Continued learning...... post-test

What I find interesting about this job is the diversity.  I train people on a 1:1 basis, so with the passing of time you get to know them well. Unlike studying for an academic qualification, or learning to play an instrument, learning to drive has a very real, safety aspect about it; most cannot ignore the fact.

Some want me to TELL them how to drive.  They work on the basis that they will aim to do exactly what I tell them, so in effect, they become replica me’s – in their driving style.

Others are far more independent in the way they learn to drive. 

I can’t get overly excited about the rights and wrongs of either approach.  Both methods can comfortably pass the driving test.  

However, if I was asked to state my responsibility, I would summarise it by saying I like to think that I assist someone to learn to drive, rather than I teach someone how to drive. 

And this is the bit that I really find interesting.  I can see so clearly that the driving test in itself, features little in the grand scheme of things.  What is so much more important, is how that person is going to drive AFTER the test. 

This is the challenge for me.  How can I encourage a safe attitude to driving, how can I influence a learner so that they remember the key principles and golden threads that we talk about in our driving sessions? 

Sorting out hands and feet in order to drive is not difficult.  Engaging the brain while driving is not particularly hard to achieve in most but not all.  But what is INCREDIBLY difficult to tap into is ‘ownership’ for the long term learning. 

I have provided internet links that graphically show the consequences of poor driving.  The DSA provide evidence to us all of how many newly qualified drivers are feeling unprepared for driving on their own after passing the test.  Insurance premiums particularly for young males tend to reflect the risks they take after passing the test.   I constantly raise discussions in the car that explore attitudes to driving in many respects.  I try desperately not to preach, instead I make efforts to raise awareness, and provoke thoughts, tease out attitudes.... honestly, along with many other driving instructors I’m sure, I constantly strive to reach out beyond the mere act of driving the car, and affect deeper in the brain, to the bits that will shape how a learner is going to drive post-test.

It is a massive subject.  It seems to me at this early stage of being in the profession, that it is THE aspect of driving education that is missing.  If you choose not to test for it, and therefore by implication, you are not ENSURING that all training for learners is covering the subject, then it seems to me you have to make provisions in the ‘system’ to cater for it eg re-testing every x number of years, or after x number of collisions.

In the 3 years of being a driving instructor I have offered free voluntary annual refresher sessions for my learners that passed their test with me.  I have not had one single person take up the offer.  Not a single person.  What does that tell you about the attitude of long term learning?