I’m sure you’ve heard the famous saying “Those that can…do. Those that can’t do…teach”. Like most catchy sayings it’s often true, but not always. The reality - as with most things - is more nuanced, it can’t be summarised in a sentence or social media meme.
I’ve had some great teachers, but the majority were terrible. My best teachers always had real world experience of the subject; due to this, their understanding and knowledge of the subject far exceeded the lessons they taught. They could also recite practical examples and tell stories, which made it interesting!
My worst teachers didn’t, they had been taught a training syllabus, and nothing more. They had no real world experience so their knowledge was in-line with the lessons they were expected to teach. The result…the lessons were boring and when questioned on anything outside of the syllabus they didn’t know the answer. They lacked confidence, and rightly so…they barely knew what they were talking about!
Weirdly, their fashion sense seemed to be as bland as their teaching techniques.
The military has a great solution to this…most military instructors take a career break to work for a 3-4 year stint in a training environment. They already have plenty of real world experience so they only need to be up-skilled on effective ways to teach. They also have a vested interest in staying current. Once their training posting comes to an end they’re sent back out to operational units and expected to do their job in some of the most dangerous places on the plant.
In the words of Cilla Black…Surprise surprise, the vast majority of my best teachers were military instructors.
Military instructors need to deliver a training course in the most efficient way possible. Training is an overhead to the military, it’s not revenue generating like a conventional college or university. So there’s no incentive to drag it out, there’s no bullshit, it’s straight to the point. The ‘wham, bam, thank you mam’ approach…but it works!
It’s for this reason it's taken me so long to write, record and deliver the Introduction-to-Rolling Stock Course. The knowledge base I’ve built over the last 15 years far exceeds that of the training syllabus. I have a considerable amount of first-hand knowledge, real world experience of the industry and know exactly what it feels like to leave the military bubble behind in search of something new.
Do I know everything about everything? Certainly not! I’m still learning. However, do I know enough to introduce someone who already has a good foundational technical background to the railway? Yes, and then some!
So back to the saying…I still work day-to-day in the world of rolling stock engineering. As I write this, my current projects involve carrying out technical reviews & approval of modifications being made to train fleets and conducting on-site testing/inspections of a brand new safety critical system being introduced onto trains.
Most days I learn something new…this keeps me current and is one of the reasons I know what I’m talking about. When I’m parting with my money for training I want to know the credentials of the person standing at the front of the classroom. If the answer is “they’re a great teacher” my next question is “What real-world experience do they have of the subjects they will be teaching me?” and “When did they last do the job?” If the answer is they haven’t done the job for a decade or so...or ever! I’d expect the level of training to be fairly poor and would look elsewhere.
In my opinion, those who can…do. Those that can’t do...teach. There's probably a few exceptions, but I'm yet to see it.
If you’re leaving the forces and thinking about a job in the railway please get in touch with me, I’m more than happy to answer any of your questions. Just send me a direct message on LinkedIn.
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