EASA Aviation Trainers Learning Path Considerations

EASA Aviation Trainers Learning Path Considerations

Sofema Online (SOL) www.sofemaonline.com considers the key aspects of an Aviation Instructors Learning Path.

Introduction

Please Lets have a clear understanding here because it is important to understand that a 5 day Train the Trainer course does not “Deliver” us as a trainer and clearly we would be naïve if we were to believe this to be so.

So we are on a Journey of Discovery – How to become Strong & Effective Instructors, Trainers & Mentors?

So our journey is part of a systematic process of building soft skills and competence across a range of topics which support the organization.

Developing your our own “Internal” EASA regulatory compliant  training  to meet the needs of your organization is a viable and potentially very cost effective solution to managing your training needs.

Consider the following terms:

Teacher - Teacher is the general term for someone whose job it is to teach. A teacher has the responsibility of providing instruction and guidance in a set of standards that have been created by some sort of governing body. This is normally apply to children’s education

Tutor - We sometimes use the word tutor instead of teacher to describe somebody who gives personal or private lessons. Tutors provide assistance to some individual that hires them for assistance (observations and suggestions) in some subject the student is struggling in. 

Consider the following terms:

Lecturer - A lecturer is someone who provides a lecture or formal presentation on a subject where typically the lecturer may be considered an expert.

Instructor - an instructor teaches you on how to learn or improve in a particular skill or subject (for example Knowledge or Practical experience Instructor)

Mentor - It is a partnership between two people (mentor and mentee) normally working in a similar field or sharing similar experiences.

Trainer -  A trainer can be someone who trains people for a particular job or profession

Learning Facilitator - A facilitator of learning, therefore, is a teacher who does not operate under the traditional concept of teaching, but rather is meant to guide and assist students in learning for themselves - picking apart ideas, forming their own thoughts about them, and owning material through self-exploration and dialogue.

Trainers vs Facilitators

Think about it this way: Trainers tend to focus on the subject matter. Facilitators focus on both the subject matter and the process and how it should be taught from a learner-centred perspective.

Trainers often have more knowledge than the learner, have a pre-prepared agenda, hold a clear path to be followed, use exercises to enable the learners to connect with the content and grow their knowledge.  There may be a test to check understanding

A facilitator is not a content or knowledge expert, they hold the space for the group to evolve and grow through a topic or question they are examining.  

A facilitator will know how to move a group through the decision-making processes, will enable problem solving and intervene when appropriate.

Advantages :

Trainers do not have to be full time they can be successfully employed within the production environment.

Trainers are available for new staff and can deliver training at relatively short notice

Flexibility can be built into the program to support the development of competence management and oversight in accordance with the various organisational and regulatory requirements

Disadvantages:

The program should be managed by a competent person who has a thorough understanding of all issues (For example the Quality Manager)

The competence of the instructors must also be ensured and managed (this is key to the success of the program as a weak instructor will deliver weak training which will undervalue and undermine the program)

It should be taken for granted that there is a prerequisite knowledge of the underlying subject with which you intend to become your organization’s “Trainer.”

For example it is not possible to take a person with little or no relevant experience and to make this person the Safety Management System Trainer (even it could be considered an organizational risk exposure to believe this is possible)

It would not be mentioned other than on a number of occasion the author was asked “if I do the SMS TTT course can I deliver SMS  Training” and the truth is it depends very much on your background knowledge – ready to instruct YES or No !

The following are typical attributes of an Aviation

Trainer :

1/ Have a genuine desire to want to share knowledge in a practical way – if you do not enjoy standing up in front of a group to enthuse and motivate people it is unlikely that you will ever become an effective trainer – It should be a pleasure not a chore; !

2/ Have a strong aviation background;

3/ Attend several courses (or be extremely familiar with the subject matter)

4/ have an inquisitive mind and a desire to understand and investigate root causes and how these are impacted by human behaviour;

SAS has been running the TTT course program since 2009 and many of the delegates are now regularly delivering training courses successfully in their respective organization’s

So in conclusion the TTT course is not for everyone, It is for knowledgeable persons who are looking to hone there teaching skills and understand the challenges of successfully communicating with an adult audience.

As with all dedicated activities in our industry the key words is competence, competence in oversight and competence in delivery.

Next Steps

Please visit www.sassofia.com and www.sofemaonline.com – to register for a program enroll through the website or email team@sassofia.com with any questions, comments or observations.