Building Stronger Families

In the cooking classroom, families spend time together accomplishing mutually desirable goals. As demonstrated by Muzafer Sherif's research on group conflict and cooperation, expending effort in achieving a mutually desirable goal is such a powerful technique that it can make friends out of enemies. Consider the potential working together has for improving family relations.

Additionally, parents and children have an opportunity to explore new ways of intergenerational communication by working with different children and parents. Parents can observe their children interacting with others in a learning situation and come to appreciate them in new ways. At the same time, children observe their parents as novices and may come to realize that learning is a part of life, not just something children do.