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4 Answers

How strict should a CFI be?

Asked by: 3919 views Flight Instructor, Instrument Rating

Hi guys, I'm a student pilot struggling to understand how a CFI should interact with his/her student. How strict should he be? In general, is there a certain amount of "abrasiveness" common to all CFI? I would like to hear all opinions on this.

 

Thanks!

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4 Answers



  1. John D. Collins on Mar 08, 2013

    Each instructor has a different teaching style. Abrasiveness is not normally an effective style and hinders learning. If the personality of the instructor clashes with your expectations, find a new instructor.

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  2. Jonathan Seitz on Mar 08, 2013

    Remember that you are paying the CFI, just like any other employee. If it’s not meshing well with you and them, find someone else.

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  3. Bill Trussell on Mar 08, 2013

    Each instructor needs to find what works with each of his/her students. Abrasiveness can sometimes be misinterpreted. Instructors are allowed to be frustrated with students that do not do what they are asked to do such as coming to a lesson prepared. They are human after all and they are giving up some of their career capital to help others.

    That said, there is no room in a cockpit for truely abrasive behavior. No one learns in that type of environment. Both the student and the instructor should find a way to get to the bottom of the cause of such behavior. The student is paying for the instructor’s time and is owed a lot of respect as a result. There are limits however. Not being prepared is waisting time and money ( just one example). Being abrasive in order to assert ones’s dominance in a situation is plain dumb, leads to less effective learning, and fewer students.

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  4. MaggotCFII on Mar 08, 2013

    All good comments above. Think about each of those for your situation.

    If a CFI is being abrasive, “tending to annoy or cause ill”, then
    learning can be effected to the point of no learning is taking place. Money is
    being wasted.

    I like to think that an instructor has many roles: Teacher – Leader – Captain – Counselor, to name a few.

    There isn’t any room for abrasiveness in these roles.

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