This is a general discussion forum for the following learning topic:

Introduction to Culinary Instruction --> Student Overview/Characteristics

Post what you've learned about this topic and how you intend to apply it. Feel free to post questions and comments too.

This is a very real start to this course.

I am intriqued that there are many pros and cons given to our industry supplied with useful solutions.

As culinary instructors, we have the opportunity to engage with eclectic age groups and experiance levels. This is one of the challenges of training in the culinary environment; however, the satisfaction of helping a culinary team come together is great.

As a food service instructor, I have the opprtunity to help food service students to follow different ways of nutrition  or  culinary art fields. Like James said it is very satisfactory help others.

Teaching culinary arts, striving to become a better teacher, and thinking about different ways to explain a recipe or a concept have had the wonderful side-effect of helping me become a better cook along the way.  Figuring out how to get your students to understand a dish, or a technique, or a concept forces you to look at things in different ways too. 

The reading gave me a moment to reflect on my teaching methods and strategies.  How do I introduce the class to the Culinary World?  Do I consider their background and how they were raised before delving into my course?  Do I even ask about their habits and how that will effect their experience?  Thinking about this generation X and how they learn and process knowledge gained is important to my teaching.  I want to start out my class addressing all of these questions and more to help them understand why, what I'm teaching, is important.  

Good points made in the reading.  Thinking of others and how they learn and how their previous experiences affect their learning.  These types of reflection help make us better instructors.  

I found the descriptions of the Gen X, Y, and Boomers gave me perspective on the differences in the learning styles and motivations of diverse learners.  And, YES, we can influence work ethic and professional behaviors.

I really like the discussion about how the different generations approach a job.  I wish there was a section talking about younger students.

I really appreciated the explanations of learning styles within the generations. I also would like to ensure that my students take being in uniform seriously and know that cleanliness is not an option. 

I enjoyed reading this section of the course.  I learned that some students have thought about joining culinary school for a while, while others sought out culinary school because of food tv shows. I hope that I can continue to set realistic expectations for my students regarding working in a kitchen and help them understand the daily tasks of any chef.

The differences between the generations was known to me, however; they are very much exposed in this chapter

The learning styles between generations are quite distinct and require attention. It is unfortunate that food media blurs the distinction between a job description and what it means to be a Chef.

The practial aspects of culinary arts are explored here.  One can not just get into a kitchen and cook there's a lot more behind the scenes work that goes into culinary arts than meets the eye and instructors should make students aware of this so that they will be well prepared for a potetnial career in the food service industry.