Opinion on school instructors

Has anybody encountered poor instructors during their culinary education that were difficult to deal with? Please share any experiences or perspectives as to what's the best way to deal with a situation such as this? Thanks alot!

[coolJ]

I had an instructor who basically told me that I would have no chance at a career in this industry, well, that was four years ago and gues what, I'm still around. I decided though, that he wasn't going to stop me from cooking, because when someone tells me I can't do it, I always give 110% to prove them wrong.

[Greg]

I went through the advanced standing program at J&W, which puts the first nine months of their program into about 10 weeks. The problem with taking this shortcut is that not all of the regular instructors are around. I had the same chef for 3 classes (fortunately he was talented), but for bakeshop 1, we had a substitute. At one point, she gave a quiz with the question "name the parts of the bakers scale". Part of my answer was the platforms; she marked it wrong. After class, I grabbed a scale and asked her what it was then pointed to the platforms and asked her what they were. In light of her correct response, I asked her to change the score on the quiz. She said she'd "take it into consideration". I told her to change it or we could go to the office of the director of the culinary arts program and see what he had to say. She changed the score. I was able to take this approach in this situation because I was clearly right and there were other instances where she displayed her incompetence.
Well, that's my long-winded story of dealing with a bad instructor, your situation and how you should handle it depends on what kind of difficulties you're having. So, what kind of problems are you having with your instructor?

[ February 24, 2001: Message edited by: Greg ]

[palmier]

Be careful.... I had a chef/instructor who liked to embarass the students, in front of the whole class. One time he instructed me ti julienne vegatables for a soup. He showed me how to cut the veg, then left me to finish. I took his example cut's, placed them on a plate, and slid them on the shelf under the table. An hour or so later, I had a small pile of julienne mirpoix for the soup. The chef returned to my area, smiled and said to the whole class "come here all of you". After the students gathered, he quirked with his European accent "50 years I've been in the business, I never seen it done this way...Why didnt you cut it the way I showed you?" I then pulled out the plate of his examples. I will never forget the look of his changing expression when he,and the whole class noticed,that the cut veggies were identical to his examples. He quickly insisted that I clean up my area and see him in his office. When I got there, he informed me that I had an "F" for the day, and sent me home. The next day, my jobs were to clean out the freezer,and the flour/sugar bins......Be very careful !

[layjo]

I have had very few problems with instructors; all of them were really minor problems. Most of them were mainly communication problems at one time or another! That's why I have been thinking tremendously about that particular aspect in my current job. Effective communication, in a positive way is a key factor in our industry as well as any other industry. And there are some factors that alter the communication process...like tone of voice, the understanding each individual, and making eye contact in certain instances of communicating with an individual. And also the instuctors can set a certain example.....you are learning from them, so you would think that they are teaching you and showing you the normal happenings of the industry and how you should expect them to be executed on a daily basis. Me myself, I have desires of becoming an instructor sometime in the future and I would want my students to learn properly and in a fair manner being that they and I are open minded to suggestions and belifes on a personal and professional basis.

[ February 28, 2001: Message edited by: Layjo ]

[Nicko]

I am with you on that Layjo. For the most part I had pretty decent instructors so much so that I feel fortunate. I did however had one guy for fish kitchen (chef Clark) and boy was he a tough cookie. On a personal level he never hassled me, but to the kids who had attidude he was down right mean. If your knife wasn't sharp he threw it in the garbage and kicked you out of class.

The only other chef that I remember who was completely un-professional was in my final block of classes. It was restaurant row and this guy would constantly kick people out of class in the middle of service. It happened to be the Escoffier room at CIA. So weird because we would be in the middle of service, orders flying in everyone is totally green. This knuckle head is kicking people out, and then actually walked out of the kitchen he was so disgusted. Totally unprofessional, and to top it all of this guy was a certified master chef. He seemed like nothing more than a certified master cry baby.

I don't start school until this fall but I am apprehensive to this issue of poor instructors. I am also wary of teaching assistants who could be incompetent as well. Thanks for all of your perspectives.

[chefteldanielle]

Iam in school now and have had the pleasure of dealing with 2 totally different instructors.
My 101 teacher was prompt, clean, excellent, attentive and a great informative teacher.
My new instructor is an unorganized, slob whose lectures are a mess.
But he too has tidbits that are very important to get a hold of.
I say take each instructor for who they are.
Not all could be of the exact same exact caliber.
Iam sure each one has something to teach. Just be a sponge and take it all in.
Danielle

[Nicko]

One thing I would highly recommend if you are apprehensive about potential instructors is to do your research. Find out from students farther along than yourself which teachers are the best, and try to get them as your instructor. In most schools you can ask to change instructors if you feel you are not getting your money's worth. Remember, you are paying big bucks for the knowledg.