Train-the-Trainer by DataHomeLab

8.6 Summary

A good instructor must be thoroughly prepared for their lesson. They should seek to establish What the Student Knows (WSK) in order to determine What to Teach (WTT), and How to Teach it (HTT). The Pre Flight brief should focus on not just the WHAT, but most importantly HOW a sequence should be flown. Teach from the known to the unknown, and discuss common student errors whilst also establishing keywords during the brief. The Demonstrate, Direct, Monitor (DDM) model should be used as the toolkit for airborne instruction, with appropriate use of Follow Me Through (FMT), Direction of Attention, and subdivision. Always be ready to take over if safety is jeopardised, and ensure the student is remediated if the aim is not being achieved. Finally, use the sandwich approach in the debrief stating the main points to enable the student to improve for the next flight.

Whilst not all training sessions will lend themselves to using the full toolkit of airborne instruction, instructors who are armed with this knowledge of airborne instruction can tailor the model according to the training situation they are in. This model forms the technical foundation on which the instructor will develop their own style of instructing. From Mixed Fleet Training Device (MFTD) training with a non-type-rated new joiner, to teaching circuits with a cadet, to conducting Cross Crew Qualification (CCQ) training, to Operator Proficiency Check (OPC) training days, the Flight Instructor will have many opportunities to ensure that the training they provide will be as safe and efficient as possible using effective airborne instructional technique.

The compressed model

This summary names the operational model in three layers:

  • The chain. 8.3 The Student → 8.3 The Student → 8.3 The Student: read the student, scope the lesson against the student, select the method against the lesson and the student.
  • The toolkit. 8.4 Fundamentals of Airborne Instruction (Demonstrate, Direct, Monitor) and the supporting tool set: subdivision for breaking complex tasks into building blocks, Direction of Attention for focusing the student on the right cue, FMT for kinaesthetic transfer where the control surface allows it, keywords for vocabulary continuity across phases.
  • The brief and debrief frame. The pre-flight brief delivers WHAT and HOW; the post-flight debrief consolidates the lesson and feeds forward to the next session via the 7.4 Specific Debrief Scenarios (good points, then bad bits, then close on a positive). The full debrief technique is in 7.1 Introduction.

"Teach from the known to the unknown"

The summary's pedagogical principle ("teach from the known to the unknown") is the abbreviated form of the building-block discipline that runs through airborne instructional technique. WSK is the known; WTT is what the syllabus and lesson plan are trying to add to make new content known; HTT is the path between the two. Subdivision is the tool that keeps the steps small enough that each new piece is anchored in a known piece the student already has. An instructor who teaches new content without anchoring it to a known piece is teaching from the unknown to the unknown; the student does not know where to attach the new content, and retention collapses.

The classroom version of the same principle is in 2.2 The Learning Process and 3.2 Establishing Set and Closure; the airborne version is what the 8.4 Fundamentals of Airborne Instruction and this summary describe.

Where the full toolkit does not apply

The summary's caveat ("not all training sessions will lend themselves to using the full toolkit") is operationally honest. The full DDM cycle plus the FMT / Direction-of-Attention / subdivision / keyword apparatus is the model for an early-syllabus or remedial sortie. Many sessions at intermediate or advanced stages compress the cycle:

  • Recurrent simulator with experienced crew. Demonstrate phase typically absent; Direct phase brief or absent; Monitor phase dominant; the sortie is closer to the A4.2.1 Guidance for Examiners than to a teaching event.
  • Line Flying Under Supervision (LFUS). No simulator, no rewind, real passengers; the airborne technique compresses to Monitor with brief Direct interventions and an end-of-sector debrief. The treatment of the LFUS environment is in 7.4 Specific Debrief Scenarios.
  • OPC and licence proficiency check. Checking mode rather than training mode; the instructor observes and grades, and the 8.5 Remedial Instruction rule does not apply. The sortie still benefits from a coherent debrief, but the airborne technique is observation, not instruction.

The instructor's ability to tailor the model to the training situation is what airborne instructional technique calls "developing your own style." The model is the foundation; the tailoring is the craft.

The closing rationale

This summary closes by tying back to the opening claim in 8.1 Introduction: airborne instructional technique exists so that the change in the student's knowledge, skills, and attitude is achieved as safely and efficiently as possible. The DDM model, the WSK / WTT / HTT chain, the remediation loop, and the brief-and-debrief frame are the operational expression of that aim. An instructor who has internalised the model has the toolkit; the application of the toolkit to specific training situations is where the instructor's professional judgement lives.

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