The recipe for success

Very recently, a Learner of mine had a tough session.  The Learner was not applying the fundamentals that we’d previously discussed and practised and as such was finding that the driving was out on position, speed, accuracy etc.  My attitude is that in order for learning to take place, there has to be a realisation that I am not going to sit there and ‘talk through’ everything for ever more.  In other words there is a shift of responsibility for learning. 

I let the dust settle for a few hours, and later that evening sent a brief email to first of all bolster confidence, and secondly request my Learner do a little ‘digging’ to reinforce the necessary learning that had been lacking earlier in the day.  I was extremely specific with my words - watch this, read up that etc.  Not only was it an attempt to reinforce the necessity of reinforcing the ‘nuts and bolts’ learning points, but also it was a request to read up a short article on road safety that DIRECTLY related to where this Learner lives. 

In order to send that email I had needed to text the Learners Mother to confirm the correct email address.

So the next time I see this Learner, this is how the discussion went:

“Hi.  Mum told me that you’d sent me an email, so I read it”

“Oh really?  When was that, I don’t recall sending you one?”

“Not sure, the other day”

“Oh right, I don’t recall that, what was it about?  Anything in particular?”

“Urmmmm...... no not really”

“No?  Was there anything in it of note?”

“No, just something on road safety”

“Oh ok,  and what did you get from it, anything?”

“Urm... no, it’s just that in my last lesson I had a nightmare”

Clearly, I could have tried to tease more out, I could have been more direct.  I could have suddenly remembered the content of the email and pointedly asked what actions had/had not been done.  I provide the opportunity to learn, I can’t provide the motivation and responsibility to learn. 

A Learner of mine who failed the test a few weeks ago, has re-booked another test without a single minute of further training.  When Driving Instructors take their Learners to test, they display their badge for the DSA to allocate that Learners attempt to the Instructor.  Why should I have this second attempt that I can say with complete certainty will be another fail, go against my name?  I wonder in the eyes of this particular Learner whether it is expected of me to persuade the Learner to take more training?
 

“Please, please, please take a few more lessons with me, so that you pass your test on the 2^nd go”.

No..... I don’t think so somehow.  


Interestingly, in the eyes of the Learner, the cause for the 1^st fail was the examiner being picky, I wonder whether that opinion might change when I withdraw the use of my car for the 2^nd attempt.  
You see, I could choose to take my ADI badge out of my car, so that the 2^nd attempt does not go against my personal stats.  But for me at least, this is a matter of principle.  Morally, I don’t see what is to be gained (other than a measly £46), for providing my car for test, for what is going to be a guaranteed fail. 

Yesterday, a Learner who I had not seen for 2 months to the day, really struggled.  What’s the strategy here, a lesson every 2 months?   Is it my job to keep harassing this Learner to please take more lessons with me so that he learns to drive?   


I don’t think so somehow.

Learning to drive is tough at the best of times, and what it absolutely needs is for the Learner to take the responsibility for learning on board, so that they become a safe, independent driver. 

So what do we need?

A dollop of organisation skills (for planning of lessons), a sprinkling of communication skills (for effective 2-way comms between us) mixed in with a nice teaspoon of ‘attitude’ (for ‘owning’ the learning and setting goals).  And for good measure, add 2 drops of ‘effort’ to make it all gel together nicely.  


You can rely on me to provide the perfect conditions for the cooking.

The perfect recipe for achieving that pass!