I'm getting so frustrated! Grrrr!

One of the easiest traps to fall into as a newly qualified driving instructor is to try too hard.  You can’t “force” learning – it just doesn’t work like that.

One of the 17 criteria that the DVSA assess all of us on in the Standards Check is:

TEACHING & LEARNING STRATEGIES

Was the pupil encouraged to analyse problems and take responsibility for their learning?

Unit 6.3 of our Driving Standard says:

5. transfer the balance of responsibility for their learning process to the learner as soon as they are ready to take it

ADI 1 says:

4.46 Was the pupil encouraged to analyse problems and take responsibility for their learning?

This means that the ADI has to provide time for this to happen and has to stop talking for long enough for the pupil to do the work.

None of us can accuse our DVSA of being in any way ambiguous about this.  It says we have to stop talking for long enough for the pupil to do the work.  One symptom of an ADI who is getting frustrated and “trying too hard” is that they will not stop talking; they think quantity of talking somehow ensures quality learning.

Let’s just consider for a minute this aspect of responsibility for learning.  When a customer of mine signs up for one of my driving courses, as part of the welcome message, they are directed to my driving video channel.  The current subscriber tally to this channel is over 900 and according to the dashboard, the public videos have been viewed 484,472 times.  But apart from these public videos, my customers are also screened in to gain access to a series of videos that are exclusively for their eyes only – it is restricted content.  The videos are longer in length and go into more detail than the public videos.  If you care to take a look at some of the public videos, you will see comments and questions from a wide range of non-BIG TOM customers, all responded to by me.  You might think, that given the fact that people who do not know my driving school, take the time to view and ask questions might mean that my own customers would do the same?  Not so.  There will be a variety of reasons why this is the case, but the fact is that it is not true.  Do I care if my customers do not make use of a resource that my driving school provides?  Not in the slightest.  I can only offer it to them, make sure they are aware that it exists, but other than that, they are either going to be inclined (motivated) to look at them….. or not.  The consequences of not looking at them is to deprive them of thinking about key road safety concepts and techniques outside of the car – this is the ideal time, when they are relaxed, to give some thought to these subjects that invite deeper thought.  Remember, without thought we have no learning.

I can tell within 5-10 minutes if any of my customers have been viewing the driving videos.  If they haven’t then it simply means that we spend time in the car, usually paused (so as to enable them to think deeply while remaining safe), and discuss these key road safety concepts.  My point is that it is the pupil who is deciding how they learn, they are either making effective use of their time or not.  When pupils do look at the videos, it reinforces learning, it prepares them for what they are about to do, it enables them to test their understanding, it can be highly motivating.

One of the obstacles that we as driving instructors have to deal with is when pupils have become used to sitting back, and waiting for teachers to “spoon feed” them learning.  Whatever the rights and wrongs of it, some pupils in academic learning have become conditioned to learning within “test” or “assessment” modes.  As such, they have become practised in the form of learning by taking tests, and if they struggle, they just take more tests.  This is extremely unhelpful when it comes to attempting to learn to drive.  As the DVSA is telling all of us, the idea is for them to give some thought as to how they learn best, and unfortunately, the method of “trial and error” that they have become so used to doing, is particularly unhelpful.  Whilst the making of mistakes is an opportunity to learn, if a pupil becomes complacent to what mistakes means when learning to drive, they don’t actually learn a great deal from them.  An academic “mistake” is not to be considered the same as a “mistake” when driving that might actually affect safety. 

Pupils do need to be told about this.  We can’t assume that they will be able to recognise the difference of the learning in an academic environment vs in-car training.  So if you find yourself getting frustrated with an apparent lack of progress or perhaps the same driving mistakes being made repeatedly with little apparent appreciation of the consequences, stop what you are doing, take a time-out and spend some quality time building your relationship with your pupil.

Tom Ingram provides PAYG driving training for trainee driving instructors 0775 607 1464      

Critical Incidents

In this blog I will explain the importance of developing the skill within our pupils of identifying “critical incidents”

Providing explicit instruction in order to develop skills is a fundamental activity of a driving instructor.  My driving video channel has dozens of examples of me providing just that over the years to viewers.  But beware, you must do everything that you can to ensure that your explicit instruction is correct.  I have lost count of the number of pupils who come to me from training with other driving instructors, and have been told they MUST NOT cross their hands when steering.  This is I am afraid to say, quite simply wrong.  If you need proof of that fact, I refer you to pg 37 Section 2.44 of ADI 1.

Being able to identify a critical incident is also a skill, as is being able to assess it, work out what options you have in dealing with it, making a decision and then reviewing how it went (accurately) and considering if there was perhaps a better way.  These are all skills.  Pupils need to have their awareness raised that this is a skillset, a skillset that needs developing. 

Personally, I classify a “critical incident” as anything that crops up that absolutely MUST be dealt with by way of change of speed and/or direction.  I am not referring to potential hazards, I am only referring to the incidents that demand action in order to maintain safety.

It is a skill to be able to spot them in advance (I recommend you provide your pupils with a target of 10 seconds PRIOR to them having to take the necessary action).  Only by seeing these critical incidents so far in advance can you reasonably expect a driver to be able to process the other necessary skills as mentioned above.  My point is, that this is a skill, it is deserving of explicit instruction; it is not an option to overlook developing this skill in our pupils in the hope that it wont crop up. 

I think the reason that some driving instructors get a bit confused with this idea of explicit instruction is because they are concerned that they might be robbing their pupils of a learning opportunity which they could discover for themselves OR they fear they may be “over-instructing” which can be incredibly tedious for a pupil to be on the receiving end. 

Continuing with the steering example, it is perfectly valid to allow a pupil to experiment with steering so they can identify independently if they have a preference for how they steer which provides for smooth, controlled steering.  But, when some pupils pause at a turning right filter lane to turn right from major to minor road, and as they pause they instinctively turn the steering wheel to the right this MUST be dealt with by a driving instructor.  It is not good practice to bring that error up to the pupil and in any way allow them to think that keeping the wheels straight or starting to turn right is optional.  They need explaining that they have to keep the front wheels facing forward because if they were to be shunted from the rear while paused, this would prevent their car from automatically travelling into the path of any oncoming traffic.  The necessity of the central mirror observation on the approach is tied in with this fact.  Look what the DVSA tell us about risk management:

At all times the ADI is responsible for their safety, the safety of the pupil and the safety of other road users……. If the ADI fails in this basic responsibility, at any time, they will fail the standards check. 

Bear this in mind when you hear the next “Grade A” driving instructor declaring to you how many accidents they have been present in when their pupils have been driving.  Why this is not a legal compulsory declaration prior to the attainment of any Grade A pass mark has always been a point of wonder to me – an assessment of a driving instructor should be assessing their ability over the long term, not if they managed to prevent an accident occurring in a 1 hour Standards Check every 4 years!

But the DVSA go further in ADI 1 and add to the above:

From a training point of view, the ADI is also responsible for developing the pupil’s awareness of and ability to manage risk (as the driver, the pupil also has responsibilities).  This is the objective that is being assessed in this section.

The considerable benefit to any PDI or newly qualified driving instructor is the ability the DVSA have in being concise and straightforward.  They really do tell all of us how it should be in pretty clear words.  Now this added paragraph is extremely important because it sets the DVSA expectations that as a driving instructor you are required to develop the skill within your pupils of awareness of risk and managing it.  It is not professional for you alone to be preventing accidents throughout all your work with a pupil.  They MUST have this skill developed in them – it is not optional.

The DVSA like to classify these incidents of risk as “Safety critical” or “potentially critical”.  Both are as severe as each other, whatever you do, do not think that “potentially critical” incidents are in any way less important to deal with.  Pupils will not necessarily know the difference between the two, and they will not necessarily be able to understand the severity of the consequences either.  This is what the DVSA continue to say:

If a safety critical, or potentially critical incident does occur it is vital that the pupil fully understands what happened and how they could have avoided or dealt with it better.  Ideally the pupil should be supported to analyse the situation for themselves.  However, it may be necessary for the ADI to provide feedback if, for example, the pupil simply did not see a problem.  That feedback should be given as soon as practical after the incident.

My turning right example and the direction of the front wheels is a case in point.  Many learners wont even be consciously aware that they have turned the steering wheel to the right as they paused.  They need to be told.  AND they need to be told why this is important.  We should not expect pupils to somehow magically discover this point with the passing of time; the feedback should be immediate, thorough and fundamentally helpful in raising their awareness of the need to maintain safety by their behaviours.

Actual behaviours do depend on feelings and beliefs, and beliefs are dictated by emotion rather than the factual information of any driving instructor …… but this last sentence really is worthy of a new blog.

Tom Ingram provides PAYG driving training for trainee driving instructors 0775 607 1464

New Part 3 Assessment

Tom Ingram (Owner of BIG TOM Driving School) discusses the recent announcement from the DVSA of a change to the assessment process of the third test of PDI’s.

When PDI’s train to become driving instructors they qualify by passing 3 assessments from the DVSA.  The first is a test of their theory knowledge, the second relating to their driving ability, and the third their ability to instruct.

Historically this third test referred in the industry as “Part 3”, has been conducted in a role play scenario where the examiner acts the part of 2 distinctly different pupils with differing needs.

As of 2/10/2017 that assessment involving the role playing from an examiner is going to be replaced with an actual pupil again with particular needs.  The examiner’s role will only be one of assessment/observation from the back seat of the car.

The DVSA have said this about the change:

 DVSA’s Registrar Mark Magee said: “The industry has confirmed to us that the current fault-based ADI Part 3 test, which relies on pre-set tests and role play exercises, is both unrealistic and restrictive. It doesn’t give trainee instructors enough opportunity to demonstrate the full range of skills needed when qualified.

“The changes will now mean new ADIs will be better prepared to deliver effective training from day one of qualifying and won’t need to learn different teaching methods ahead of their standards check. It will also enable the test to be delivered at a greater number of test centres and local to where training has taken place.

“However, it is also important to reassure individuals that consideration will be given to PDIs currently part way through the qualifying process. Also, DVSA ADI examiners will receive training to deliver the new ADI Part 3, and DVSA ORDIT inspectors will be updated on the inspection requirements.”

The significance of this change is not to be under-estimated.  It has long been the view of the author that the fault-based assessment with a roleplaying examiner is not only extremely difficult for examiners to perform accurately and realistically, but their ability to accurately assess the actions of the PDI varied enormously.  But more than that, the nature of the assessment resulted in a whole bunch of trainers who specialized in teaching PDI’s coping mechanisms to CONTROL the roleplaying examiner, and these coping mechanisms were completely unrealistic and of little value when handling actual pupils.  The consequence of this fact meant that an entire industry was formed in formats of classroom sessions, 1:1 in-car training, books, DVD’s, webinars and this was formed solely on the basis of “arming” a PDI how to effectively manage a roleplaying examiner, as opposed to training them within the workings of the DVSA Driving Standard of HOW TO TRAIN PUPILS.

If this were all not bad enough, one of the other consequences of the assessment was that it was centred around assessing the ability of the PDI to manage the introduction of deliberate driving faults introduced by the examiner.  As a consequence of this, it was very negatively biased in nature because it became a “game” about spotting and handling faults.  PDI's became conditioned to observe pupils like hawks just waiting for the next driving fault to arise to then be pounced upon.  As a rule, pupils don't much appreciate repeatedly being told how bad they are at driving; whilst that might be a surprise to some parents, it really should not be to any aspiring driving instructor.  Readers of this blog will be able to see plenty of evidence where good instructors do not overly concern themselves unnecessarily with random driving errors from pupils, instead they focus their attentions on the thoughts of the pupil, and creating an effective learning environment.  In fact, the structure of this blog for PDI’s individually tags each blog with the most relevant of the 17 listed criteria of the “Standards Check” – the assessment that is carried out post-qualification that the new “Part 3” is also being based on.

This is a very welcome change.  It will instantly render valueless trainers who solely coached PDI’s to pass Part 3 tests.  Now, PDI’s will be able to seek the advice and guidance of trainers who have kept in touch with the reality of adding value to paying pupils.  This is a point that has been seriously omitted from PDI training for far too long, and in all likelihood has only but contributed to the declining ADI register over the years.  The reason why there is such disparity between the fees of ADI’s is precisely due to the market value of the contribution they provide to pupils.  Putting it crudely, if an ADI does not provide great value to pupils, this is reflected in what pupils will be prepared to pay those ADI’s.  These ADI’s soon recognize that they cannot demand a fee that makes it worth their while to be in the industry, and they are added to the ever increasing statistic of failures as mentioned in my ebook.

The sooner PDI’s and ADI’s start working to the DVSA Driving Standard as opposed to training to pass tests the better for the industry as a whole.  But more to the point, this change by the DVSA will single handedly make redundant all the trainers in the industry who have sat very comfortably for a very long time gaining financial gain by providing training to PDI's that helps them very little to become effective ADI's - and THAT can only be good for this industry.

Tom Ingram provides PAYG training for trainee driving instructors 0775 607 1464

Previous experience....ask!

One of the key tools that we have freely available to us as driving instructors is the ability to test previous experience before our pupil drives into a new subject.  We NEED to know this to maintain safety and promote learning.

To help demonstrate the necessity of asking prior to “doing” I will use the example of turning right at a crossroads controlled by traffic lights with a separate green filter arrow. 

We mention the ‘new subject’ (above) to our pupil.  “What does this mean to you?”

Blank face.  Big pause.  Followed by “Sorry…. I’m not with you”

You open up a book or show them an animation on your iPad, you set the context, you name the key identifiers “cross roads, traffic lights, green filter arrow, junction, priority, position, observation”.

“Uhm….. not much really”

Has the pupil ever ridden a bike before on public roads?  Did it involve ever doing this?

Do they recall seeing this in their theory study? What can they recall?

Have they witnessed anyone they know do this?

Generally speaking – how does this go?  What are the “rules”?

Depending on the answers above will determine at what level of detail you then need to go into.  Matters of safety should always trump matters of finesse; finesse can be introduced later but first, safety must be maintained.  What risk is associated with this goal?  Are there options of how to go about it?  How can safety be shared between pupil and instructor? 

The more “new” detail that is being covered in a briefing is quickly filling up the working memory of the pupil.  Conversely, previous experiences can greatly reduce the load on the working memory as those experiences are being drip fed from long term memory.

Unrealistic expectations of a pupil to achieve a goal while they are driving with an overloaded working memory is not good business (safety)…. it’s not smart learning either. 

Consider for a moment how this feels to a pupil who has NO previous experience of any kind regarding this subject:

What speed should I approach at?  Will I be stopping?  If I stop and I shouldn’t have done, will I cause a vehicle behind to hit us?  If I do have to stop, how do I do that?  Where would I stop?  Would I need to wait to see the green filter arrow?  Will I always get a green filter arrow?  What happens if I wait and the red light comes on?  If a vehicle in front of me turns right, does that automatically mean I can too?  Do I have to still look out for pedestrians or will they know I’m turning right?  What happens if a motorbike from behind also wants to turn right?  When I have a green light, can I be sure that all other lights are red?  And on it goes.

Our ability, as experienced drivers, to appreciate how this seemingly easy task is being considered by our pupils varies greatly between instructors.  Have you considered what are the pre-requisite skills for achieving this goal?  Routines for approaching junctions.  Clutch control.  Spatial awareness.  Control of steering and braking for good positioning.  Observations to assess speed/distance and to be aware of what is around.  Use of handbrake.   

Pupils hear your words on the briefing, they are looking at your diagrams, they are engaging with your questions, but you really do have to understand they might have NO appreciation of how this is about to go.  Your intention to “talk them through it” stands for not very much if they cannot ‘hear’ your words because their working memory is overloaded and has shut down their ability to hear.   

It really is in your interest to understand the level of risk that is associated with this task.  Choose your locations well.  Consider all the options you have available from doing demos, parking up and watching others, sharing driving responsibilities between you both, varying the pitch of verbals, agreeing and understanding terminology that is going to be used.  Encourage your pupil to consider the options that are available to help them learn:

SET GOAL (is it clear, measurable, realistic… think safety)

CONSIDER OPTIONS (let the pupil think of their strengths and weaknesses.  Give them TIME to think)

DECISION MAKING (agree on a plan but make sure that the pupil recognises a decision is being made)

EXPERIMENT (no judgement – this is practise time)

ASSESS (encourage the pupil to consider how well it went, focussing on what ACTUALLY happened – this is an important skill)

REFLECT (is this time to celebrate success – what is the pupil measuring …. competence/confidence, how meaningful has this process been and can it be adapted to be even more meaningful)

Give your pupil the opportunity to think.  Writing notes helps learners think.  It does not have to be there and then, but encourage them to develop the skill of thinking about their learning experience.  The more they feel like they are owning the process, the more they feel responsible for it, the more they want to effect positive outcomes. 

In summary, an instructor does not honestly know how our learner thinks about the prospect of performing a particular goal.  The very least we can do is attempt to assess previous experience because that will be our ‘early warning’ of how hard our pupil is cognitively working.

Want to read more on this?  Unit 6.3.3 of our Driving Standard. 

My parting quote from ADI1:

“It is impossible to force learning on a pupil.  Progress is always determined by what the pupil is comfortable with.  The skill is recognising when the pupil stops learning.  The pace of a session should be set by the pupil.  On the other hand a pupil should not be talked out of experimenting, if this is within safe bounds.”   

Fine words indeed.

Tom Ingram provides PAYG driving training for trainee driving instructors 0775 607 1464