Literacy and cooking

Literacy and Cooking is an eight-month training program in New Westminster, British Columbia, for a cook's position or the first level of a chef apprenticeship. It is a five-way partnership: funding from the federal government; sponsorship by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 2000; kitchen space from the New Westminster School Board; support from and links with the restaurant industry; and training through the Centre for Wellness and Education. The participants are displaced workers or people who want to return to the workforce after a long absence.

The curriculum integrates basic skills with a training program that teaches cooking skills for jobs in restaurants, hospitals, catering, tugboats, etc. Participants spend the first two months of study with the basic skills instructor on the cook's training manual, personal development, and introduction to computers. The next five months include a six-week introduction to the kitchen with part-time study, then full-time in the kitchen with the cooking instructor, a chef. The final month is spent on job placement.

In the initial phase basic skills and cooking subject matter are interwoven. Math includes metric conversion, measurements needed in the kitchen, fractions and percentages for adjusting recipes, and basic calculator use. Reading covers different types of cooking, research in the library, and background reading for industry interviews that participants will conduct.

A major project involves library research and a written report on one aspect of cooking. Some projects have included reports on the structural hierarchy in apprenticeship training, an essay on the history of herbs and spices, and a biographical essay plus video on native cooking. Writing skills are also developed through work on job descriptions and resumes, letter writing, and journal writing. Oral communication skills are high-lighted in a tour of a major hotel kitchen and in interviews (reported back in class) with industry representatives, employers, and chefs.

Test-taking skills are also built into the first three-month phase to prepare participants for the cooking tests and the final exam that are required for this first level of training. Because the apprenticeship program requires Grade 12, GED preparation is also available for those who need it.

As classes are often multi-levelled, peer tutoring and volunteer tutoring are organized early in the program. Small-group activities, which foster active involvement and co-operation, are common in the classroom portion of the course. The Centre also has evening drop-in hours for math and English support.