Driver Training is entering a new era. Mahatma Gandhi said, when challenging the status quo:-
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win."
... Instructors! Time to wake up and smell the coffee ...
Experience drivers often say to learners, "First pass your test then learn to drive". But this implies the new driver must learn for themself after their test.
This is a dangerous strategy since the new driver is very much alone in a very demanding world and if this is when a person is supposed to "learn to drive" it's a very risky way to go about it! And guess what, statistics show new drivers are significantly more at risk of an accident in their first two years than any other group of drivers.
The stark reality is however, passing the test is only the beginning!! All the instruction before the test cannot prepare a person for every kind of situation they could meet afterwards. It gives a safe starting point but the rest is down to the individual! The new driver has little choice but to manage as best they can and learn from experience quickly! But does the new driver know how to do that? When were they taught to self‑learn? How can the new driver accellerate this self-learning? Do they just have to muddle through for a couple years and hope for the best? The good news is: No, they don't.
The driving instructor industry is buzzing with talk of Coaching and Client Centred Learning. But how does Coaching differ from the more "traditional" techniques of driving instruction? Here is a brief description why Coaching is igniting interest in driver training.
The heart of the issue with traditional driver training is it only requires learners to perform like trained monkeys. Safe driving however, is about judgement and making choices to a dynamic environment. Driving instructors should reflect on "what is safe driving?" Are you actually teaching it? I might argue you cannot teach judgement therefore cannot teach safe driving, you can only facilitate the learning process.
Traditional driver education is delivered in the familiar "teacher-student" relationship with instructors adopting an "expert" role and the learner the traditional "passive student" role. In this "power" relationship, information is delivered from the expert to the student and is generally 1-way. The learner is rarely encouraged to explore their own beliefs about driving before being given a "formula" the "expert" wants them to adopt. They simply "perform to order". MSM is a classic example of a learner performing a given "sequence" to pass the test but soon drops it when they are on their own! Ever wondered why?
Driving is more about choices than routines to be performed for a formal assessment. Drivers are constantly faced with making choices as they negotiate a world that is moving around them. The new driver has to observe what this moving world is doing and then consider their choice of response to it. This is the skill the learner really needs, if they are to tackle the challenges on our roads after their test. The new driver must be able to face a new situation and work out the right choice of response for themselves. If they can't do this, what are they to do when faced with a situation they haven't met before and there is no friendly driving instructor sitting next to them?
Coaching is a very powerful technique for encouraging independent thought and self-assessment and what we want are "thinking drivers", not trained monkeys. Coaching techniques empower the driver to consider their own choice of response to the world as they see it by raising self‑awareness and making them aware their choices are influenced by their attitudes and emotion at that moment. Drivers must reflect on their own attitude to driving and other road users; their own experiences as a passenger and also what risk(s) they personally are willing to take. Only when a person becomes "self-aware", will they consider changing their behaviour. The new driver needs to understand that risk taking varies with both context and the emotion they feel at the time a decision is being made. For example a person driving on business, late for an appointment, might make a different choice approaching an amber light than they would on a shopping trip with their children in the back of the car - the emotion they experience at the time they see the amber light influences their decision. A young, inexperienced driver might make different choices under peer pressure than they would on their own - the emotion they feel under peer pressure influences their decision. Drivers make different choices to similar situations in different contexts. A very common example is the test candidate. The emotions they experience during a test influences their decisions and very often they make different decisions on a test than they would in a lesson to the same situations and sometimes not the right decision(s)!
A widely held belief by ADI's is that Coaching is just Q&A and as they do this anyway they believe they are "coaching"; this view is understandable, however Coaching is so much more than just Q&A. A simple example to illustrate how traditional Q&A falls short is in use of mirrors. A learner might be quized on which mirrors to use, when and why. They give the correct answers and both learner and instructor feel satisfied. Does the learner believe in the benefits of mirror use or are they just regurgitating the expected answers? Traditional Q&A won't "seed" any change in their "attitude" to mirrors; the learner feels recalling the right answers on demand is all that is required of them. They will soon drop mirror use after their test. Does that make them (un)safe?
An important difference with coaching is a radical change of relationship. Coaching is an equal partnership where the learner takes more responsibility for the learning. This is often a difficult concept for both instructor and learner alike but is key to Coaching. The learner must take greater responsibility for the learning process. This concept often discourages Driving Instructors from coaching. Instructors often assume they only need to ask the learner "what do you want to do today?" and when faced with the response "dunno", are puzzled how to proceed and conclude coaching is not what it's cracked up to be! However, there are ways to engage the student into thinking about what they feel they need.
It is becoming increasingly clear that coaching is an effective way for pupils to learn and is more satisfying to both learner and instructor. Many instructors experimenting with coaching are reporting their learners grasp things more quickly and enjoy their lessons more.
There are many short, one-day courses springing up on Coaching for ADI's. However, a word of caution. I have attended these and whilst they are good introductions to the topic, I feel on reflection they don't go far enough and it is very tempting just to apply these techniques like a "trained monkey". I recommend you venture below the surface. There is a limit to what can be taught in a day and these short courses are by no means an in depth treatment of the subject. You are advised not to think of them as such!
I hold the prestigious PostGraduate Award, "Coaching for Driver Development" from the University of East London. Of the 45,000 driving instructors Nationwide, only a handful hold this qualification and I am probably the only one in Milton Keynes. However, I found even this did not satisfy me and I needed further reading and research to augment the formal training. You will find, no matter what new "technique(s)" you use, you will still get pupils that struggle and are a real challenge. At the end of the day it all boils down to you understanding what your learner needs and you using whatever technique is appropriate to help them! There is no panacea! There is no "one size fits all!"
I recommended other good references that take further some of the topics touched upon on coaching courses. All are available from Amazon and I have linked to them on the right:-
- Excellence in Coaching The Industry Guide. This book "... presents cutting-edge thinking in the field of workplace coaching..." that's what the back cover says. Edited by Dr. Jonathan Passmore this was the text recommended for the Post Grad coaching course. It is a collection of papers from leading experts in the field. A good reference.
- Enhancing Learning through Self Assessment by David Boud. This introduces many techniques on self learning that you don't get from coaching courses alone!
- Another good read is A handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning: Theory and Practice by Jennifer A. Moon. I found this extremely good for understanding reflection in the learning process and was essential for my assignment on the PostGrad coaching course I took.
- Cognitive Behavioural Coaching Techniques for Dummies, by Helen Whitten. Do not be discouraged by the "for Dummies" style of this book. I find CBC an excellent technique for addressing a learner's fears. The one day courses do not have time to cover this important technique. It was covered in the Post Grad course but this book adds a bit more.
- Mistakes were Made but Not by Me. A very clear explanation of Cognitive Dissonance. Not a topic covered by Coaching courses but does explain why drivers always blame someone else when they are involved in an accident! Turns out we are hard wired to "dodge responsibility" when things go wrong. The issue is though, when a person makes a driving error, they justify it by "blaming someone else", then no longer feel they made any driving error! Consequently they don't learn from it! This is exactly how drivers behave after an accident - "wasn't my fault ..." and then learn nothing from it. A fascinating read.
- Emotional Intelligence. Why it can matter more than IQ, by Daniel Goleman. How often have you decided on an action you later regret on reflection? Believe it or not, decisions made emotionally are faster than those made cognitively and this book explains why! The learner can use this to their advantage.
- Constructivist Instruction: Success or Failure, by Sigmund Tobias. A fascinating, in depth look at the whole process of "learning". It brings together leading thinkers from both sides of the hotly debated controversy about constructivist approaches to instruction, this book presents the evidence for and against constructivism and detailed views from both sides of the controversy. A distinctive feature is the dialogue built into it between the different positions. If you're into deep, academic debates, this is a good book.
There is an exciting paradigm shift taking place in the Driving Instructor industry. Coaching is gathering momentum but can cover a wide spectrum of techniques and the "one day" courses just do not do it justice. [NB: You can leave feedback to this article if you wish -->Click here<-- ]
... resistance is futile....