"I just lurve your red car"

I was out last week-end with a new Learner and asked her why she picked my driving school.  “Because you’ve got a red car” came the reply.  You have to laugh!  Nothing quite like some good old fashioned honesty.  What did worry me a little though was that I discovered that if she had her own way she wouldn’t start lessons until the Summer holidays, because she is really busy studying.  That’s quite an understatement actually, it worried me greatly then, and it still is in my mind now.  It turns out her Mother wants her to learn to drive because she is tired of ferrying her daughter around like a taxi.  Which is all very understandable but it is kind of missing a point.

The reason why you very seldom see driving schools offering driving lessons in a package deal – “as many as you need until you pass”, is because that approach immediately takes the ‘incentive’ away from the Learner to crack on and learn.   Anyone learning anything you care to mention will know that the longer period between your training sessions, the harder it is to learn.  If you know you have an unlimited resource of training, then the temptation would be to just take it as it comes. 

Although my new Learners’ parent is providing the finance for the learning, she is neglecting, in fact, removing any motivation to learn.  This can only spell problems. 

Motivation is an absolutely key element in our world.  Some Learners get their motivation by competing with friends/family, who can pass first.  Others are motivated by need such as, work or university commitments.  It’s massive in sport too, you only need to look at the recent episode with ‘Carlos Tevez’ at Manchester City to see the consequences of having a player who is not motivated.

However, it is possible to have too much ‘focus’.  I remember playing an important and very tough league match in snooker many moons ago, talk about cutting the atmosphere with a knife.  We had got down to the colours and I was at the table and fully engrossed in the game.  I was so busy planning where I was going to position the cue ball after my shot, and the following shots, that I actually played the wrong colour. 

About a year ago, I was helping a PDI with some remedial training for her Part 3.  She was under immense pressure.  She had financial constraints – a single Mother with many young ones depending on her, she had time pressures – as her 2 year period after passing the theory was nearly up, and she also had peer pressure from a Sister who was already a very successful driving instructor.  I recall one of her test attempts where she was literally shouting at the SE to do something or other.  She pulled him over afterwards, and in the ‘analysis’ he threw her lifeline of “Well you were shouting at me so much, I was getting scared”.  She needed a pass SO much that it was actually inhibiting her ability.

It’s not nice when we have Learners in the driving seat who quite frankly don’t want to be there.  You may as well get that £20 odd quid for the driving session, and throw it down the drain, as there will inevitably be very little ‘learning’ going on.          

What does too much power breed?

In learning, what makes the experience ‘good’?  

Is it a question of the quality of the subject material, or perhaps how the subject is being put across? Is it a question of how the ‘pupil’ likes to learn, or how much is the pupil encouraged to continue learning outside of the formal learning environment?  How important is it for the ‘pupil’ to appreciate what the testing standard is, and where he/she fits into that standard?

In our ‘state’ schools, although the Government tinker about with the curriculum here and there, it is clearly defined and much of what occurs inside those walls is ultimately driven by the test standards.   So in schools, there seems to me to be quite rigid structure to what learning is taking place.  I can’t imagine there would be too much time made available to pupils to relax and enjoy some non-curriculum related learning.  The organisation concerned in the setting of tests and the marking of them is not involved in any other process.  

That then leaves the matter of how effectively it is put across, the environment for learning I guess – the teacher and the approach taken to encourage learning factor large here.  How the school goes about it’s core business.  The organisation that is concerned in grading this particular aspect, OFSTED, is not involved in any other process.

Contrast the above with what occurs in the driver training industry.

The curriculum is set by the DSA via the Driving Standards that they publish.  It is of course possible to train independently of any professional driving instructor with little regard to this advised curriculum.  The organisation involved in the setting of tests and marking them is also the DSA.

That then leaves the matter of how effectively it is put across, the environment for learning I guess – the driving instructor and the approach taken to encourage learning.  The organisation that is concerned in grading this particular aspect is the DSA.

So to summarise, the DSA set the ‘syllabus’, they set the standard of testing, and also perform the testing of driving instructors as well as Learners.

I'm not sure how truly independent the DSA is as a private organisation but is this not just a little bit too cosy?  Seems to me the DSA have an awful lot of control over proceedings; much power.  Could this be one reason why there does not seem to be the emphasis on pass/fail rates that all other education providers are so focussed on?  Given the quantities involved, can you think of any other ‘education’ process involving similar numbers, where a pass rate of about 48% would be tolerated?  Would a private school remain in business long with such pass rates?          

84 and still prepared to listen

Had an 84 yr old ring me up last night.  He’s been off the road for personal reasons for 18 months and his Sons think some refresher sessions to boost his confidence are in order.  Absolutely incredible that a chap of his years has got the willingness to listen to his Sons’ advice and act on it too...I’m mighty impressed and hope to see this chap soon as I’m sure I will learn much from him.  We had a very pleasant chat on the phone for 10 minutes discussing his driving history dating back to 1948!  Wow!  I take my hat off to him.

Talking of willingness to listen, I got some superb feedback today on my check test.  I got a grade 4 result which I think that was a true reflection of the session.  I never cease to be amazed at the professionalism of the crew at Peterborough Test Centre.  Although I have never seen the examiner before, I was very impressed with his words of wisdom.  So it’s nice to keep on learning, a big thank you to my learner who was absolutely superb; he did not let me down.

It’s a busy old time at the moment, so much going on.  So busy that I even missed England v France rugby at the week-end..... criminal!

Farewell Trevor Wedge...whoever you were

The ‘new’ man at the top of the DSA has retired then.  I say ‘new’ as that is how I have tended to refer to him since he took over the top job not that many moons ago.  Things don’t stand still long.  It will be interesting to see how things develop now.  I can’t get too excited about it, my relationship with them is so distant that it’s kind of irrelevant.  I’m about to be tested by them on one of their spot checks, and I see their examiners once in a while when my learners go to test; but other than that, there is very little interaction.  I don’t know if my perception is typical, perhaps there are many instructors out there that enjoy a regular interaction with them, but not I.  I follow ‘John’ from the DSA on Twitter, I follow (or did until his retirement) Trevor Wedge (the top job in the DSA) on Facebook, and in that regard I have seen what they publish for all to see.

I can’t honestly say I ‘relate’ to them in any way, shape or form – their tweets and posts always seem so ‘sterile’ if that’s the right word?  It’s a little bit like how the examiners have to act on the tests..... ‘de-humanised’.   I’ve been following the chap in the top job of the AA for a while now, and I feel I can relate to him a little bit; he puts up stuff about his 2 boys playing footy at the week-end, he bungs up stuff that he is doing in the day – interviews, or stuck in jams or any old thing it seems.  I like that, as I can see there’s a human behind the posts.  I have always liked the way the AA go about their business, they seem a class act to me.  Their training packages for PDI’s is sound, the people they use are generally good.  I am not a lover of this idea of ‘hooking’ PDI’s into franchise contracts by offering them ‘cash back’ on their training – but there you go.  A friend of mine who qualified at the same time as me, did go on the AA franchise and about 6 months ago gave up his career as a driving instructor.  When I spoke to him, he said the weekly franchise fee they charge was crippling him, and because there’s always new instructors coming through, he was not even getting a regular supply of new learners from them.  He got very unwell with that situation as I guess everyone reading can imagine, and eventually realised he had to give it up.  Very sad.  He is a young chap, very unassuming and yet sound.  We used to practise our ‘coaching’ techniques of driving instruction with each other before he packed it in – I know I miss him much.

The trouble with our current situation in the industry is that it is very difficult (if not impossible) to know how much of the above is going on.  I reckon a lot.  You don’t have to be Einstein to realise the gravity of the situation.  If you are paying a franchisor say £200 a week then consider what that means.  If you do 10x1hr lessons in that week then the money for those lessons is going straight to the franchisor, but hang on, what about the fuel used for those 10 lessons?  Let’s say for argument sake, when you factor in the travelling also required in between those 10 customers, a tank full of petrol – not unreasonable I think.  So, that means, before you even start making any money in a given week, you need to have provided 13 x 1hr driving lessons.  Wow!  And that is on a £200/week franchise, I know certain organisations charge a lot more than that.  Another friend I have who is with the AA said to me a while ago that he starts making his own money on the tail end of the week.  For an ‘independent’ like me who has never been involved in these franchises, that takes some getting your head around.     

So given these circumstances I guess it’s really no surprise that some driving instructors have had to succumb to some rather unsavoury marketing techniques.   If you are able to put yourself in their situation, then you may be able to understand why.  Driving instructors train hard to qualify, it often costs thousands of pounds, and takes a year +.  It is no small undertaking.  They get qualified, if they don’t have the finance to buy/lease a driving school car, they end up going on a franchise with a company that provides a car, and before you know it, there they are – LOSING money every week, not just breaking even, actually LOSING money.  They would have been financially better off, not qualifying, and claiming the dole.  Too much for some people to stomach.... what do they do?  They start throwing their services to learners at the rate of 10hrs for £99 and such like.  How sad is that?  They not only de-value their own personal worth, but they indirectly de-value the rest of the industry. 

I remember seeing a video clip a couple of years ago of a driving instructor trainer I greatly admire and respect, and he was talking about this very subject.  He concluded that it’s probably best not to enter into these kind of pricing tactics, as it’s important to build a reputation, let word of mouth do it’s work, and be a ‘trusted’ brand in effect was what he was saying.  Which is all well and good.  I remember a colleague in another job I had several years ago said to me one day “But remember Tom, the cream always rises to the top”.  These words are ultimately true, but I do worry what effect this is having on the industry as a whole.

When I first realised that there are trainee driving instructors out there (registered with the DSA on pink licences) who actually charge the same (if not more) than fully qualified driving instructors to practise on real learners..... I was then, and still remain absolutely stunned that could even be legal let alone morally acceptable.  And I hear rumblings that this pink licence is being considered to be scrapped – not before time. 

Sometimes I think the DSA would do well, to stand back and think “What would a person of reasonable mind think about this?”   Being in touch with reality, becoming more ‘human’ will hopefully be in the mind of the next person at the top of the DSA.... I live in hope.   

Business.... is business

I find it interesting how we all look at things differently.  I was speaking to a PDI the other day about the approach to take to learn to become a driving instructor.  Some options include:

1.        Teach yourself – all the appropriate reference books are available on Amazon at a cheaper price than ‘DSA Publications’.  You can purchase DVD’s, you can subscribe to video websites, log on to forums.  You can train using willing friends/family as guinea pigs.

2.       Find a franchisor to train with – the large nationals will often offer you your money back to train with them if you commit to going on a franchise after you qualify.  Once qualified you are committed to paying them £150-£300 a week to ‘lease’ one of their driving school cars.

3.       Find an independent trainer to train with – these people often offer you the option of receiving training on a ‘pay as you go’ basis.

Each one of those has it’s pro’s and con’s and I guess it very much depends on your circumstances as to which you find most appealing. 

But as I heard the other day, and I’ve heard it very often, there are little booby traps that it really will help for you to know about.

When you are selecting a training provider you need to establish if they are providing training for you to just pass the driving instructor tests, or does it include how to be an effective driving instructor.  You see it is a little bit like the ‘Learners’ driving test.   A Learner could take the view to just want to be trained to pass the test – there are lots of subjects, techniques and tips to be a good driver that simply are not tested for on the Learner test; so you could pass the test but the question really is how prepared are you for driving alone.  Some instructors recognise that there are Learners out there that just want this, and they cater for the needs of that kind of Learner. 

It is similar for learning how to become a driving instructor.  There are subjects, techniques and tips that are not tested for on the tests.  For instance:

                How does a driving instructor manage the timing of when their Learner goes to test?

                What different instructional techniques are there for teaching learners, why are they different?

                How do you teach a learner how to reverse bay park?

                How do you prepare for the ‘Check Test’?  

                Is it better to be an independent instructor or go on a franchise?

                What are the test standards for Learners and PDI’s – how are they different?

                Should a new ADI be concerned about their FIRST TIME pass rate?

I just raise those as a few examples off the top of my head.  I’m sure it is far from complete. 

My own personal experience of being a PDI was that I discovered that by showing no inclination to go on a franchise with the large driving school, all I was provided with was the contracted hours that they legally had to fulfil, and it mattered not if I was ready for the tests, or indeed ready to be a driving instructor; the time is up when the time is up.   This is business.  As was demonstrated to me the other day in the telephone call with the PDI, this is not about personalities, it is business.  It is easy to get the two mixed up. 

It troubles me when I hear /see an organisation being rubbished, tainted.  I know, I absolutely know that there is no culture of racism in the Metropolitan Police Service.  I know this because I had 11 years in the organisation, I got involved in several recruitment events, I was involved in interviewing applicants at Peel House in Hendon and I worked on uniform response teams in busy inner boroughs.  Yet, if you were to listen to the likes of Ali Dizaei (a previous Commander in the Met), he would have anyone believe the organisation is riddled with racists – simply not true.  It’s shameful that certain people should find it acceptable to publicly and recklessly question the integrity of employees and leaders of that organisation when in fact it is full of people of the highest calibre and morals.

When PDI’s suffer problems with their training, although they will very often complain about the trainer, it is not necessarily the trainers fault in the slightest – it is often how the business goes about providing the training that is at fault.  This is why it is SO important to properly consider who you want to train with. 

My advice to any newly registered PDI or anyone considering it is to think through the following:

1.        Once qualified, do you have the financial resources to buy/lease a driving school car, and properly market your business as an ‘independent’ driving instructor?

2.       How do you like to learn?  What methods do you prefer to use? 

3.       Who is available near you to provide training and what is the syllabus of their training course?

4.       What are the unique circumstances of how you will NEED to learn, and can the training provider meet those needs?

It’s a great shame when I hear of PDI’s who realise they have made the wrong decision for their training provider.  What needs to be remembered though is this, it’s one thing messing up the choice of who to train with (like I did), but if you have signed up with them to ALSO then be on a franchise for 1-2 years, imagine how crippling that realisation could be!