What makes a good driving lesson?

The answer to this question will differ between all of us.  An elderly African gentleman who started to learn to drive with me this week summed it up very nicely:

“How are you getting on Jo, how are you finding this?”

“Oh yes Tom, I like it very much….. my heart is much lighter”

As Jo is demonstrating here, a good driving lesson means different things to different people.

An effective “learning environment” has a delicate blend of essential ingredients.  The environment can include physical things like if the car is clean, how good the vision is from the drivers seat, whether you “feel” safe.  The preferred style in which the “transfer of learning” takes place includes physical and mental elements and is unique to all pupils.  For example, considering how often questions are used to test understanding, and the depth to the question will vary in benefit between pupils.  The manner in which content is explained by way of demonstration, graphics, and the choice of words that tap into a pupils psyche will help the message to resonate.

But by far the greatest factor to consider when thinking of the learning environment is what the pupil brings in the way of beliefs, experience, attitude, motivation, barriers and commitment – and they are purely mental factors.  Ignore these factors as a driving instructor and you will not only be doing your customer a disservice but you will directly limit the potential for job satisfaction.  I could be a top class driver, with knowledge in abundance but if I fail to tap into the mind of my pupil, effective learning will be limited.  In my experience, it matters not how anyone would care to categorise pupils – in terms of IQ, emotional intelligence, learning difficulties or disability; what matters is how willing and able the driving instructor is to adapt.

And given the fact that driving instructors are being paid to provide 1:1 tuition, are they not duty bound to “adapt”?  So if you have been struggling to have a good driving lesson for some time, my advice would be to stop doubting yourself, and go and find someone who can tap in to your potential more effectively, because potential, you undoubtedly have.

BIG TOM Driving School Intensive Driving Course in Bourne 01778 309773

School Road Safety Presentation

I had a very enjoyable time presenting to the 150 Yr 12's of my local school yesterday.  Before going any further I should give some insight as to where I am situated and the demographic.  I live in a small but expanding town (pop. 15,000) which is located about 12 miles from any significantly larger town/city in any direction.  There is a large population of elderly residents, so hairdressers and charity shops are a plenty, however, there are primary and secondary schools that are catering for over 3000 pupils such is the quality of the schools in this town and how well they draw pupils in from outside the town.  There is a bus service leading in/out of the town; the vast majority of my young pupils complain that it is an expensive and pretty infrequent (hourly) service.

I have taken care not to name the town or the school that is the subject of this blog in the interests of neutrality, but suffice to say, the school in question is a well reputed school that is known for it's high standards of achievement for end of year exam grades.

I was called on the phone a couple of months previous by the Head of Yr 6 and invited to give a short presentation on road safety.

You can imagine that with a subject as wide and varied as "road safety" there were many options for me as to what to concentrate on, especially as our local "A" roads (A15, A16 and A17) do suffer with high collision stats but I was very keen to remember my audience and provide something meaningful to them.   I wanted to demonstrate that much like my driving lessons that I provide, my preferred style is to seek engagement as opposed to "lecture".

My opening gambit was to ask for a show of hands for who intends to learn to drive.  I turned to the teacher who had remained in the hall, and we agreed on roughly 50% had put their hands up.  Now this might surprise some, but the statistics that are provided by the DVSA who monitor these things, have been indicating for some time now that this is the current trend.  For example there were 300,000 fewer driving tests (16%) in 2013-2014 than there were in 2007-2008.  The UK and indeed global economy could well be responsible for this situation, but as I raised in the presentation, there is plenty of evidence around that "learning to drive" is fast becoming an activity that is simply too costly when you take into account insurance and fuel costs.  One lass mentioned that a member of her family had been quoted £4000 for insurance, and another lass mentioned that her brother of 23 years, recognises that despite passing the driving test, he is not properly prepared for driving independently - a fact that similarly brings into question how well learners are being trained, and whether financial resources have a say in that regard too.

On the subject of insurance, I have been in this industry for 6 years now and up until my last renewal, despite never having a single accident of any kind whatsoever, the insurance steadily rose year on year.  This last year, has for the first time, seen a slight dip in the premium.  Whether this is an acknowledgement from the industry that car insurance and indeed "driving" is fast becoming financially unviable for huge numbers of the young adult population, we shall see.  I did raise the question in the presentation yesterday, how many years of driving will the pupils who had just stated they intend to learn to drive actually drive for?  There is an increasingly popular case being made for driverless cars that will have positive effects on road collisions and insurance premiums, so arguably, as a Google video from 2011 demonstrates (found on my Facebook page "driving lessons in Bourne"), the consequences of humans driving motor vehicles is doing nothing but strengthening the case for them NOT driving and allowing advanced technology to provide a safer means of transportation.

At this stage, I hadn't shown my hand as to the topic of my presentation, and I was keen to get an early indication that I suspected may well prove useful as the talk progressed.  I asked of all the pupils who had just raised their hands indicating they intend to learn to drive, how many of them, consider that they will be a "good driver".  The hands went up, and I then asked all those pupils to then stand up.  It was roughly 50% of the original cohort and all male; not one single female.  I then invited the teacher to declare if she thought she was a good driver, which she responded in the affirmative.   It led nicely into considering what makes a "good driver" and how could anyone reliably measure it.

I asked for 2 volunteers to come up front, one male and one female.  A male pupil shot up instantly, and a brave female pupil reluctantly came up.  I asked the audience to consider statistically, who the better driver will be.  I asked them who was more likely to pass the driving test first time.  I asked them if they both took turns to drive who was the more likely to cause a fatality.  I asked who was likely to get the cheaper car insurance.  It sparked great engagement.  I then offered my own opinion based on my 6 years of driving instruction, which gender learnt to drive more effectively, and I gave my reasons.  Lots of open eyes, staring at me.

I then introduced the subject of my talk, attitudes to learning and drew comparisons with pupils attitudes to learning at school and learning to drive.  We discussed goals of achieving academic qualifications, independent learning, and developing life skills of ambition, perseverance and overcoming obstacles and considered the differences with learning to drive.  I introduced the idea of the learning that occurs on driving lessons for the purpose of the driving test compared to that of life beyond the driving test.  I questioned with the pupils that given the fact that 20% of newly qualified drivers were having an accident within the first 6 months of passing the driving test, how useful is the driving test, is it fit for purpose, and I gave some figures for the pass rates of driving tests.

I had prepared a light-hearted, fun exercise that required no less than 9 pupils to respond to one of my driving videos that was on the large screen on the stage, and with the use of my verbal instructions, demonstrate how difficult it is to multi-task driving actions in real time.  The first band of volunteers were unsurprisingly, all male and between them, they had achieved 41 driving actions on one circuit of my video.  The less willing but significantly more able group of female pupils managed to clock up almost double that number of driving actions.  It highlighted the necessary skills of effective communication, multi-tasking, co-ordination, and concentration when driving.  

Having witnessed this staggeringly higher achievement by the female group I then made reference to the all male assertion of who will be a "good driver" - cue the 'tumbleweed' moment.

To conclude, we had some facts given relating to the DVSA figure of the average number of hours to pass the driving test, also the price of the theory and practical tests, average driving lesson cost, and the number 1 reason for failing driving tests.  This led me nicely on to referring to a recently released dramatic video relating to THINK BIKE! which was also on my Facebook page. 

It was a most enjoyable session as I felt that I had personally learnt a great deal from the experience and the feedback from the teacher was very positive too.

BIG TOM Driving School in Bourne 01778 309 773