The Development of Teaching Activity Packages for Culinary Education: Enhancing Students' Professional Skills and Culinary Cultural Literacy under Existing Conditions

Abstract

In the new era of enhancing vocational education quality and value-added development, culinary programs in higher vocational institutions serve as core platforms for cultivating high-caliber technical professionals for the catering industry. The traditional single-focused skills-oriented training model can no longer meet the demands of modern catering industry transformation. Today's industry prioritizes not only culinary expertise but also practitioners' cultural literacy, professional competence, innovation capabilities, and service ethos. This study examines the curriculum framework of culinary programs in higher vocational colleges, employing literature review, questionnaire surveys, interviews, and case analysis to systematically investigate the integration status, existing challenges, and improvement pathways between skills courses and cultural literacy courses. Findings reveal significant imbalances in current curricula-overemphasis on practical training at expense of cultural cultivation; disconnection between skills and cultural courses; insufficient relevance of cultural literacy content; limited teaching integration methods; inadequate faculty competencies; and incomplete evaluation systems. Grounded in preserving craftsmanship traditions, promoting Chinese culinary culture, and meeting vocational education objectives, this study proposes a comprehensive curriculum integration framework characterized by "skill-based foundations, cultural empowerment, competency enhancement, and innovative development." It suggests optimization strategies including modular curriculum restructuring, immersive teaching innovations, dual-qualified instructor training, diversified assessment mechanisms, and school-enterprise collaboration, aiming to address the persistent challenge of cultivating culinary professionals with technical proficiency but lacking cultural depth and passion. These findings provide theoretical insights and practical recommendations for curriculum reform and high-quality talent development in culinary education.