The human element in airline training - Royal Aeronautical Society

More documents

Recommendations

Info

14 THE TRAINEE PILOT ■ Do not talk DOWN TO, or AT your classes. ■ Do not be rude. ■ Do not smoke if it may distress your students. ■ Do not cram too much instruction in too short a time. ■ Do not ‘check to chop’. More simply, DO NOT just ‘fail’ a pilot who does not perform faultlessly at a first attempt. Repeat the exercise and train him to proficiency. ■ Do not show fear or favour. Always be fair. ■ Do not volunteer answers too readily. That defeats the object of the exercise. Ask questions until the trainee gives the correct answer. ■ Do not be afraid to admit your own errors in the past, to illustrate a point to a student. ■ Do not waste time relating your aviation experiences, unless relevant to a teaching point. Such epics do not enhance your credibility as an instructor and might be irritating to some. ■ Do not hide any inadequacy behind a word smokescreen. Admit that you don’t know and find out what the answer is. No one is omniscient. ■ Do not feel ashamed or reluctant to hand over to another instructor a trainee who is not progressing with you, as you would like. 4.3.6 Attitude and image 63. Acceptance rather than ridicule, support rather than reproof. Give help, and understanding and you will encourage the student to learn. Show by example through habitual observance of regulations, standard operating procedures and safety precautions. Remember that precepts of courtesy will enhance an instructor’s image of professionalism. Of greater importance, such habits will make the instructor more effective in that he will develop the same habits in his students 4.3.7 In conclusion of this part about airline training pilots 64. Not everyone is cut out to be an instructor. Like every other discipline or trade, it is one that CAN be learned. However, selection criteria should always be very carefully applied, to make sure that patently unsuitable types and temperaments are not brought into the team and given the power to make or break. That would be unfair to their charges if nothing else. 5.0 THE TRAINEE PILOT 5.1 Obstacles to learning 65. An awareness of adult learning styles is of importance to the instructor, if he is to get the best out of those in his care. With that in mind, let us now consider impediments to learning, types of students, their behaviour and how to deal with certain teaching situations. Obstacles to learning are numerous and varied. They may range from lack of interest and distractions, to complete mental blocks. These may originate from many different sources, which can range from family problems to being under certain misconceptions that stem from poor previous instruction. Among obstacles common to flight instruction are: a. A student’s feeling of unfair treatment Any impression that instruction is perfunctory or that his efforts are not recognised, conscientiously considered and fairly evaluated will damage a student’s motivation. The urge to learn will also decline if it is felt that the tutor appears to make unreasonable demands for progress, so the assignment of impossible goals discourages, diminishes effort and slows down learning. b. Impatience to proceed to more interesting operations This is a great deterrent to learning. Impatient students fail to grasp the need for basic training, only looking for the final The human element in airline training objective without considering the necessary means to reach it. Impatience can be corrected by only presenting preliminary training one step at a time, with clearly set goals for each stage; and clear de-briefings which explain how an exercise depends on the previous one in the learning sequence. c. Worry, or lack of interest Worried or emotionally upset students do not learn well. Worry can be caused by concern about progress on the course or it can be due to other matters that are totally unrelated to the instruction; for example, personal problems, psychiatric disturbances, a dislike for the instructor or maybe the wish not to be on the course at all. d. Physical discomfort, illness or fatigue A student not completely at ease and whose attention is diverted by such discomforts as extremes of temperature, a bad seat, noise, confusion, poor ventilation or dim lighting will not learn at a normal rate. Illness could well be the cause of distraction and inability to concentrate if all other factors are normal. As for fatigue, its detection in students is important for effective flight instruction. Once fatigue occurs, take a break. Be on a constant look out for its tell-tale symptoms … indications that mental shutters are down … revealed by total loss of attention, a blank look, sweating, a multiplicity of errors cropping up, or maybe the best clue of all ...confusion! e. Apathy fostered by poor instruction A well-prepared lesson is of the essence. Presentation must be adjusted to be meaningful to the person(s) receiving instruction. To be effective, each instructor must teach to the level of all members of the class, not just the bright. Similarly, a single student needs treatment tailored to his need. Poor instruction is not necessarily caused by poor preparation alone. The presentation of lesson material is not all that matters. Undue mannerisms, personal untidiness, signs of impatience, a lack of interest or appearing to be irritated at the students, could lose their attention and confidence in the instructor. f. Fear anxiety or timidity Avoid alarming situations, allay fears if they are perceived, encourage an anxious pupil, and be sure that he is not afraid of you, his instructor. 66. Similar emotions affect pilots undergoing command training or recurrent testing for annual JAR FCL licence renewals and biannual JAR OPS Proficiency Checks. What follows traces the path of a pilot during training, when he is converting to a new aircraft type. It describes the feelings generated in circumstances similar to those engendered by recurrent tests and the necessary refresher training discussed elsewhere. 5.2 Progress 67. It is important that instructors should try to find the reasons for any apparent lack of progress on the part of a trainee. Past records may indicate that this is uncharacteristic of the pilot concerned, thus making his apparent difficulty in absorbing new material even more puzzling. To find reasons that may be hidden by an inability to communicate by any one of the parties involved may be difficult. If the student is not to be further upset than he is already at finding himself in an alien situation, such as being unable to keep up with the course, very careful handling of direct questioning is needed, as are any behind-the-scene investigations. 5.3 Summary of learning difficulties and their possible underlying causes 5.3.1 Difficulties 68. a. Inability of the student to understand and/or absorb information b. Inability to retain information that had been apparently absorbed and understood
A340-600. c. Mental saturation, that is the inability to cope with i. More than one thing at a time. ii. Handling the abnormal or unexpected. d. Lack of basic practical pilot handling ability (including problems with judgement and lack of consistency). e. A combination of the above. 5.3.2 Underlying causes 69. a. Overload: Too many NEW things to do at once and too many stimuli to rationalise. Even an incorrectly adjusted seat causing the body to operate from an unaccustomed relative position can distract. Concentrate on major items/drills while trying to eliminate peripheral annoyances or distractions. b. Competition of habits: While in an overload situation or if concentration is relaxed, the pilot reverts to old procedures applicable to an aircraft type previously flown, in opposition to new procedures taught and required at the time of reversion. 5.3.3 Main causes underlying failure to progress in pilot training 70. a. Inadequate rapport with the instructor. b. Poor instructional technique. c. Inadequate basic training/knowledge. d. Under-confidence, nervousness or anxiety. e. Overconfidence. f. Age effect. g. Medical. h. Preoccupation with i. Stress factors or problems other than the pilot’s training. ii. Obsessions. i. Lack of mental capacity (for whatever reason, e.g. age, illness, worry). j. Is at the upper limit of his intellectual and personal skill ability. k. May be of sub-standard intelligence (for an airline pilot). 71. The last three causes may be difficult to establish, but need to be mentioned because they are a real possibility. 72. Potential distractions to learning that an instructor can introduce, if he is not careful or aware of them, have been discussed in Sections 3.3 The Instructor and in 4.0 The Airline Training Captain. THE TRAINEE PILOT 5.4 Student types 73. In his life as an airline instructor, a pilot may encounter different sorts of trainee. Most, if not all ‘technical’ flight crew under training normally reflect a focused desire to learn. This requires fostering by the teacher who also needs to manage attentively another prevalent characteristic, the underlying desire to please. Student types he might meet are now discussed in broad terms and suggested means of communicating or dealing with individuals depending on their personality, are also offered however briefly. The first group of student is discussed in detail at 5.4.1. Though each kind of student should be treated in equally expanded terms, the types listed thereafter are discussed in lesser detail, because of space limitations. 74. In the name of brevity, only short outlines of student types identified by the author are offered, with a suggested method for dealing with each one. They are meant to trigger thought under each key word. The characters might seem over-simplified and a facile approach to dealing with particular types implied, but this is not so. Suggested methods for treating students of different types may sound easy, but they can require extreme sensitivity and tact to deal with effectively. Professional educators will confirm alternative approaches for use in such cases and, with the their help, training manual guidance for instructors could well expand advice given herein to advantage. 5.4.1 Recognisable student types 1. The generally anxious and sensitive 75. This student’s attention may be additionally distracted by stress that is induced because of having to carry out a number of NEW tasks at the same time. Should he make an error, he may become so overwhelmed by it, that confusion sets in and the rest of the training session may well be wasted. This could happen, however insignificant the error might have been in the overall context of the required task. In such a case, the layered cake principle may be worth applying. Teach one thing at a time. Establish that it has been well assimilated by the student, then practice it until it` is demonstrated faultlessly and it is clearly well understood. 76. Do not confuse the issue by mentioning errors made in other areas of the flight profile. These will be cleared later, one at a time but in a similar manner. Subsequent flights could then be planned to include one or more of the previously understood and now correctly flown exercises plus one new to the trainee’s repertoire ... building the cake layer by layer ... but starting at the bottom every time. This ensures operation within a new but known area of RELATIVE COMFORT, before new exercises are introduced and then consolidated in a similar manner. Assimilation of instruction is thus ensured but with minimum stress. 77. Summarising the layered cake: A way of giving more than the normally required practice to ensure that later on, the trainee DOES NOT GET IT WRONG when alone and away from the instructional environment. It is suggested that this technique might not be acceptable other than with the older slower pilot but do consider its use with younger pilots too. 5.4.2 The person being trained is a precious commodity 78. It may be argued that time is money and that it cannot be wasted in such extended repetition. Notwithstanding, the investment an organisation has in a pilot (both as an employee and as a human being) is very precious. He is not a faceless number but is a person with feelings and, usually, intense loyalty. April 2003 15
Page 1 and 2: The human element in airline traini
Page 3 and 4: The human element in airline traini
Page 5 and 6: GLOSSARY Term Definition A Aeroplan
Page 7 and 8: Boeing 767-400. generally unstated
Page 9 and 10: A student and his instructor. candi
Page 11 and 12: Pre-flight checks. be used, company
Page 13: 4.3.3 How to handle errors 57. One
Page 17 and 18: 13. He who answers all the question
Page 19 and 20: 86. If more than the minimum number
Page 21 and 22: Schweitzer C/CB training helicopter
Page 23 and 24: 7.3.1 Training department responsib
Page 25 and 26: Personnel Licensing Department staf
Page 27 and 28: 9. The focus when instructing is of
Page 29 and 30: a. A separate Airworthiness type ce
Page 31 and 32: The FE (PPL): Conducts the first ty
Page 33 and 34: If the rating has lapsed, the appli
Page 35 and 36: 4.4 Class Rating Examiner — Aerop
Page 37 and 38: a. Briefing b. Recording c. Assessi
Page 39 and 40: JAR OPS 1 Details requirements that
Page 41 and 42: Transport Canada. Crew Resource Man
Page 43 and 44: APPENDIX G RATIONALE AND ACKNOWLEDG

The human element in airline training - Royal Aeronautical Society

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?