PandA Povenmire & Associates Aviation Safety Consultants Training Design, Evaluation and Instruction

Seven Golden Rules of Instruction

 

SIX - CRITIQUE THE PERFORMANCE AND NOT THE STUDENT

 

     I first learned this from my Child Psychology professor.  She said "If you tell 'Little Alphonse' that he is a 'bad boy' he will soon believe that he is a bad boy.  But if you tell him that he is a good boy, but what he is doing is bad, he will feel better about himself." 

 

     Looking back to concept number one, we have to remember that the conflict is between the student and the objective - not the student against the instructor.  Which would you rather hear as a student?  "That maneuver was unacceptable," or "You are unacceptable."  Separating the student from the performance takes conscious effort.  You may think "This stupid jerk is such a ham-fisted ..." but you must realize that he is really trying to do what you want him to do.  After all, he's paying you.

 

 

SCREAMERS

 

     Instructors have gotten frustrated after they "told him and told him and he still did it wrong."  Let's face it.  If he's still doing it wrong, it is because either 1) he doesn't understand the objective, 2) he doesn't see the cues that you use, or 3) he doesn't want to learn - not because he is diabolically trying to ruin your day.  When instructors get frustrated they must try to determine which reason applies, and try a different angle.  Students don't do dumb things on purpose.

 

 

PEOPLE WHO SHOULD NOT LEARN TO FLY

 

     At this point it might be good to talk about the one-percent of people that should not fly.  I have asked people representing many aviation organizations armed services and airlines representing many countries.  It seems a general consensus that one-percent of the pilots don't have what it takes to fly airplanes.  I have been involved in observing, evaluating and counseling some of these pilots, and have become quite knowledgeable about their individual problems. 

 

     It seems that one thing they have in common is that they are unable to quickly change their priorities.  This has nothing to do with their IQ or judgment.  Some very intelligent people take forever to make up their mind.  Some people must see everything in place before proceeding to the next step.  Pilots must make decisions based on incomplete information. 

 

     Such a pilot may ask unrelated questions just as the needle comes alive while intercepting the localizer course.  One student started a long discussion on why the bearing selector doesn't affect the localizer course rather than turning to intercept.  Often a pilot can describe an emergency procedure perfectly, but they cannot do it.  When asked to recite the emergency procedure, their mind goes to the proper page in the handbook.  They read what's there, rather than imagining going through the procedures in the aircraft. 

 

     Often this person lacks the ability to visualize.  This lack eliminates the possibility of mentally rehearsing between flights.  There is an experiment that you can do to see how well you visualize.  This is by no means a valid test of piloting skill, but it is fun. 

 

     Imagine a cube, each side is a different color.  Now dissect the cube once vertically, again vertically at 90-degrees to the first, and once horizontally.  How many small cubes do you have? 

 

     Now take one of the smaller cubes and tell me how many surfaces are colored?

 

     So much for the mathematical part.  There are eight cubes and three surfaces on each are part of the original exterior.  This can all be done in the abstract using mathematical principles.  Now let's examine your visualization.  There are no right answers to the following questions.

 

     What colors were on the outside of the cube? 

     What color was the inside? 

     How did you dissect it?

 

     Some people may be able to answer only one or two.  It depends on how hurried they were.  It is of course most efficient to imagine the cube dividing itself rather than taking it to a band saw.  One person said that the inside was wood, and he remembers sawdust as he "dissected" the cube.  The real died-in-the-wool visualizer will only be able to name three colors.  There others were hidden.

 

     Another indicator of possible difficulty is a history of perceptual problems as an adult.  Researchers tell me that one's perceptual framework is pretty well established by the age of ten, and virtually unchangeable after 20.  People with perceptual problems have trouble reading maps, drawing pictures of how the runway looks on final, or recognizing the cues that you point out.  Although it is possible for them to learn to fly, they may be unable to recognize subtle differences between situations. 

 

     Remember, ninety-nine percent of people can learn to fly.  If "Amelia" is having difficulty, it is probably because she needs a more efficient way to learn.  Either she doesn't understand the objective, she doesn't see the cues that you use, or she doesn't want to learn.

 

 

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