What is a good instructor?

[Colonel]

Sometimes - not always, but sometimes - people look for good flight instruction.

But that begs the question - what is good instruction?

I'm not sure about you, but I get spammed heavily by linkedin - I ride past their
HQ all the time, and it's tempting to stop by and yell at their receptionist in the
lobby - but every once in a while, you see something worthwhile:

[quote]Why Researchers Say the Best Leaders Give the Worst Feedback

People do not like getting negative feedback. This is not just my opinion — psychologists researching appraisal and management of work confirm it to be true. So it is no wonder that many leaders avoid tough conversations with their teammates.  But while you might not enjoy it, there is no other option than to give and receive critical feedback if you want the team to improve.

People dread having to share negative comments, so they often avoid it all together. This is not just my opinion — a 2018 study at the University of Chicago confirms this to be true. The reason, according to the researchers, is that people assume sharing their honest thoughts with others will have bad consequences.[/quote]

The best leaders - and coaches, and teachers, and flight instructors - will often hurt
your feelings and tell you what you need to work on, to improve.

My experience is that people would rather not improve - rather, they prefer to get
fake good news, that they are some kind of one in a billion phenomenon that doesn't
need to practice, to be the best in the world.  Millennial delusion.  Everyone thinks
they are one in a billion - special.  No, you aren't special.

See, it depends what you want to get out of flight instruction.  Do you want to feed
your ego above all else, and be told you are wonderful, when in fact you are shitty
and will stay that way because you are lazy and delusional?

Or do you want to be told what you need to do, to improve?  And to put some hard
work in that might hurt your feelings?

Some of my favorite educational videos:







Those three videos will teach you all you need to know about instruction.

Put 10,000 hours in.  I found my landings got better after I did 10,000 of them.

[img width=500 height=306][/img]

[Chuck Ellsworth]

When I was teaching advanced flying skills I only pointed out the mistakes they made and if they showed they were offended I explained to them the reason I was teaching them was to improve their flying skills not to increase their ego.

If they were not able to accept that I told them to find another instructor that did not care about flying skills.

[Colonel]

I'm no R. Lee Ermey, but honestly, if someone bursts into tears when
you point out an error, maybe they should do something else, like get
a coloring book in a safe space.

https://statesmanonline.org/2016/11/10/ ... -coloring/

[quote]One of the dorms on campus set up a “breathing space” the night after election day.

Cats, a puppy, coloring pages, and snacks were offered to help students “decompress in a low-key and low-stress environment.” 

The event certainly had a timid and fearful undertone, as students were hesitant to discuss what awaits the United States in January.[/quote]

No judgement, but perhaps these people should not operate motorized equipment,
but instead should just wear diapers for the rest of their life and remain in the nursery.

[Eric Janson]

Fortunately not all countries have been contaminated by this crap (yet).

Millenials comprise most of my cabin crew. No real issues except for the endless selfies they take.

The country they come from is still quite conservative with very strong family and cultural values.

[Colonel]

Not all Millennials are noisy, useless write-offs -
just a huge percentage.

A very few are great guys, so there is some hope.

Am interesting question is WHY such a large
percentage of Millennials are so screwed up.

[Slick Goodlin]

[quote author=Colonel Sanders link=topic=9432.msg26241#msg26241 date=1546357068]
Am interesting question is WHY such a large percentage of Millennials are so screwed up.
[/quote]
They were promised the world then suddenly found out it was a lie.  You’d be screwed up too.

[cgzro]

A good instructor is somebody who can figure out what you are doing wrong,  help you find a way to recognize and correct the problem and move on to the next problem in a reasonable amount of time and money. I really don't care if they are nice and friendly or grumpy although too much of either is detrimental.

I also find that a good instructor or mentor can boil down a difficult decision making problem into a core or couple of core points to help with decisions under stress.

[vanNostrum]

Half way through my PPL I was straggling
Flying two or three hours a month  with different instructors
felt very unhappy with my progress
On a very windy  day with a  strong xwind , I flew circuits with an instructor I had never flown before,
As she explained , in a very calm and concise way, what control inputs  were needed and why, everything seemed
to make sense . Not once during the flight she touched the controls
Back in the ground her comments were ''excellent flight in very difficult conditions , congratulations''
That flight removed  for ever any fears  about xwinds  and gave me the  self confidence I needed to advance
For me this is a good instructor
Should I mentioned she was an experienced tail wheel pilot? ;)

[Slick Goodlin]

[quote author=cgzro link=topic=9432.msg26244#msg26244 date=1546366601]
A good instructor is somebody who can figure out what you are doing wrong,  help you find a way to recognize and correct the problem and move on to the next problem in a reasonable amount of time and money. I really don't care if they are nice and friendly or grumpy although too much of either is detrimental.

I also find that a good instructor or mentor can boil down a difficult decision making problem into a core or couple of core points to help with decisions under stress.
[/quote]
^That’s exactly what I’ve always believed, I just couldn’t word it so consicely.

[Colonel]

[quote]boil down a difficult decision making problem[/quote]

That's completely different than merely being a good teacher ....

That requires that the teacher be a complete master of the subject,
and have a total understanding of the physics of the situation, and
how we particularly crappy biological autopilots fit into it, with all of
our faults and fears.

It is extremely rare to find someone that is both so knowledgeable
and insightful of a highly complicated technical activity - yet is also
a good teacher.  The two skill sets have absolutely nothing to do
with each other, I believe.

Like Peter, I personally believe that someone's bedside manner
isn't terribly important.  It's the mastery of the subject that matters
to me - I want to learn what they know, and if they don't stroke my
ego, that's fine.