We have been working with EFA London to implement Participatory ESOL – which is a learner-centred approach to teaching English that focuses on real-life contexts and active engagement. It tailors lessons to the learners’ own experiences and needs, encouraging collaboration and critical thinking. It helps learners not only improve their language skills but also empower themselves to address social issues, often with a community focus. The goal is to make language learning relevant and transformative.
We brought a group of women from Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe together to explore the meaning of ‘Food in our Lives‘, inspired by Shelina Permalloo’s TEDx talk about ‘The Power of Food in Community’ to not just cook and eat together but also to explore, over the course of 16 weeks, memories and feelings through discussion, creative writing and art.
Despite coming from diverse backgrounds and being accustomed to cooking and eating in quite different ways, the women were able to find a lot of common ground: in having powerful memories that associated certain foods with places and people (often grandmothers) close to their hearts; in their experiences of having to adapt to different and sometimes surprising ingredients, shops and kitchen equipment they found when they came to England (“Who buys half a cucumber?!”), and of wanting to learn about other cultures, while the same time wanting to ensure their own heritage is not lost. Inevitably the cost of living also came up and they shared ideas for adapting recipes and other money-saving tips. Perhaps most importantly, friendships were forged as they sampled each other’s cuisines.
You can read all about the ideas, memories and recipes they shared in this rather beautiful ‘creative book‘.
Following the course and in response to requests from the participants, we began ‘Sharing Food, Sharing Skills‘ course, which included a Food Safety qualification and exploring cooking as a business and employment opportunity.