...until they figure out that what we are trying to teach them.
Mike,
I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never before heard it expressed this way, but I think you are exactly on point.
A few decades ago I was clearly a trainee in that position. I was lucky. I was given more opportunity (training/patience) than I probably deserved, and it made the difference. There
were other factors beyond any innate inability to get my brain around ATC… trainers who had no business trying to teach anybody anything, an atmosphere where humiliating and causing pain to the trainee was the accepted practice, and a bit of anger and resentment which flared in me and tended to blind me to the task at hand (a little catharsis today I guess…). But, there I was. What I find so interesting about this discussion is your observation about them (now that I’m an old-timer) trying to figure out what we’re trying to teach.
My question: is it them or is it us? I was just chatting last night with some firefighters about how ATC and firefighting still share this OJT approach, and the danger (mostly physical in firefighting (ie
death) but more mental/emotional in ATC) this poses to the trainee. I mean, the question of success turns, in large part, on the luck of the draw. Is the trainee paired with someone who can teach? Is the trainer able to remain comfortable, calm, and instructive when the pressure is on? The nature of these jobs means that trainees are stuck with the instructional talent which exists at a given facility, and honestly, there is quite some variety among facilities.
I guess what I’m getting at is that this isn’t like learning to fly, where you (in most cases anyway) have some choice in instructors and facilities. As a controller, you take what you are given, and I can say with certainty that I have seen developmentals wash out because their trainers simply could not train. Those folks are done. Gone. They can’t pack up and go somewhere else. Sadly, these trainees left ATC having never gotten their brains around what it was “we” were trying to teach them, and it was through no fault of their own. I’d hasten to add, however, that an inability to train doesn't mean the trainer is a bad controller, etc. Training is just something that fell into his or her lap out of necessity.
I expect that this post was pointed more toward training within a given facility, and I guess I’ve gone a bit off-subject. It’s just that that line hit me right in the middle of the forehead. Yup. Trainees fail sometimes because they don’t understand what we want, but if that’s our fault as trainers, we’re letting some valuable talent get away from us for no good reason. As it turned out, I eventually became the third-best air traffic controller in the world
(and the two that are better than me are just about to identify themselves on this thread!), so I KNOW that slow starters can sometimes do well if the facility can afford to put in the time.
Sometimes it’s them. Sometimes it’s us. When it’s us, that’s damned sad…
Dave