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. We tell, we show, but we rarely teach—and in failing to do so, we do our students a disservice. This mistake is detrimental to both students and the aviation industry.
Join veteran flight instructor and educator Mike Thompson as he applies the principles of educational psychology from the FAA-H-8083-9A Aviation Instructor's Handbook to the art and science of teaching.
The following books are not required for WINGS credit, to get the most from this course they will be very helpful.
Mike's book Telling is Not Teaching available on Amazon HERE
Mike Thompson has been a CFII since 1979. During eight years with the US Coast Guard, he crewed fixed-wing planes and helicopters conducting flight instruction part-time.
After active duty, Thompson completed his master's degree in education while teaching airframe and power-plant mechanics for the Wisconsin Technical College System. Thompson went on to spend eight years as an instructional-design consultant and worked on projects in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Kuwait.
He then moved into college administration holding director, assistant dean, and dean positions. He retired in 2013 and continues to teach and fly as a flight instructor out of New Smyrna Beach, Florida.
Mike is the author of "Telling Is Not Teaching" The Flight Instructors Handbook which is available via Amazon and this link - http://a.co/ah8FGW6
Robert "Bob" Meder completed his initial flight training in 1995 and earned his CFI in 2006. He went on to add single-engine and multi-engine instrument certificates. Recently he retired from a 40+ year career at a major railroad as the Director of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). While in this position, he worked directly with the FAA on regulatory issues for Drones and critical infrastructure companies. During this time, he continued to instruct.
Bob has over 6,000 hours of dual instruction and enjoys training new flight instructors, challenging them to recognize the distinction between skill and critical thinking. He emphasizes that superior risk management, not just skill, is the key to safe flight training. He is a FAASTeam Lead Rep at the St Louis FSDO and was honored as the district and regional flight instructor of the year in 2009 and 2010. After nearly ten years as chair, Bob currently serves as Chair Emeritus on the NAFI board of directors.
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