Instructor told student "you are boring" [Archive]

Big Pistons Forever

13th Jan 2009, 15:30

A couple of points from someone who is a Canadian Class 1 FI (i.e. qualified to teach the FI course).

1) I think your question goes to the heart of how good an instructor you want to be. The difference between a boring lecture and an interesting one is how much work you put into it and it is up to you to develop your presention skills. There is a huge amount of great information on Instructional Technique on the web. Use it to find tips and advice on how to present.

2) If your FI instructor told you the lesson was "boring" than he/she is not doing their job. What you need to know is why/how was it boring and what you need to do to improve. So ask for specific feedback

3) The bottom line is your success as a FI is not what you know or how well you personally can fly, it is how good you are at communicating the "what" . "Why" and the "how" to your students. Effective communication skills are vital to being a good instructor.

Smeagels Boyfriend

13th Jan 2009, 19:47

What a grade A tosser that guy is.

You see the problem with those sort of people think they are a a superior breed and he is basically taking the piss out of you. You need to get a backbone mate and confront him HEAD on. I can tell you now if someone had said that to me when i was doing my instructor rating i would have gone into orbit. And don't just go in there and say "can i talk to you please" get in there all guns blazing and tell him what a prat he obviously is!

DeepestSouth

13th Jan 2009, 19:50

Sorry, Kloe, but I think that your 'audience' was quite right to point out that you have a problem. Better to get honest feedback, find out now, and do something about it than get a reputation or 'lose' students in the future - because students will NOT tell you that your lectures are not that good... they'll just complain about you on PPrune! One of the most useful experiences of my life was the intensive Presentation Skills phase of a 4-week course training for a tour as an RAF recruiter. We spent hours preparing and delivering lectures and talks, being critiqued by instructors and our fellow students. We saw and learnt first hand how a dull delivery can 'lose' an audience in minutes. Many years later, I saw exactly that happen when a very intelligent young 'guru' delivered a technically brilliant presentation on an interesting topic (pay!) but, sitting at the back of the lecture room I could see the 'studes' losing interest. First of all some fidgeted and looked down at their hands, then a few admired the posters on the walls, a few looked up, some muttered to one another. Within 10 minutes only about 10% of the 140 studes were listening to him.

I'd embrace the opportunity to put it right. As suggested above, ask for more details and advice, and use it.

Good luck with the course!

kloe

13th Jan 2009, 19:59

My instructor is also the chief flying instructor.

Always late for our bookings

might potentially hire me

very busy school and this instructor has too many duties other than me

this instructor is not very comforting in the class as I present a lesson

My other instructor told me that I was doing a very good job in presenting

my present one pisses me off

always has a comment and I never was boring in previous occasions

my present instructor is not as excited and this instructor's mind is always occupied with dealing with school's problems, not a whole lot of concentration on the student which is me and others.

what should I do? find another school?

thanks:ugh:

Canadapilot

13th Jan 2009, 20:56

Kloe it wouldn't happen to be a certain female CFI who's reputation is well known??! what city are you training in

kloe

13th Jan 2009, 21:34

what do you mean?

Diver_Dave

13th Jan 2009, 21:51

Deepest South,

Sorry to disagree but...

There's no excuse for...

a) Rudeness from an Instructor to Student.

b) Lack of Feedback as to why a comment is made.

The job description kind of gives it away.

in⋅struc⋅tor [in-struhk-ter] –noun
1. a person who instructs; teacher.
2. a teacher in a college or university who ranks below an assistant professor.

To impart knowledge...

As a non-flyer I can only talk in generalities but.

If an 'Instructor' says. "You got that landing / checklist wrong".

What have you learnt? The key phrase is. Because you did (or didn't do)
X or Y or Z...

As is known around here, I teach diving. I can't think
of ever saying. "YOu got that wrong." Then getting out of the
water. It acheives absoloutly nothing, except, alienating the client / student.

Just my 2p worth.

DaveA

Canadapilot

13th Jan 2009, 21:55

Kloe, sorry i thought i was hearing a story yet again about a famously intolerant, harsh CFI out here in Calgary...guess you're elsewhere!

kloe

14th Jan 2009, 00:34

CanadaPilot

I am located in Eastern Canada

Whirlybird

14th Jan 2009, 08:11

kloe,

Pointing out to a potential instructor that his delivery is boring could be useful, IF he'd told you why. However, your second post makes it clear that you don't really want an answer. You've already decided that this guy is useless as an instructor, and that you want to go elsewhere. So why are you asking us? Trust your own judgement. GO!

will fly for food 06

14th Jan 2009, 08:28

Just relax and try to enjoy your lectures. Remember that when your briefing a student if they are keen then they will be enthusiastic. Feed off this but dont crack too many cheesy jokes!
Its the same all over the world. I remember when I started the FI course the instructor spent a while on the ground briefing about being patient and not shouting at the student. He then spend the entire hour just shouting at me:ugh:. Needless to say I didnt fly with him again. Good luck with the course.

Whopity

14th Jan 2009, 09:22

Some of the best instructors I know are boring.
In order to break things down into their component parts to present them to a student in a logical and methodical manner so that they will develop an understanding and learn, can be be very tedious. The type of instructor who can do this well, will often come accross as boring.

Regard it as an asset and carry on.

Charlie Foxtrot India

14th Jan 2009, 12:48

Being devil's advocate here...

Without context it is not easy, but if I thought a trainee instructor's delivery was "boring" I wouldn't hesitate to tell them so, as part of a constructive critique. It wouldn't be doing them any favours to say their brief was wonderful if it actually had a lot of areas for improvement. A lot of trainees are VERY boring before they develop confidence and a "style" of their own. You are paying to learn, not to be flattered. You get out of it what you put in.

A lot of training instructors is role playing, think about it from that angle before you judge the CFI. Not all students are "nice" some of them are absolutely horrible! but you still have to get the job done. Comfort and cotton wool in the course won't do you any favours at all in preparing you for the "real" world. The best instructors I had sometimes left me feeling like cr@p and ready to quit, but then more determined to improve. The nicety-nice ones were so busy wanting to be liked they taught me next to nothing.

Enjoy your instructor course, it's the most fun training there is, and learn to gracefully accept criticism from your more experienced colleagues as a way to improve yourself. You will have to, until the day you are a CFI yourself. Good luck!

kloe

14th Jan 2009, 14:14

Thank you for all the comments folks.

My instructor which happens to be the chief flying instructor at this school, always has to have the last word.

I don't necessarily want to leave but it is very frustrating working with this person as this person is also dealing with personal issues and work issues.

This person is a nice person but before getting this position has not instructed in many many years, maybe they are rusty?

What do you do when you are not feeling like you are accomplishing a whole lot with this person and I tend to get itchy when I even fly with this person.

No disrespect or anything but I want to have fun learning again and right now I am not having fun which is what we should be doing.

I know another instructor at another school not too far away which always comes in with a smile and makes me feel good flying, any suggestions.

my miserable instructor again might potentially give me employment , not that there is not a shortage of instructors out there anyways.

thanks again

frustrated kloe

Whirlybird

14th Jan 2009, 15:35

Yet again, you talk as though you want to leave and go elsewhere. So why don't you? Why do you need reassurance from us?

Canadapilot

14th Jan 2009, 16:44

Kloe, i did half my FI course with an instructor who sounds similar to yours, and felt miserable and like i wasn't learning anything! I turned down guaranteed employment and went to another school to finish off...why work for someone you despise if there are other options. Of course if the chance of a job elsewhere is slim then it may be worth sticking it out! Just remember, they may be a CFI with thousands of hours but you're paying for their instruction...if you're not getting anything out of it then leave!

Romeo India Xray

14th Jan 2009, 17:24

As I see it, there are two vairents:

Firstly you could do something way out which would be attention grabbing. It may have been the rather tactless method of your instructor letting you know that this is what is missing. I have used this a few times with students - shock therapy (although I have never called any of them "boring" with regard to their lectures). The idea is that for the next lecture the student prepares something that is really attention getting (however I always briefed the student that this was what I was expecting). Reminds me of a time when I was a young instructor and had a class of young lads not much younger than me. I was teaching instruments and so got hold of an old altimeter, VSI and ASI and some screwdrivers - lesson taught, no boredom, much learnt.

Secondly it could be that your instructor is really not dedicated to delivering what you need - that could be simply because you do not get on (I remember instructors from when I first trained who I thought were really crass but others thought were the best thing since sliced bread), or it could be that the instructor is lacking in her own fundamental skills required to turn out quality instructors. If this is the case then you either need to insist on a change of instructors or go elsewhere.

Where I am, going elsewhere would not be a possibility as there is only one instructor course provider in the country. If someone came to me asking to change instructors then I would certainly sit up and listen to them and arrange for one of the other instructors to take the student. The instructor should realise that just as there are some students who do not get on with their PPL/CPL/IR instructors, there are also some students who cant get on with their instructor instructors. If this is the route that you choose though, I hope you will look back on this in the future when one of your own students asks for an instructor change from you.

One final note, I am about to run an instructor seminar where all the instructors are going to find out that I hold many of them in the same (or worse) contempt than your instructor showed to you, but I will be doing this in a nice and compasionate way and giving them the possibility to develop - those that do not want to develop have no place being instructors and as such can spend some time considering how they enjoyed being an instructor in the past.

RIX

kloe

14th Jan 2009, 20:40

thanks guys for the comments once again

I also get frustrated as my instructor tells me to prepare forced landings to perform in the classroom so I go home and study it and then when I show this person tells me to show them navigation!! WTF!

Duchess_Driver

14th Jan 2009, 20:45

Possibly preparing you for real life....

"You're 10 o'clocks just cancelled.....can you take X for their first nav trip please......" Happens all the time in flight training.

kloe

14th Jan 2009, 21:51

Romeo India Xray

But this is the Chief Flying Instructor!!!

Asking not to fly with this person, would this make look bad and what would this chief instructor think of me, probably would not even give me a job.

This instructor does look alot at their book to see if they are covering everything as this person was out of instructing for a long time.

should I stay or should I go?

that is the question

kloe

Charlie Foxtrot India

14th Jan 2009, 23:54

this person is also dealing with personal issues and work issues.
Sounds like you are too! Running a flying school isn't a walk in the park. And once you have students, be ready to hear thier life history and woes...

right now I am not having fun which is what we should be doing.
You are there to learn how to be a flying instructor.

I know another instructor at another school not too far away which always comes in with a smile and makes me feel good flying,
You are there to learn how to be a flying instructor.

Take a big step back, and ask yourself why you are doing this course. Do you want to be a flying instructor, or do you just want to have fun and feel good?

See how it looks from the other side, where you hope to be soon. Perhaps the "miserable" instructor finds you difficult also? Maybe the decision to stay or go might not be your decision?

What will you do when you qualify, and get a student that is "miserable"/smelly/obnoxious/does ZERO preparation etc? Decide you don't want to fly with them because it's not "fun" even though they are paying good money to fly with you?? See the other side of the coin?

This is a professional job and requires maturity and the skills to deal with people of all types in a professional manner. If you want everything to go your way all the time then maybe you are not yet ready to be a flying instructor?

Think about it, don't take it personally.

kloe

15th Jan 2009, 05:10

charlie foxtrot india

you are probably right.........

I should quit while I am ahead.........

instructing should not be fun but a very serious matter and I agree ..........

thanks for the info charlie foxtrot india,

I will pay my instructor a visit maybe today or tommorow and quit.

I would like to thank everybody for their comments and because Canada at the moment have very few class 1 instructors to do any actual instructor training anybody wishing to start should take their time to find a happy, experienced and somebody that they at least enjoy being with and hopes to learn from their instructor.

I started the instructor course over a year ago and have had 3 instructors all of them class 1 and I must say the first one was horrible and could not accomodate my schedule because of his golf game, the other one retired which I liked and now this last one that has not teached for over 20 years , well you know this instructor brief history through me.

I just wanted to have some fun along the way but maybe not.

I will donate my instructor notes and books to somebody else and just continue to fly privately.

again thank you for the comments you too charlie foxtrot india

kloe

Whirlybird

15th Jan 2009, 07:31

kloe,

Whoa there! That sounds a little impulsive and over the top on the basis of what one person tells you.

If it helps at all, I absolutely hated my instructor's course. However, when I started instructing I found out how useful all of it had been, and wrote to my former instructor to thank him for everything. And instructing is fun....most of the time, for the right sort of person.

So your course may not be fun. However, some of what you say does sound as though it's not quite right. Some doesn't, for instance the checking to see if you've covered everything - that's conscientious, and I tend to use notes a lot too, even if I don't think I need them.

If there's somewhere else to go and you're sure your instructor is causing your problems, then go there. If not, stick it out, IF you want to be an instructor. But in my experience, there is no way an FI course will ever be fun! :{

Angels 25

15th Jan 2009, 08:48

Kloe, don't quit. Go to that friendly instructor down the road, the one with the nice smile and who sounds in current training practice. Have a heart to heart, and perhaps consider enrolling there! Don't quit! Treat all of this as a learning experience which will prove valuable in your career.
Being a pilot in any professional capacity is about learning to act, not react.
Determine in all your interactions with people the kind of influence you wish to exert, and the kind of outcome. Think about your course of action, and be decisive! As an instructor you will need to sometimes make split second decisions, sometimes life and death decisions. This is a small taste of what you might expect in the training environment.
Unfortunately, there is a small proportion of instructors out there who take delight in putting down instructors and students (especially if there is a captive audience), as if to prove their superiority. What this person doesn't realise yet is that he or she is more boriong than you'll ever be.
Delivering a lesson or brief and being able to make it cohesive and flow, and captivating, takes practice. This is what the FI course trains you to do, and what this instructor should be doing, not delivering tongue fu remarks.:eek:
Good luck! You've got a lot of support in these forums.:ok:

Canadapilot

15th Jan 2009, 14:45

I hated my instructor course too...was glad to get it done! I know a Class 1 here in Calgary who'd be able to get you finished quickly....PM me for details if desired! don't let one asshole CFI put you off, i lost all confidence and passion with my first one....get out and switch schools is still my advice! you've come this far buddy

kloe

15th Jan 2009, 15:02

thank you once again for the positive remarks

- I never said that instructing is always going to be fun and you are right, you will have to make life and death type decisions in flight and you must be ready at a moments notice, I agree

- I went into this instructors course very serious as I am the person that will be a career flight instructor and not one that will use this as part of the experience and then move on to something bigger and better, so all I am asking is to have an instructor that has the passion and knowledge to pass their experience on to me so I can be the best that I can be to my students

- like I mentioned before, this is the third instructor that I have had and I do not want to keep switching but these class 1 instructors here in Canada are far and few between.

- I understand that on a moments notice I might be asked to teach another subject to a student but RIGHT NOW I AM THE STUDENT! learning to be an instructor, so when you tell me prepare to teach me forced landings and then show up and you tell me to teach you navigation I necessarily might not have looked at navigation enough to be ready and I don't find that fair in my phase of training. When I am the instructor that is a different situation.

- I do not want to make my present flight instructor look bad, not at all. This person is actually a nice person but I believe has been out of the flight instructing world for a long time and there are times when this person doesn't even know how to fill out a flight plan form when we did the navigation planning.

- this instructor has been flying for a very long time and I respect that very much, but when this person called me boring and reading my overheads in the ground lesson, the reason is that this person thinks they know everything and instead of saying that I was boring, could have re-phrased it and for everything that I have either presented wrong or forgotten I would stop and ask this person how we could correct it. I have no problem accepting remarks but my confidence in flying and working with this person is making me stiff, nervous and afraid to make a mistake. This did not happen with my previous one that retired.

- If I am supposed to know everything by memory as this person makes it out to be and not read my notes then guys I don't know what else to do. I like the person but not the "instructor" in them.

- the weather here in Canada has been brutal and I have not been able to do a whole lot of flying and my written exam is going to expire soon and I am starting to panic that if the time expires I must rewrite the exam which is a very hard one.

Believe me, most of my training has not been fun and I accept it because there is alot of work to be done and material to learn, and I just want to learn to be the best that I can be and pass it on to others.

others here have said stay and fight it and it will be hard fight and others have said go. I have alot to think today as I need to make the decision quick!

again thank you all for the comments and suggestions

kloe

windriver

15th Jan 2009, 15:33

Maybe your instructor could adopt a more constructive manner... but this is an interesting extract from your post.

but when this person called me boring and reading my overheads in the ground lesson

The use of overheads/PowerPoint/pc projectors etc should normally be used to complement briefings rather than act as the main point of focus.

Maybe your instructor detected a tendency for the aids to be the main point of focus rather than you (as instructor) engaging with your "student."

Reading directly from Slides can send a student or class to sleep in seconds - especially after lunch!

Stick with it.. it gets easier and very enjoyable with practice. :ok:

kloe

15th Jan 2009, 15:58

again thank for the comments guys

my previous instructor that has retired told me to do the "oveheads" as they can make your lesson better. Now, I don't just read my overheads and go on, I add theory to each point that is on my overhead. Obviously if you just read off your overhead than anybody can teach.

my present instructor makes me nervous and I freeze in the class and in the air when my excercise is not up to par you can see the facial expression that this person makes, I just want to go back and land and go home.

I seem to hear ten different ways to teach an excercise, ten different ways in the class using power point, overhead, chalkboard, whiteboard, etc. driving me confused!!

It has been so frustrating for me lately that I don't know whether I should proceed or just stop.

kloe

Lister Noble

15th Jan 2009, 16:36

I've been reading this with interest but not posted to date.
I'm a low hours PPL but I have given hundreds of presentations on various topics in agriculture,involving precision farming with GPS,satellite images,etc also a lot on environmental issues and organic farming.
The audiences have varied from politicians,media,academics,farmers,consultants to school pupils.
First of all I used overheads but they were horrible to manipulate etc,then I used 35mm slides and finally last 10 yrs Powerpoint.

Always I used the slide etc to act as an aid memoir and talked around it,facing the audience,sometimes a bit light hearted humour,and depending on the type of audience asking for participation.I've done radio and live TV,the TV was a bit stressful as I had never done that before and was arguing the case against organic farming with someone from the Soil Association for 30 mins,but it went OK.

You must avoid "death by powerpoint",giving slide after slide of tables and graphs,even worse having the script up there and reading it off.
You've got to be a bit of an actor,move about a bit,be animated and smile occassionally!

Obviously your main aim is to pass info over and make sure it sticks,but if you can do this in an interesting manner then you are nearly there.
Good luck,and stick at it.
Lister:)
Edited to add:
My first presentation was to a room full of journalist,some of whom we knew were not going to be too friendly,and I was shi**ing myself.
A respected colleague said,
"Don't worry,you know really your subject and if you don't know the answer to a question don't try and answer it or bullsh*t them,tell them you'll get back to them when you have more info etc"

OneIn60rule

15th Jan 2009, 17:18

One person tells you they you bore him/her.

Maybe the presentation was really boring. Nobody manages a great presentation first time.

Yes 'tis a skill to make the subject interesting and interactive, did the CFI point out what you could do to make it more interesting?

Just keep practicing. *sometimes one has to leave to a better tutor, holds true for students and student FI's*

1/60

SNS3Guppy

15th Jan 2009, 18:59

My question I guess, should the instructor teaching me which also happens to be the chief flying instructor at this school tell their student that they are boring and what should I do about it?

What should you do about it? Be less boring.

You've been given valuable insight. Take it, digest it, and make a change. The definition of learning, of course, is a change in behavior as a result of experience. You've just experienced your instructor giving you feedback with which you can improve your performance.

You seem worried that your feelings are hurt.

Are you there to have your ego stroked, or to learn to be an instructor?

Your instructor is an experienced instructor, and the chief instructor. You are not. Do you know more than your instructor?

You are going to find that others do things you don't like from time to time. When you're an instructor, you can take what you've found that worked and use it, and reject what you've found didn't work...but you don't have the experience or place to be rejecting anything at the moment. Now is a good time to listen, to learn, and to make changes.

Your instructor tells you to prepare a lesson on X and then when you show up you're told to teach a lesson on Y?

Then teach a lesson on Y. Very simple.

As a flight instructor, you won't have the luxury of taking a day off every time you have to teach a lesson, in order to prepare that lesson.

You may find that a student shows up with a question, and now you have to teach that subject. Right here, right now. You started out the day planning on teaching cross country navigation, but you've discovered the student doesn't understand crosswind landings...now you're teaching something different. Your instructor understands this, and understands that YOU need to understand this.

Stop looking inward and worrying about yourself. Being an instructor, and more importantly a teacher, is worrying about your student.

Your student may tell you that you're boring. What are you going to do? Get rid of the student? Every student is different. Adapt.

kloe

16th Jan 2009, 00:04

Where do flight instructors enjoy teaching, at an average size school with a few airplanes that is quiet and enjoyable or a large school that is affiliated with a university or college and is just hustle and bustle?

I find the large busy school there is not alot of personal teaching time but going from one student to another.

any stories would be appreciated

kloe

Canadapilot

16th Jan 2009, 00:47

I think in present times not many of us can be selective in schools to teach at!

OneIn60rule

16th Jan 2009, 09:20

Small flying clubs, the FI's have each their own way of teaching.

Bigger places, college links actually prepping people for CPL's etc are more "standardized". Set way of doing things, less flexible due to contracts etc with other companies which send their students over for courses.

Decide which you want to work with. You might not be the type of A but maybe B.

1/60

VFE

16th Jan 2009, 13:53

I personally prefer the more personal flying club environment to teach in. Larger places, as has already been intimated, tend to have a set way leaving little room for individual styles and more importantly, time for adequate briefing given the conveyor belt approach.

VFE.

BigGrecian

16th Jan 2009, 15:59

Sounds like the instructor is trying is hoping for you to stand up for yourself and show some enthusiasm - I wouldn't take it to heart, I think your being a little over-sensitive - students will treat you worse - but just behind your back! and will find other instructors!

We've had plenty of people who give dull briefs, and you can't teach someone to show enthusiasm and make their briefs more interesting, they have to do it for themselves.

When comments were like that were passed, the ones which got hired were the one's who stood up for themselves, asked why and rectified the situation!

Good luck!

Cap'n Arrr

17th Jan 2009, 05:09

If I may say a few things

- I think you might be being a little bit too precious here. If an instructor gives a boring brief, then the student doesn't pay attention, and won't take anything away from it. Did the CFI say why you were boring? If he did, then that is constructive criticism. If he didn't, then he probably should have, but at the end of the day he is trying to help you be a better instructor.

- Your reaction to Charlie Foxtrot India's post reads to me like a tantrum. The instructor rating is not first and foremost about "fun." It is about knowing your stuff and being able to impart it to your student. I've yet to experience anything more rewarding than taking a struggling student and getting them flying at a high standard. It's also about taking onboard criticism. If you immediately disregard what someone has said just because you don't like it, or it hurts your ego, then you will not make a very good instructor regardless of how well trained you are.

- When you do start instructing, you will have to fly with a wide variety of students. These will go from the clean, fast learner who doesn't even really need you to be in the plane half the time, to the unwashed struggler who frustrates you at every turn, who you hate sharing a cockpit with and seems to spend their nights coming up with new ways to try and kill the both of you. The instructor rating teaches you how to deal with not just good students, but with the poor ones as well. You may have noticed your instructor pretending to be a struggling student in your briefs (it'd be too easy if they didn't make you work!:ok:)

At the end of the day, he is not calling you a boring person, but is telling you the way that you delivered the brief was boring for him, and as such boring for potential students. Remember that he has much more experience than you at teaching students, even if he has been out of it for a while. Take on board his advice, by the sound of it he is not trying to ridicule you, but to tell you what you are doing wrong. I once knew an instructor who was happy all the time and nice to fly with, but he wouldn't tell students if they had done something wrong because he was worried about offending them. Consequently, the students struggled through their training, and had to pay for extra flights. Can you see the point I'm trying to make here?

ProfChrisReed

18th Jan 2009, 17:43

It really is important to be told if you are giving a boring presentation. Others have already explained why - if it's boring, your audience won't take it in. Thus all your effort in giving the presentation will have been wasted.

What you need is help on making it interesting. I write from nearly 30 years experience in university teaching, including critiquing colleagues, and can say that there are no definitive techniques for making a good presentation. There are, however, a few ways you can approach the presentation which will help.

1. Never, never, read something off the slide. Your audience can read, and has already read the words (they read the entire slide the moment it appears). Audiences feel insulted by this - many times, I've heard the comment "There was no point in coming, I could just have read the slides." What you need to do is explain the point in different words, making sure you add to what's on the slide.

2. Use as few slides as possible. I might use only 12-15 for a two-hour lecture, though more would probably needed for aviation teaching. Decorate them with pictures and diagrams - these are better than words, and fit well with aviation (I teach law, so pictures are harder to fit in, but it's worth trying).

3. Don't read from notes. This is as bad as reading from slides. In the old days before Powerpoint I'd hear an audience say "Why did we bother coming, he/she could just have photocopied the notes for us to read".

4. Be interested in the subject. If you're interested in it, ideally passionate about it, then this comes over to the audience. Student comments on good lecturers always note their passion about what they're teaching. If it's dull but you have to teach it, find something about it which interests you and present it from that perspective. For example, if you find Symptoms of the Stall (to take an example from gliding instruction) dull, then think what's interesting about it. One approach might be to say: ""What happens if you stall? A: the aircraft sinks rapidly (plus other stuff) and a crash might happen. Q. Are you interested in not crashing for this reason? A: you bet! Q. OK then, what might give us a clue that a stall is creeping up on us? A: [Symptoms of the Stall]".

5. Approach the class from the audience's perspective, not your own. Your question should be "What does the student need to know?", not "What do I want to teach the student". If you analyse what the student needs to know, then this helps you decide what order to teach the information and how to present it. One route in to a student-focused approach is to teach via semi-rhetorical questions (i.e. you ask the question, being prepared to answer it if no-one knows). For example, "Q. What happens if we adopt a nose high attitude? A: we slow down. Q. If we didn't notice we were nose high, are there any other clues that we're slowing down? A: ASI reading, plus it gets quieter. Q. Why does it get quieter? A; Because the air is going past more slowly. Q: And what happens if the airflow over the wing is too slow? A: We stall - ah, got it!"

Of these, 4 and 5 are the most important. All good teachers do them in different ways, but all good teachers do them.

Hope this helps.