Posted by Chef Murph on March 03, 1999 at 16:47:37:
In Reply to: a question for all culinary educators posted by krister bjorn on February 17, 1999 at 21:43:16:
: What i really want to know is, how many of you other educators out there have to deal daily with the problem of students who can not absorb/process----really learn information from reading alone?
Krister,
The first thing you have to realize is that not every student in your program is going to be a great chef. Many of your students may not be anything more than, we can hope at least a really good line cook. Some may not even be able to be that because they can not process instructions properly, be capable of remembering more than a few steps or are unable to deal with the pressure of the line and kitchen environment in general.
What you as a teacher have to be able to do is teach students through other modalities. Not every person can learn in the same manner. Some are auditory learners, some are visual, some may be other things. I don't want to teach a class here on learning styles but maybe you could work with your students to help them learn what kind of learners they are. I'm sure there is someone in your school that can help you help them to discover their learning styles. On top of it I have found that students sometimes really get into it.
You will find I am sure that many of the students are visual, tactile learners. They need to see and feel what they are trying to learn. Of course they are, most chefs and cooks are. They would rather see it done than read about it in a book. That may be the way you will have to try and teach your class. It works well for many.
On the issue of reading and writing, I am totally amazed that a student can get to HS without some of the most basic life skills necessary for succes in the real world but here they are. It is our problem to help them to move forward and hopefully get a career that they can be successful in. No one ever said it would be easy, because it's not. It is a tough, thankless job many times. But when you are successful it's like getting that three star review from the paper.
Keep up the good work, you all ready care more than some and you will be rewarded with success in the end.
Always the best,
Chef Murph