Cooking Up Math: Exploring Early Childhood Pre-Service Teachers’ Cooking Integration

• In Event: Beyond Traditional Methods: Innovative Approaches to Humanizing Mathematics in Teacher Preparation

Abstract

Cooking activities can serve as powerful tools for helping young children make sense of abstract math concepts through hands-on, real-life applications. However, early childhood pre-service teachers may not always recognize cooking as an opportunity for meaningful math instruction. This qualitative study investigates how 59 PSTs enrolled in a curriculum methods course designed and reflected on cooking-integrated math lessons. Findings reveal that while PSTs demonstrated an emerging awareness of cooking as a vehicle for math learning, many needed support in designing cooking-integrated lesson plans that promote open-ended, child-centered math exploration; foster intentional math discourse and real-life connections; and incorporate a variety of math concepts and strategies. The study underscores the potential of PSTs to integrate math and cooking with structured guidance.

Author

• SeungJung Jo, SUNY - Geneseo