Should there be a "Rate My Flight Instructor". com website?

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A321
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Should there be a "Rate My Flight Instructor". com website?

Post by A321 »

Wished I had had some inside information on who the best flight instructors were in my area when I learned to fly at 19. Did my private pilot licence with an older gentleman who was a part time Flight Instructor and a family acquaintance. (Probably more a "Grandmotherly" instructor than "Hot Dog" instructor). Unfortunately, when I did my PPL pretest at the minimum time with a young "Hot Dog" instructor... he found I wasn't ready for the PPL Flight Test at all as quite a bit of the curriculum wasn't covered with my older part-time Flight Instructor! That cost me another 8 hours of Flight Training with the "Hot Dog" before my PPL Flight Test just to get up to snuff.

I decided to change it up for my CPL and enlisted the only female Class 1 instructor on site as she seemed to have a calm relaxed vibe in the aircraft when she did my PPL pre solo flight and didn't turn into Capt Bligh once at the controls of C152! Again, I found problems with this instructor as her Class 1 rating had definitely taken its toll.. she spent most of the time in the aircraft looking out the window at the ground. Finally, after having my flight test for my CPL with the CFI, I could see this guy was a teacher, who was thorough and interested in his students.... he was my future instructor for my multi/IFR and instructor rating and provided great value for the money!.

Ergo, should a "Rate My Flight Instructor". com site be available to help make informed decisions when looking for those great flight instructors who are truly passionate about their work! Like any "Rate My Doctor".com site... you have to sift through all the comments be they good, bad or indifferent and make a decision for yourself. Going into a Flight School blindly, without good word of mouth on a Flight Instructor or even positive online reviews can end up costing students...IMHO.
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youhavecontrol
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Re: Should there be a "Rate My Flight Instructor". com website?

Post by youhavecontrol »

I'm no lawyer, but I imagine there might be some privacy issues with that. Most websites that rate a service rate the company and not exactly the individual. A doctor is a bit different, because they run a practice under their name. Also, I doubt the site would stay relevant for long, as most instructors I know teach for about a year or two before moving on to something else. Instructor/student relations can be so variable depending on the two personalities. I get along really well with most of my students and have gained a reputation, thankfully, where students will often ask to fly with me specifically... but having said that, I still get that ONE student every so often that just clashes with my personality for whatever reason. Not my fault or his fault... we're just different.

The problem with rating systems is often the people doing the rating are not objective, and often speak out of ignorance. For example... if you ever want a good laugh, you should read the one star ratings for national parks.
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TT1900
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Re: Should there be a "Rate My Flight Instructor". com website?

Post by TT1900 »

youhavecontrol wrote: Sun Sep 09, 2018 3:20 am The problem with rating systems is often the people doing the rating are not objective, and often speak out of ignorance. For example... if you ever want a good laugh, you should read the one star ratings for national parks.
This. How can a student objectively assess the performance of an instructor? Even if they have flown with several instructors and can rate one performance against the others, a lot will come down to personality and which techniques the student preferred.

It’s the job of the CFI at the school to ensure the instructors perform to a standard. If a student feels their instruction is lacking they should speak to their instructor and the CFI.
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pianokeys
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Re: Should there be a "Rate My Flight Instructor". com website?

Post by pianokeys »

No.


Why?
youhavecontrol wrote: Sun Sep 09, 2018 3:20 amAlso, I doubt the site would stay relevant for long, as most instructors I know teach for about a year or two before moving on to something else.
Flight schools are meat factories for instructors. In and out.
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digits_
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Re: Should there be a "Rate My Flight Instructor". com website?

Post by digits_ »

Only if we can have a "rate my student" website as well.
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Schooner69A
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Re: Should there be a "Rate My Flight Instructor". com website?

Post by Schooner69A »

Hmmmmmm…… A Grade 1 student rating a class room teacher. What could possible go wrong...?

Others have mentioned the pitfalls; I won't reiterate.

Ever read those "Testimonials" on the various hotel booking sites? What's one person's stay in hell is another person's week in paradise.
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photofly
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Re: Should there be a "Rate My Flight Instructor". com website?

Post by photofly »

I'm game, as long as instructors get to rate students on the same site, and that rating follows the student indelibly through their full employment history. If we're going to do feedback, let's do it 360°, as is the fashion these days.

EDIT: I see digits_ got there before me. Count me as a +1 to what he said.
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DanWEC
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Re: Should there be a "Rate My Flight Instructor". com website?

Post by DanWEC »

Doesn't sound like a terrible idea, we've had "ratemyteacher" for almost 20 years now.

The issue with reviews is participation bias. A person is 11 times more likely to leave a negative review or tell friends about a negative experience than a positive one.

Compound that with statistically the longer you teach for the more complete and utter donuts you'll see, guys that will blame their problems on everything but their own work ethic, and you'll have a negative slant.

In my previous career I'd usually encourage staff and clients to offset the bias by employing an incentive program to garner positive reviews, but then all you're doing is playing a game, negating the value of the reviews.

That being said, I really enjoyed 95% of my students and I'm confident enough to say it was (hopefully!) mutual, but there were only a couple over a few years that were total oven mitts. They'd be the ones to complain after I stopped putting in 2 or 3 hours of my own time for every paid one to try to drag them up despite their best efforts to the contrary.

Bottom line, not a bad idea, but most reviews online are complete bullshit anyways.

Ps, I like Digits and Photofly's idea. Can we do it retroactively? :)
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clairvoyant
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Re: Should there be a "Rate My Flight Instructor". com website?

Post by clairvoyant »

Perhaps we need to mention the flight schools too while we are at this topic. They are usually "enablers" or "disablers" on good or bad behaviors.
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Flitey
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Re: Should there be a "Rate My Flight Instructor". com website?

Post by Flitey »

There are very few career instructors these days, so that may not end up being very helpful.
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