Flight Training - April 2015 - 49

INSTRUCTOR REPORT

Resistance training

Dealing with frustrated or unwilling students
» By Rod Machado

SOME STUDENTS YOU never forget,
but not necessarily because they
were great students. While I've
been fortunate to experience very
few of these individuals, one CFII
student from the late 1970s comes
to mind. We'll call him "Nope
Man." He was a nice enough fellow,
but put him in an airplane and he'd
argue, disagree, and make excuse
after excuse-all without sufficient
reason for doing so.
During one flight his recalcitrance peaked. While the specifics
are difficult to recall, I remember
him arguing about an approach
technique I'd suggested. Finally,
my frustration peaked and I said
to him, "Excuse me. I don't mean
to be confrontational here, but you
seem to argue with me about every
point I make."
He replied, "No, I don't."
OK, that was it. When we
reached the flight line and exited
the airplane, I said, "Look, I'm
losing my enthusiasm for having
you as a student-and here's why." I
then explained it to him in my best
Dr. Phil voice. Instantly, he went
from being a person who could rub
an entire continent the wrong way
to one of the nicest fellows on the
field. Then he apologized for his
behavior. I accepted his apology,
and our training experience was
pleasant after that.
Did you catch the immediate
reversal of Nope Man's attitude
when I hinted that I might not fly
with him anymore? I'll explain
why this happened shortly. In the
meantime, let's examine why some
students-typically post-private
pilot students-demonstrate
resistance to flight training and
look at a few ways to cope with this
behavior.

One common reason that students
might resist their training involves
difficulties or challenges they may
experience at home or on the job. By
default (and proximity), the flight
instructor can become the whipping post for student frustration.
In these situations, it's relatively
easy to pinpoint the reason for your
student's emotional disposition by
asking a simple and direct question:
It appears you're frustrated. Is there
a reason why? Mature instructors
understand that life is sometimes
messy, and people occasionally
become frustrated. At least you now
know that you aren't the cause of
your student's frustration.
Then there are students who take
flying lessons without any desire
to do so. Yep, it's true. I've had a
few reluctant students who signed
up for lessons only because their
pilot-spouse insisted on it. These
students can be passively resistant
in the sense that they'll tell you
they can't learn slow flight, stalls, or
landings. Then they'll try to prove
it to you by resisting every attempt
you make to teach them these skills.
When I suspect I have this type
of unwilling student, I ask the
pilot-spouse to give me the reason
for having the nonpilot spouse take
lessons. Often, the objective is to
increase cockpit safety by having
someone on board who can land the
airplane in case of pilot incapacitation. If this is the reason, as it often
is, I offer to focus the training on
teaching the nonpilot spouse to
land an airplane (or accomplish
whatever objective is mentioned
by the flying spouse). This strategy
often makes everyone happy.
Finally, there's the case of Nope
Man-the ultimate, über-resistant
student who could cause Dr. Phil

to lose what little hair he has left.
While I can't possibly list all the
possible reasons for Nope Man's
behavior, here's an effective strategy for dealing with this type of
individual.
In its most basic form, the type
of resistance offered by Nope Man
is nothing more than bullying.
It's an abuse of power-however
mild, slight, or innocent it appears.
Ultimately, the most effective way
to deal with a bully is to call him
out. No, I'm not speaking of going
all kung-fu on your student. I'm
only saying that you have to let this

MATURE INSTRUCTORS
UNDERSTAND THAT
LIFE IS SOMETIMES
MESSY, AND PEOPLE
OCCASIONALLY
BECOME FRUSTRATED.
student know there's a price to be
paid for his behavior, and this price
might be your diminishing enthusiasm for training him. The threat of
being rejected by a respected member of his aviation clan (that's you)
is a powerful behavior modifier. Of
course, you have to be willing-and
able-to cease flying with him if his
behavior doesn't improve.
If you're lucky, you'll never
experience a student who resists
the training you offer. Train enough
people, however, and the law of
averages says that your luck eventually will run out. Hopefully these
strategies will help you cope with
Nope Man, or with individuals having similar dispositions.
Rod Machado is a flight instructor,
author, educator, and speaker.
Check out his CFI affiliate program (www.
rodmachado.com).

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