You probably know someone who dropped out of flight training. Just as the holes in the Swiss cheese lining up results in an aviation accident, there is a lot that has to line up and happen for a student pilot (learner) to complete their flight training.
In order to be successful, you need to have good study habits, intellectual and physical aptitude, an aircraft, the services of a competent instructor, suitable weather, the time to fly, and the money to pay for it. That’s an awful lot that has to come together. And there’s one more very important aspect—the learner must be ready to learn.
- READ MORE: It’s Important to Prepare for Your Flight Lessons
If the student has the opportunity and the aforementioned resources but isn’t learning, it can be frustrating to both the learner and CFI. It could be a bad match, or it may be because the learner’s basic needs are not being met. These are known as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and they are:
- Physiological needs: food, water, shelter, warmth, and sleep.
- Safety needs: security, stability, and protection from danger or harm.
- Social needs: belongingness and social interaction.
- Esteem needs: respect from others, achievement, and recognition.
- Self-actualization needs: the realization of one’s full potential.
Instructors are supposed to know about the needs, as they are part of the fundamentals of instruction. Although most CFIs are not therapists, we’re supposed to have the ability to identify when a learner is having a challenge that may be a result of one of these needs not being met.
A hungry student cannot learn or perform well. One of my best learners was an early morning flyer. One morning he flew absolutely horrible. He couldn’t hold altitude or heading, and he missed radio calls.
After we landed I asked if he wasn’t feeling well, or did I have to check the hangar for the seed pod because this wasn’t him. He somewhat sheepishly admitted he’d skipped breakfast that morning as he had overslept. He was sent to get something to eat. When he returned with a full belly, we went up again. This time he did much better. After that experience he learned to keep snacks in his gear bag and pay more attention to “E” (for eating) in the IMSAFE checklist.
If the student is tired or cold, learning will definitely not take place, but fortunately these issues have physical manifestations that are easy for a CFI to spot. The CFI can’t do anything about a tired learner—and please don’t try to mask fatigue with energy drinks or caffeine—but many instructors have a spare coat or jacket for a learner to borrow when they are cold.
Safety needs can be tricky. The learner has to be confident in the structural integrity of the airplane and the skill of the instructor. It is helpful if the instructor explains why the aircraft is encountering turbulence (thermals) and what they are doing as they demonstrate emergency procedures and tasks to the learner along with “why” they are being done.
If the learner’s personal safety away from the airport is in question—for example, they are worried about paying rent or having enough money for school, or they’ve had their security uprooted by an event such as having their car stolen—expect a hiccup in learning.
Social needs can be easily addressed by a flight school making the learners feel welcome as people, not just bank accounts. Greeting the learners by name and having social events like Saturday morning coffee and donuts goes a long way.
Esteem needs can be met by celebrating the learner’s successes such as first solo and other milestones like their first solo cross-county. Social media is great for this, and many flight schools have a “celebration” wall or whiteboard where the most recent solos and check-ride passes are recorded for all to see.
CFIs can bolster the learner’s esteem by carefully applied praise. Learners will make mistakes—that’s part of learning. The CFI needs to explain or show the learner how to correct the mistakes, then insist they follow proper and correct procedures so they don’t make them again. It does no good to tell a learner they are doing well when in reality they aren’t even close to meeting the Airman Certification Standards (ACS). Also “you did pretty good” is not a debrief.
When the CFI offers a critique of the learner’s performance, it should be done carefully and thoughtfully because the idea is to improve performance. Some learners, especially those raised in a culture of participation trophies, can be extremely sensitive to criticism and will take a critique as a personal attack. It is important that the CFI stress that it isn’t an attack, but rather an assessment of where the learner’s soft spots are, which is then followed with a plan for shoring up these areas. It’s a good idea for the CFI to refer to the ACS as the metric for “good performance.”
A good method for the debrief/critique is to start with something the learner did well, followed by something that needs improvement and how this will be accomplished, then a return to something the learner did well, and the expectations for the next lesson.
When these needs are met, self-actualization can happen and the learner is successful.
A good CFI will notice when the basic needs are not being met and will counsel the learner, because these distractions mitigate the student’s ability to learn. A simple question like, “You seem distracted by (insert issue). Do you think you have the bandwidth to fly?” brings the issue to the forefront.
If the learner is too distracted, it may be in their best interest to take a break from flying, but set a return date so failure to finish their training doesn’t become a regret.
