Flight Training - October 2014 - 49

INSTRUCTOR REPORT

Keep on steppin'

Small steps in learning lead to large jumps in skill

RECENTLY, I CAME across a famous
aphorism by Lao-Tzu in its original
Chinese form. Since I don't read
Chinese, I solicited a scholarly
body for a translation (in the body
of Mr. Wong at my local Chinese
restaurant). He made short work of
converting several ideograms into
an interpretable phrase that read,
"The journey of a thousand miles
begins beneath one's feet." You'll
probably recognize this in its more
colloquial form as, "The journey
of a thousand miles begins with a
single step."
Can you think of a more practical phrase that describes how
we learn? Every attempt to learn
anything, including any complex
behavior you can imagine, begins
with a beginning-a single step.
Learning anything-and I
do mean anything-is based on
the assembly of smaller, simpler behaviors into larger, more
complex ones. We start with what
we know (the known) and move
toward that which we don't know
(the unknown). If the step taken is
small enough, but not so small as
to be insignificant, the unknown
becomes known. Now we have a
new starting point from which to
repeat another small but significant
step in learning. Effective learning
is all about taking small steps, each
one within the student's ability to
achieve easily.
Unfortunately, as flight instructors, we often fail to promote the
value and the power of small steps
in flight training. Instead, we often
have our students focus primarily on where all those steps lead
(i.e., the private pilot certificate)
without reminding them of all the
smaller, more manageable steps
they'll take to get there.

For instance, one of the more
common reasons some individuals
avoid taking flying lessons
(or attempt to acquire new and
complex skills) is the magnitude
of the training that lies ahead of
them. Overwhelmed by complexity, they ask, "How will I ever get
through all those books?" or
"How will I ever acquire all the
skills needed to pass a practical
flight exam?"
When students express these
concerns, I ask them this question: What is the most complex
behavior you possess and how did
you acquire it? A person might be

take both classes on the same day;
otherwise, he might try to punch
the other dancers or waltz with his
adversary.
Your job as a flight instructor
is to keep your students focused
on the smaller steps they need to
take to move steadily toward their
long-term goal. Doing so helps keep
them motivated and prevents their
being overwhelmed by the enormous learning task ahead of them.
So have a talk with your students. Show them how small steps
in learning lead to large jumps in
skill development. Emphasize how
the first small step they'll take at

A SMALL BUT SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN BEHAVIOR OCCURS
WHEN THE UNKNOWN BECOMES KNOWN.
a master mechanic, a professional
bowler, or even a professional
sumo wrestler (which is like professional bowling except people
are used in place of pins). Each of
these individuals possess complex
skills that might appear difficult,
if not impossible, to obtain. When
viewed through the lens of stepby-step learning, they become
skills that are within the reach of
the average person to obtain.
Step-by-step learning is the
same strategy used by ballroom
dance instructors and martial arts
instructors to train their students.
Dance students are instructed to
follow the numbered feet painted
on the floor, and karate students
are shown how to execute highly
choreographed single-step kicks
and blocks to develop their skills.
Within a short time, all those
smaller, easily achieved steps combine to produce a beautiful dance
or a martial arts kata (defensive
dance). Hopefully, a student won't

learning anything moves them
from the known to the unknown.
A small but significant change
in behavior occurs when the
unknown becomes known. Make
sure they understand that the very
next step they'll take is based on
having acquired this small but still
significant change in behavior. This
renders the complexity or difficulty
of jumping from step two to step
three or even step seven to step
eight about the same (relatively
speaking) as the jump made from
step one to step two.
Finally, make sure they know
that if they look at the jump from
step one to step eight, the amount
of learning might appear complex
and intimidating-no one becomes
a Bruce Lee or a Fred Astaire in one
jump. But if your students keep on
steppin', they'll keep on learning.
Rod Machado is a flight instructor, author,
educator, and speaker.
Visit his blog (www.rodmachado.com).

OCTOBER 2014 FLIGHT TRAINING

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