REVOLUTIONISING CHEF TRAINING: THE WORK-INTEGRATED LEARNING MODEL AT SONDELA ACADEMY

Believe it or not, being a chef professionally, is one of the oldest jobs in the world and can be traced back as far as ancient Greece. Through the ages, expectations have changed and cheffing has evolved to become something akin to fine art. While we tend to look at flamboyant cooking shows and follow the likes of Gordon Ramsey and Reuben Riffel on various social platforms, the reality of being a chef is something quite different. It is this reality, the disparity between the pace and pressure of actually working in a commercial kitchen, and the moment of plating, where the flair of shaping sauces in artistic patterns and the creative arrangement of food add the delicate finishing touches, that forms the most critical part of our training.

In the past training to become a chef involved a multi-layered process, starting with washing dishes and scrubbing floors, and being the first to arrive and last to leave; all while step by step and lesson by lesson learning basic repetitive fundamentals such as chopping vegetables and boiling pasta. In essence, this is still the proven approach that ensures students are exposed to the entire system and given an opportunity to learn everything there is to know around the kitchen. What this approach lacked, however, was a link between knowledge and skill, something that makes it possible for people to see how what is being learnt is incorporated into the required work.

The work-integrated learning model that Sondela Academy has spent more than a decade developing, comes from the personal experience of a dozen professionals. Although business owners and managers all look for different criteria when interviewing candidates for a position, there are three basic questions they all have in common: Does the individual have a qualification? Do they have experience? How do they come across during the interview itself? All of these, come down to a person’s Attitude, Skill, and Knowledge.

For this reason, our aim has been to create a viable, repeatable learning experience that can mould individuals with the right skills, knowledge, and most of all attitude, to fill positions in the hospitality and tourism industries. Ironically, this system of learning has allowed Sondela Academy to solve one of the biggest hurdles faced by employees, i.e., to get a good position (and in some cases, any position at all), you need to have a qualification as well as experience. The learning methodology, i.e., the work-integrated process as used by the Academy, means that any person who has completed a three-year diploma has also accumulated three years’ worth of experience.

Our commitment to equipping our students with the skills and attitude required for success in the hospitality and tourism industry, ensures that Sondela Academy is constantly on the lookout for opportunities for growth and innovative ways to remain relevant in today’s fast-paced world.

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