Midday educational time as an opportunity

BarcelonaThe fact that school cafeteria services are largely managed by companies and entities in the educational leisure sector is undoubtedly a success of the Catalan educational model. The Government's Secretary for Educational Improvement, Josefa Beltran, recently recalled, during the Acellec Economic and Social Forum, that lunchtime accounts for 30% of children's time at school. It would be unreasonable to think that the services provided during this time period were not educational in nature.

The long tradition of educational leisure as an intervention technique in community and socialization spaces for children and young people has been consolidated and developed in Catalonia to such an extent that it has become an essential component of education. It is clear that food quality, excellent dietary options, and inclusiveness that extends the service to the entire population must be guaranteed. But the factor that links all these elements to social and cultural coexistence in schools is the educational nature of the service.

School canteens are often problematized explaining that conflicts occur, where cases of bullying and are the scene of cultural clashes. Conflicts exist and are part of our community and social relationships. They originate in the street, at work, at public, cultural, sporting, or social events, or at school. There are spaces and environments where they surface and become visible in circumstances and with available tools that allow them to be addressed and managed with an integrative approach. This is one of the multiple perspectives from which educational leisure always works. And it is precisely for this reason that it is fortunate that school cafeterias are mostly in the hands of educational leisure.

Conflict management

It's often said that school cafeterias make it possible for a significant percentage of economically disadvantaged children to have at least one healthy meal a day. And that's true. But not only that. If the school cafeteria is approached from the educational perspective provided by the leisure method, it also offers an invaluable opportunity to address latent social conflicts that logically surface in spaces for free expression and interaction. Can we afford to give up this space for managing community relations with an educational purpose?

No, school cafeterias don't generate conflict. However, they are an optimal space for addressing the conflicts that arise in our societies. We celebrate the fact that our school cafeterias are managed, for the most part, by educational leisure companies and organizations. And that, precisely for this reason, we like to talk about the lunchtime educational service. With a broad and generous understanding of what education is.