ATEC Announces the ATEC Academy

Part 147 schools cite the availability of qualified instructors as a top challenge to growing their programs. Difficulty finding and retaining instructors is becoming more acute as technical workforce demand increases, and A&P schools are arguably hit the hardest when faced with industry competition (and associated salaries) for the same talent.

A new initiative aims to tackle the shortage of aviation instructors by aiding professionals transitioning to the classroom and addressing challenges schools have to retain new educators with minimal teaching experience. 

Faculty are hired each year at universities, community colleges and trade schools across the country.  Many instructors come straight from industry, landing on campus with limited or no prior experience in teaching.  Many institutions provide limited training or no orientation that focuses on teaching methodology and best practices in teaching. As a result, new instructors often lack the preparedness to teach and learn how to teach as they go.

To assist your recently appointed instructors to overcome challenges they’ll encounter in the classroom, ATEC has launched the ATEC Academy. The Academy’s inaugural professional development course will kick off the weekend prior to the ATEC Annual Conference in Tucson, Arizona, and then seamlessly transition to a virtual environment throughout the spring of 2024, culminating in a safe landing in June 2024.

This three-month course is designed to provide comprehensive training in active teaching strategies, student behavior management, assessment and evaluation methods, lesson planning, and current trends in higher education, with a specific focus on teaching technology. While the course was built with the new educator in mind, it can also be a resource for industry training personnel and seasoned instructors that want to learn new techniques or take information back to staff and colleagues.

Register early, seats are limited.

Get more information including a course outline at https://www.atec-amt.org/events/atec-academy1.