Educational Leaders’ Perceptions of the Implementation, Benefits, and Barriers to Breakfast in the Classroom

Abstract

This elicitation study explored principals’ perspectives regarding beliefs and practices related to breakfast consumption and Breakfast in the Classroom implementation within schools in a state in the southeastern United States. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991) as a theoretical framework, this study investigated what school leaders reported about their salient behavioral beliefs (attitude), normative beliefs (subjective norms) and control believe (perceived behavioral control) relative the implementation of BIC in their schools. School leader’s attitude toward serving breakfast in the classroom can influence their intentions to implement BIC in their schools (Ajzen, 1991). In regards to BIC implementation, school leaders reported increased access and participation in the breakfast program; reduces food insecurity among students, provides a nutritious meal, improves learning and academic performance, time and a communal meal experience for students and teachers as the advantages of implementing BIC in their schools. School leaders indicated that the disadvantages to implementing BIC to serving breakfast in the classroom would involve increased workload of custodial staff, child nutrition employees and teachers by creating extra cleanup in multiple locations throughout the school and that serving BIC will require extra planning and time. According to the Theory of Planned Behavior leaders, decision-making may be affected by who may approve or disapprove of implementation BIC in their schools. Regarding BIC implementation, school leaders reported Superintendents, CNP Director/Coordinator, and district administrators/ central office staff, school site administrators, parents, teachers, community stakeholders, Board of Education, and students would approve of the Breakfast in the Classroom implementation at their school. While school leaders indicated several groups that would approve implementing BIC a significant number reported teacher resistance as a disadvantage to implementing Breakfast in the Classroom in their schools. A final factor of school leaders’ behavioral intentions is their perceived ease or difficulty of implementing Breakfast in the Classroom in their schools (Ajzen, 1991). School leaders reported that expectations of local and district administrators, time and logistics, CNP support, and funding would enable them to implement BIC in their schools. They reported a lack of time/logistics, personnel to implement the program, teacher buy-in and cost as barriers to implementing BIC in their schools. This study acknowledges that the responses reported cannot be generalized, but will lay the foundation for future research