Good aviation education is not a process of standardizing *people* but *procedures*. It is critical to remember that every person walking in the door to learn to fly is a unique individual and there are many pathways to achieve the necessary skill, knowledge and judgment we need to be safe. 
Teaching to an “average learner” is a huge mistake, often caused by lack of imagination and laziness (we all get jaded after a couple thousand hours…), but standardization of everything is also how our human brain works. We process our diverse sensory input by stereotyping (predictive perception). But to be an effective educator we need to force ourselves to see and appreciate the unique differences in every learner. This requires effort and imagination every day to succeed. Our build-in impulse to “teach average” is a huge reason for our 80% drop out rate in aviation. This happens in all our educational pursuits. High schools lose 1.2 million people every year (sound familiar?) Of these high school dropouts, 4% are known to be “intellectually gifted!”
Todd Rose was a high school drop out and eventually went on to be a Harvard professor. His Ted Talk uses the original Air Force human factors adaptability studies of Gilbert Daniels. He rated pilots on 10 dimensions and discover “there is no such thing as an average pilot.” I think every aviation educator should watch this important Ted talk:
I hope this inspires a new way to think of your everyday educational challenges. Create excitement and challenge in your daily instructional life! Fly safely out there (and often)!
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Thanks David! This is simply excellent. Every instructor should watch and learn. Every student should share this with his or her instructor.