingly, the teachers’ knowledge and awareness of the new curriculum and the associated changes, the challenges facing delivery of the new curriculum, and the need for resources and training to deliver the new curriculum to students were explored.

Self-efficacy theory

The self-efficacy theory was introduced by Bandura and he described it as “a person’s beliefs of the capability to perform a particular task” (Bandura 2005). Dellinger and colleagues applied this theory to the school setting and defined the teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs as "a teacher's individual beliefs in their capabilities to perform specific teaching tasks at a specified level of quality in a specified situation" (Dellinger et al. 2008). In accordance with this theory, the exploration of teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs/ perceived confidence in teaching the new curriculum was incorporated into the objectives and conceptual framework of this thesis.

Consolidated framework for implementation research (CFIR)

CFIR is a meta-theoretical systems framework that has five main domains: (i) the intervention, (ii) the inner setting, (iii) the outer setting, (iv) the individuals involved, and (v) the process of implementation (Damschroder et al. 2009). The

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first domain deals with the characteristics of the intervention (in this context senior secondary school food literacy education generally and the new Food Studies curriculum particularly) (Damschroder et al. 2009). The second domain - Inner setting - involves the structural, political, and cultural setting associated with the implementation process. The outer setting includes the economic, political, and social settings in which the organisation (i.e. school) exists. The fourth domain considers the targeted users and others (i.e. teachers) affected by the intervention and/ or implementation process. The fifth domain deals with the implementation process. Researchers can select CFIR constructs that are relevant and suitable for their study contexts and use them to guide their investigative evaluations (Damschroder et al. 2009; Damschroder & Lowery 2013). The constructs that informed the thesis conceptual framework are shown below.

• Domain 1: Intervention characteristics

o Relative advantage - stakeholders’ perception of the advantage of implementing the new Food Studies curriculum

o Adaptability - the degree to which the new curriculum can be adapted, tailored, refined, or reinvented to meet local needs o Complexity – the perceived difficulty of implementation of the new

curriculum • Domain 2: Inner setting

o Relative priority - individuals’ shared perception of the importance of the implementation new Food Studies curriculum

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implementation and on-going operations including money, training, education, physical space, and time

o Access to knowledge and information - ease of access to digestible information and knowledge about the intervention and how to incorporate it into work tasks

• Domain 3: Outer setting

o Recipients’ needs & resources - identification of need for senior secondary school food literacy education and barriers and facilitators providing this food literacy education

• Domain 4: Characteristics of individuals

o Knowledge & beliefs about the intervention - individuals’ attitudes toward and value placed on the intervention as well as familiarity with facts, truths, and principles related to the intervention o Self-efficacy - individual belief in their own capabilities to execute

courses of action to achieve implementation goals Adapted from (Damschroder & Lowery 2013).

As informed by these theories/ frameworks and the literature, the conceptual framework of the thesis was developed (Figure 2.6). This framework was used in formulating the specific objectives of each study and designing the interview guides and the survey questionnaires of the Studies 1-5.

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