To The Instructor:

This instructor book should be used as a tool to transfer Electrical Power knowledge to the trainees at the Briggs and Stratton facility.

The instructor should be competent in the concepts which are presented in this book and be prepared to add additional information when necessary which would assist in the goal of preparing maintenance personnel to perform above expectations.  This book should have a lasting impact on maintenance safety, quality, and performance.

The instructor should be aware that although all people were created equally, not all people learn in the same manner.  The instructor should give a conscious effort to improve the trainee's electrical skills as much as this book will allow. 

Traits Expected in Professional Instructors:

All instructors are expected to behave and perform in a professional manner.  Professionalism has many aspects, but a few basic and pertinent definitions are as follows:

• Professionalism exists only when a service is performed for someone, or for the common good.
• Professionalism is achieved only after extended training and preparation.
• True performance as a professional is based on study and research.
• Professionalism presupposes an intellectual requirement.  Professionals must be able to reason logically and accurately.
• Professionalism requires the ability to make good judgmental decisions.  Professionals cannot limit their actions and decisions to standard patterns and practice.
• Professionalism demands a code of ethics.  Professionals must be true to themselves and the ideals of their occupation and to those they serve.  Anything less than a sincere performance is quickly detected, and immediately destroys their effectiveness.

Below are some of the basic traits of a professional instructor:

Sincerity:  The professional instructor is straightforward and honest.  Attempting to hide some inadequacy behind a smokescreen of unrelated instruction will make it impossible to command the interest and attention of the trainees.

Acceptance of the Trainee:  The professional instructor accepts trainees as they are, with all their faults and all their problems.  The trainee is a person who wants to learn and the instructor is a person who is available to help in the learning process.

Personal Appearance and Habits:  Personal appearance has an important effect on the professional image of the instructor.  This does not mean that instructors should assume an attire foreign to the actual employment environment or one that would prove unsafe.

Demeanor:  The attitude and movements of the instructor can contribute much to a professional image.  The good instructor avoids erratic movements, distracting speech habits, and capricious changes in mood.  The professional image requires development of a calm, thoughtful, and disciplined, but not somber, demeanor.

Safety Practices and Accident Prevention:  The safety habits of the instructor, both during instruction and as observed by trainees when conducting demonstrations or when working in the classroom, have a vital effect on safety.

Proper and Correct Language:  The professional instructor avoids the use of profanity and obscene language.  The professional instructor also uses the English language correctly.  The use of profanity or poor English leads to distrust or, at best, to a lack of complete confidence by the trainees.

Self-Improvement:  Professional instructors never become complacent or satisfied with their own qualifications and abilities.  They are constantly active and alert for ways to improve their qualifications, effectiveness, and the services they provide to trainees.

Adequate Instruction:  The professional instructor attempts to carefully and correctly analyze the personality, the thinking, and the ability of each trainee.  Since no two trainees are alike, the same methods of instruction cannot be equally effective for all trainees.

Adequate Standards of Performance:  Business and industry demands adequate performance as a condition of continued employment.  Professional instructors continually evaluate their own effectiveness and the standard of learning achieved by the trainees.  The desire to maintain pleasant personal relationships with the trainees must not cause the acceptance of a low level of learning or performance.

Positive Emphasis:  Instructors have a tremendous influence on their trainees' image of education and the occupation that is being taught.  The way instructors conduct themselves, the attitudes they display, and the manner in which they develop their instruction all contribute to the formation of either positive or negative impressions by their trainees. 

Reference:

Bott, Paul A.  Teaching Your Occupation to Others.