wrote:
What's fascinating about where we're going with this discussion is
that
we don't have much latitude for experimentation. If we go down the
wrong path, it could cost dearly. But at the same time, the methods
we
currently use demand some healthy suspicion.

================================================= ====================

Earlier I made two examples that I thought detailed some of the more
pressing problems in instruction today: lack of detailed ground
instruction on a conceptual basis, and a specific example of how that
translated a short-handed description into a bad understanding for a
student (in that particular case a new PPG).

Pilots like to fly, otherwise they would do something else. Some
instructors are very good pilots, yet they are not particularly good at
communicating on a conceptual level the art of flying. Result, a
flying instuctor that hangs onto the stick and is always willing to
show instead of teach.

New instructors are particulary susceptable to this as they are not
quite sure of their ability to let out enough rope to the student but
not so much as to hang themselves as well. So they hang on. Some very
experienced pilots do just that. When I had one flying me around while
I was being checked out in the club's grob, I suddenly realized that I
was probably doing the same and wasn't even aware of it. Speak more,
show less.

Which brings out another frequently overlooked item. An aircraft is a
lousy classroom. In a tandem configuration, I am talking to the back
of someone's head. If we accept that a great portion of communication
is non verbal, then students are only receiving a small portion of what
is trying to be conveyed verbally.

It is more fun to fly. I would rather strap into the glider and fly
flight after flight, but were I to do that with students, how would I
plan, brief, clarify questions, query, and evaluate progress for that
day while examining my student's hat or hair style? Impossible.

The instructor sets the plan and executes the instruction. By taking
the time, and it does take AT LEAST the same amount of ground time as
flight time to settle any misconceptions and solidify instruction, your
student will have fewer bad habits and hopefully fewer withdrawls from
the bank of luck.

Terry