"Platoon" instructing versus dedicated...

On May 30, 10:13*am, "S. Murry" wrote:
On Wed, 30 May 2012 08:40:02 -0500, JC

wrote:

Juan Carlos, thanks for the input. *It's actually very interesting to
read. *I know some people that think that if we offered more "structured"
training (such as you appear to offer), that we'd have better outcomes in
terms of retention, etc.

*From your experience, it seems like this is not the case. *In other words,
even with a very well refined program like you have, and even with turning
away some students (the horror!), and even with psychological evaluations
of new students (jeez, we've got a few licensed members that I sometimes
think need a psyc evaluation ) you still lose a lot of members after
licensing.

Very good datapoint indeed. *It sort-of confirms my thinking, too,
although it's a bit depressing to think that the sport is just too much
commitment for most people. *It makes it tough to address the retention
problem since as you say fundamentally the sport is demanding, not much
you can do to change it.

--Stefan









Interesting thread..
The system we use at my club is almost the ideal system described by
Stefan. We split the students into groups of 3-5 per instructor and
they always fly the same day, usually every Saturday or Sunday morning
and sometimes there is a weekday group. They start together and stick
with the same instructor for the entire course, normally making two
flights per day. When they are about to solo or having difficulties we
often have them fly with another instructor to make sure we didn´t
miss something or for the student to get a different perspective.
Along with the normal ground instruction by the instructor, we have 5
or 6 Saturday evening classes for all of the students with
presentations by specialists on Aerodynamics, Flight Maneuvers, Ground
Operations, Meteorology, Safety, Airspace, Regulations, etc.
One of the instructors is a psychologist and he interviews all of the
applicants before they begin. This works very well for profiling the
students and finding the best match with the instructors and also as a
way to filter out the undesireable ones.
Intstructors don´t get paid but we get a free tow for every eight
instruction flights..

We are near a very large city so there is no shortage of applicants
and we don´t have enough instructors to take all of them. Usually we
turn out around 15-20 pilots per year but only a fraction of them are
still flying a year or two later. Getting them to stay is what we see
as the biggest problem. My opinion is that for many people the sport
just takes too much commitment.
It would be great if it was cheaper and simpler but then I guess it
wouldn´t be soaring..

Regards,

Juan Carlos

--
Stefan Murry

It should not be overlooked that students have a large degree of
control over their own training if they are proactive about it.
Students can almost write their own lesson plans. If they do this,
any instructor scheduling system will work for them.

The first question in instructors minds at the beginning of a session
is, "What does this guy need to work on?" If students speak up and
tell the instructor what concerns them, things go quicker. Students
can do this by reading the PTS and bringing areas which concern them
to the instructors attention. If students read the Glider Flying
Handbook and write questions in the margins for areas they don't feel
they understand completely helps too. I have never known an
instructor who won't take the time to explain or demonstrate.

Unfortunately, some students won't do any of this hoping somehow,
someday, they'll get a license. This puts a heavy workload on the
instructor and makes for a long, slow route to a license.

In an ideal world the student would be switched on and proactive in their training but glider clubs can be difficult to 'crack' as in feeling a real part of the scene and a feeling of belonging. In my experience that makes a real difference in the level of keenness from the student and along with social activities at the club can help bind them to the sport

At my club the instructors are rostered on and the students mostly fly with who ever is on duty. They are free to fly with any instructor by arrangement and some choose to do this. Here in New Zealand we have a structured syllabus that leads through to being a qualified glider pilot which goes some way to keeping good continuity between the different instructors.

http://www.gliding.co.nz/training/syllabus


One of the bigger problems I have seen in the last 8 years since my return to the sport is 'old worn out' instructors staying in the game for the free flying with students and trial flights. They only flew when someone else was paying and showed little interest in progressing the students through the syllabus. Fortunately for all concerned this has largely disappeared in the last couple of years. I would also like to be very clear that some of our 'old timers' are/were excellent instructors and with their years of experience are of great value to the club

Colin

http://www.glidingauckland.co.nz