Definition
An organized, four-step method an instructor uses to guide a learner from not knowing a subject to performing it competently. The four steps are preparation, presentation, application, and assessment. Each step builds on the one before it, and skipping or shortchanging a step weakens the overall result.
Plain English
A four-step way of teaching: get ready, show the lesson, have the student try it, then check how well they did.
Context Anchor
Seen in the Aviation Instructor’s Handbook when describing how an instructor should conduct a lesson, whether on the ground or in the aircraft.
Derivation
From 'teach' (to show or instruct) and 'process' (a series of steps leading to a result). Together it signals that teaching is not a single act but a sequence of deliberate steps.
Why Pilots Care
Student pilots benefit when their instructor follows this sequence, and pilots who later become CFIs must use it themselves. Lessons that skip preparation or assessment tend to leave gaps that show up later as weak skills or failed checkrides.
Intuition Check
Do not read teaching process as simply “talking to the student.” In this FAA training context, it means the full sequence of preparing, presenting, letting the learner practice, and checking the result.
Example Sentence 1
The CFI followed the teaching process by first preparing the lesson plan, then presenting the maneuver, letting the student fly it, and finally reviewing how it went.
Example Sentence 2
After the application step of the teaching process, the student performed the procedure without assistance.