Learning in a creative, flexible and collaborative culinary environment - Noel Remacle

Culinary tutor, Noel Remacle, hails from Belgium and is a third-generation baker and pâtissier, with over four decades of experience in the industry. He shares this  with Toi Ohomai students, and with culinary students at Pharos University, Egypt. Throughout Noel’s career, he has overseen and run his own family business and other bakeries and served as a Product Developer for Guylian Chocolate's global franchising division where he was responsible for product development, team establishment, and logistics management. As an educator for the past six years Noel has been sharing his passion and expertise with the next generation of bakers. 

Noel presented his observations and contributed a research paper to the 2022 ITP Research Symposium around a change of class delivery method during the lock-down phases of the pandemic. Responding to the social distancing protocols at that time, under Noel’s direction the students developed a successful click-and-collect process for their bakery shops. Noel was impressed with the collaboration and teamwork they showed.  

“These skills can be fostered between tutors, students, and stakeholders through research, which can enhance their understanding of the industry. For tutors, research can lead to improvements in teaching practice, and it can also help them stay current with trends and best practices in their field.” 

Noel saw the research as a valuable tool for practical, real-world problem solving and engaging a wider audience through written communication. The research process requires effective planning, observation, reflection, and action, something Noel believes to be beneficial not only for the tutor, but also for the students, as it can prepare them for work in the industry by developing critical thinking skills and problem-solving abilities.

Recent publications: 
Remacle, N. (2023). Disruption as a way forward: Resilience and adaptation to prepare bakery students for the future. In J. L. Savage, J. Hoffman, & M. Shannon (Eds.), Proceedings: ITP Research Symposium 2022, 30 November – 2 December (pp.43-49). Auckland, New Zealand: ePress, Unitec | Te Pūkenga.