Telling Is Not Teaching: The Flight Instructor's Handbook

by Mike Thompson

Certified flight instructors are rarely educators. Many see instruction as a stepping-stone to the next level of their flight careers and assume that merely telling is the equivalent of teaching.

This mistake is detrimental to both students and the aviation industry. Telling a student something has no bearing on actual learning. True teaching requires a much deeper level of communication.

Veteran flight instructor and educator Mike Thompson applies principles of educational psychology to the FAA-H-8083-9A Aviation Instructor’s Handbook. Using simple, down-to-earth language, Thompson examines how to enable genuine teaching by developing the student-instructor relationship.

Teaching is a human endeavor requiring an investment from student and instructor alike. Initially, it takes time to build a relationship with students, but once it’s established, rates of engagement and retention increase. True learning is then achieved.

Despite advances in educational technology, the human brain continues to learn as it always has. Thompson applies his knowledge of how people really learn and how to build effective student-teacher relationships to provide flight instructors with skills they can use to encourage deep and advanced learning.

While primarily aimed at the aviation industry, Thompson’s no-nonsense discussion of teaching and educational psychology is applicable in any instructional arena.

Genres: Aviation

96 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 22, 2017

Reviews

[Amyiw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a Math teacher so most of this was not new. Not everyone makes good teachers because they are not thinking of the student and how they take in information. You have to make sure that the information is understood and not blame the student for not "understanding" you. I'm not sure that this particularly helps me but it might help current or soon to be CFIs think more about their students learning rather than their own hours.

[Karalynn Shade · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a good reminder of the main concepts from the Aviation Instructor’s Handbook, but I don’t think it was worth the $25. Now that I have it, though, I’ll definitely use it as a quick reference as I instruct my students.

[Augusto Tijerina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clean and concise.

[JB · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for new instructor applicants.

This follow along book pairs with the current Aviation Instructor's Handbook. It helps deepen the understanding of each chapter of the handbook and how it relates to real teaching; better than the FAA could ever can.

Each chapter is about 10 to 15 pages long. The information is condensed in a down to earth reading so it only says what is important and cuts out any information that is not needed, making it an easy read.

After reading the book, you should have a good understanding of how to take the information in the FAA's handbook and apply it in the real world.