RNZAF Instructors

[Dave Homewood]

I know that the RNZAF has a special school for training pilots to become flying instructors, that school being the Central Flying School of the RNZAF.

But was/is there a special school, or a course at least, to train ground trade staff how to become instructors?

In my time in the RNZAF there were four different trade training schools for all the various ground trades, and every one of those schools had several instructors drawn from the trades that was being taught. Most of them were Sergeants or above with years of experience in the trade. But did those instructors undertake a special course to learn how to teach a class? Did the Education Officers perhaps provide that training to new instructors? or were they just expected to know the job so well and have the people skills to simply pick it up on the job?

Also while I think about it, does CFS train just pilot instructors, or do they also train those instructing in other aircrew roles? The Air Warfare Officers, Air Ordnance, Loadmasters, etc?

[shorty]

The course involved was called the Teachers Practice Course, I never did one but I think a component of it was done in conjunction with the local teachers training college.

[Dave Homewood]

Oh right. Thanks Shorty.

[phil]

There is now a tri service course delivered by the Defence College. When I did mine a few years ago it was a two week course called Foundation Instructor course. It goes part way towards getting the Level 4 Certificate in Adult Education.

There is also an advanced instructors course, but I was always too busy either teaching or designing courses to get on that one.

[camtech]

Way back in 1976, after I had been instructing for a while, I was sent on a Teaching Practise Course at Wigram. It lasted three weeks, and involved the theory and practice of teaching. As part of the course we had some civilian instructors as well as Mike Leahy, and we went into an Intermediate school to observe and talk to the staff.
About twenty years later, I did an Adult Teaching Certificate course, via Ministry of Civil Defence, with The Open Polytechnic. This course was a one week pressure cooker, with some pre-course work and the syllabus was almost identical to the air force course.
Generally, while attending a JNCO course, your ability as an instructor was assessed and noted for future reference.
There was also a Basic Instructional Techniques course, which lasted a week. Also did this as it involved 3M providing lots of free stuff for making OHP slides.