As a teacher and student I have always found it useful to study how people learn in different areas. Pilots are a good example because unlike most skills it can be life or death. If teaching guitar was akin to flying it would be somewhat like knowing that if one of your students failed it would be potentially fatal for both you and your students. While obviously not that serious being able to produce successful students is the goal of every guitar teacher so its worthwhile looking at the pilot's training manual. What I noticed immediately was pilots used simulators. This allowed them to gain valuable experience without putting lives at risk. When they had gained enough simulated experience they could begin to fly real planes with the assistance of an instructor. Guitar teachers I realised rarely if ever did simulations of any kind. Ironically they would practice guitar for hours every day but would never rehearse their teaching. They would simply learn on the job but the problem with this is it doesn't allow you to hit the pause button and analyse the situation. Pilots will practice a manoeuvre on a simulator over and over again. Taking off could be compared to conducting a first lesson. Practicing what to do and say will ensure a smooth delivery. I began holding weekly sessions with teachers going through simulations and the performance of those teachers dramatically improved. They lost far less students and their confidence as teachers increased dramatically. Aviation is just one example. As teachers we should always be scanning successful industries to see how they get results.
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