CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 7

CFI's corner

Are you listening?

BY ROB MIXON
You both have a solid understanding now of what was said and how it was received. Based upon this most recent communication you now have a foundation of how subsequent instruction might be accomplished. We often make judgments that interfere with listening. Some of the things we may be doing are evaluating: “She is stupid!,” or analyzing: “She is insecure and cowardly,” or explaining why the student is trying to compensate: “Perhaps he was an abused child!” All of these judgments get in the way of communicating and the skill of listening. Let’s review what we have explored pertaining to the art of listening: Before solving the problem make sure to have listened ﬁrst to understand the problem or situation. Don’t assume to know the question or answer without listening to the sender’s conclusion. Use reﬂective listening to understand the student’s message. If you are incorrect in your “reﬂection” they will let you know! Don’t let evaluating, analyzing, or explaining get in the way of the most important part of communication—listening! Rob Mixon has 20,000 hours of ﬂight time. He was FSDO Miami’s CFI of the Year. Rob is available, at no charge, for CFIs who are in need of coaching with difﬁcult student problems. Rob may be reached at www.betterpilot.com.

IN THE COCKPIT environment of an airliner the procedures for communication are simple. A verbal challenge and response is used. This is usually observed in the use of checklists as they are read by one crew member and veriﬁed by another. When Air Trafﬁc Control is involved, again a commandresponse style of communication assures the controller and pilot they are on the same page. Once instructions are repeated it conﬁrms the receiver of the information was not just hearing what was said, but actually listening! Most people do not differentiate between the two. The perceived authority and credibility of the sender are important factors in inﬂuencing how much attention the message WHEN WE TRULY LISTEN will receive. TO WHAT THE PERSON As ﬂight instrucIS SAYING, WE AVOID tors we feel that OPERATING ON AN part of our work is ASSUMPTION OF WHAT to properly advise THE PERSON IS THINKING our students. We put AND SAYING. ourselves in the role of problem solver. While seeking the right advice we sometimes don’t hear what is most important to our student. In our search we may overlook the student’s feelings and emotions. We may be busy concentrating on and reviewing what we want to say next, which detract from our ability to listen to the student. One of the reasons that listening is the most important part of communication is that we’re paying attention instead of mind-reading. When we truly listen to what the person is saying we avoid operating on an assumption of what the person is thinking and saying. Like the cockpit challenge/response form of communication you may want to use reﬂective listening with your student to verify that you both understand what has been communicated. Reﬂective listening is less formal than the challenge/response form of communication. When the student makes an evaluation or statement, reﬂect back what your student has said in your own words. That conﬁrms you both understand what was said. For example: Student: “I am not sure what to do with the rudder pedals when the airplane swerves on takeoff.” Instructor: “You feel like you are over or under controlling the rudder pedals during takeoff?”

Did you know?
AOPA's Flight Training Excellence Awards
AOPA’s Flight Training Excellence awards—brought to you by Flight Training magazine—will be given annually to flight schools and independent flight training providers who deliver an exceptional flight training experience through educational quality, customer focus, community, and information sharing, and put those practices to work every day. If you are aware of a flight school or independent training professional that’s doing an outstanding job of supporting student pilots and helping them succeed, please complete the online award nomination and encourage your fellow pilots and student pilots to do the same (http://flighttraining. aopa.org/awards).

www.airsafetyinstitute.org | 7

http://www.betterpilot.com http://flighttraining.aopa.org/awards http://flighttraining.aopa.org/awards http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org

CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 3, Issue 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 3, Issue 1