The K Experience

Cooking With The Kids

Past - Japan

Saturday, 11 October 2008

Teaching a subject that the students don't really want to learn doesn't always create the best classroom environment. Which is why it's nice to catch those same students somewhere else, just to see how they behave. On May 11th, and June 1st 2004 I decided to check out how my students (who were usually reading manga or sleeping) behaved in another class, cooking class...

As you can tell by the pictures there was still a bit of monkeying around, but they generally enjoyed cooking. Awahara Sensei, at the time of taking these pictures, was a relatively new teacher at the school and wasn't very strict with the students, but she got them to listen when she needed.

In class they were pretty much making a standard meal of rice, salad, with some kind of egg thing. The recipe with measures of the ingredients was given to them, along with some words of wisdom, and warnings, and then they were let loose to cook their meal. Some students took to the task very seriously, like one student (I don't remember his name) who took to removing every uneven bump from his cucumber before slicing it up. Other students were not as meticulous, like one who decided to smother his sliced cucumber with way too much mayonnaise.

My presence in the class was definitely felt. It wasn't everyday that the students had one of their other teachers sit in on a class they were not teaching. The camera was also an added distraction, but they seemed to enjoy it, and struck the odd pose or two.

I wasn't there just to take pictures of the students however, I was there to get to know them better, so I decided to join one of the cooking groups. Of course I didn't want to impose too much so for most of the cooking time I let the kids get on with it, and just observed and chopped up some stuff here and there (like my name in cucumber). I also took the liberty of looking around the well equipped home economics room, and noticed one of the great wonders of Japanese society, fake food. You could find fake food at most restaurants, showing what they had on their menu. It looked so real, which made it look so strange, cos it was fake. Well, I don't really know why it seemed strange, probably cos they didn't have stuff like that back in England. I think it's a great Idea though, they should have it everywhere.

So they cooked, they had fun, and then they ate, and it was a pretty good experience. But did I learn anything from being in a different environment with my students? I think I did. Even though, they were pretty much the same, they did get things done. The atmosphere was way more relaxed in the cooking class than it was in my English class, which made for a better learning environment. And their opinion of me improved slightly too, at least it did for some students. One of the groups made me an onigiri (a rice ball, shaped into a triangle). They gave it to me at the canteen during lunch time, which made me feel really special. I had never had one of my students give me food before, especially something they had made themselves. I didn't eat it though. Not really sure why, it just felt awkward. I remember having the thought that there may have been a razor blade in it or something, which was silly of me (or was it?). I ended up throwing it away. Kind of feel a bit guilty now. But I am generally picky with my food. Always have been.