In the foreword of the document by Steve Gooding (Director of RAC Foundation) he states:
".... changing any of our behaviours is a challenge, and changing our behaviour as road users is particularly hard. Most of the training we go through as drivers is understandably focussed on the skills needed to control a vehicle, rather than the attitude we bring to the task. That said, the more we learn about behavioural change techniques, and the more we share best practice in what works, the better our chances of making a real contribution to improved road safety."
I find those words very inspiring and having now been a driving instructor for 8 years entirely agree with the message. What I have done is print out the document and my intention is to slowly but surely, and methodically, go through it. I know I have much to learn about behavioural change techniques so what I am intending to do is use this as my primary source of CPD for 2017. In 2016 I studied for a BTEC Level 4 award in Coaching for Driver Development and as interesting as the work is, I am still finding large knowledge gaps in myself which get exposed by my feelings of frustration and confusion when I see a disconnect between my pupils training that I provide and the learning outcomes. I appreciate that this is going to be a long path for me. I am not only providing training for learner pupils and trainee driving instructors but I continually actively read and so inevitably this CPD I am committing to here, will need to be a long-term goal of raising my awareness in the subject of BCT's for the purpose of benefitting my pupils.
The document which is about 60 pages of A4 is beautifully presented. It is split into 5 chapters and from what I can tell, every chapter is essential reading. As such, whilst my progress that I make on this blog will be tracking pretty much my progress through the document, it is not lost on me that in all likelihood the ultimate "gain" here will take some time. But I detail my progress on this blog for primarily two reasons. Firstly, I know from previous learning experiences, that this assists my learning, it helps me reflect, assess and mould my thinking. The act of recording my progress I know helps me to formulate my thoughts; I'm not pretending for one second that what is written is fault-free, far from it, but I do know from experience that it assists me. On this point of technical accuracy, it is worth stating to any reader (there are not many if truth be told), I do not come from an academic background; I did not attend university. As such I have no formal training or experience in the required structure and integrity of "research" documents where all statements are sourced. This blog is for my learning purposes but secondly, I rather suspect that the subjects that arise may be of good use to trainee driving instructors or newly qualified instructors. I only say that because it may offer some guidance on what is out there for us to learn as professionals involved in road safety, I certainly don't intend to suggest that my own remarks will be of benefit.
The reason why this subject interests me immensely is because of this link between what we intend to do and what we actually do. For the most part pupils who want to learn to drive have every intention to use the time spent in the car as time to learn, they will to varying degrees balance out the transfer of learning between what I say and do compared to what they say and do. It is an interesting mix. It is not a given though, for a variety of reasons, some pupils will not learn to the same degree as others, the effectiveness of the learning varies regarding how much of it is actually meaningful to the pupil and stays in the long term memory. I am very aware from the 8 years of doing this job that the attitudes to learning and the beliefs of pupils regarding road safety are influenced heavily by other factors that do NOT involve their driving instructor. I am also aware of the scope of learning detailed in the work of the EU Hermes Project as summarised in the GDE matrix (Goals for Driver Education). In terms of depth of learning, it is generally recognised that the vast majority of driving instruction in the UK deals with the lower 2 levels of "Vehicle Control" and "Mastery of Traffic Situations". The scope of the assessment of the UK driving test only delves into that depth of learning. The upper two levels of the matrix touch on the higher order cognitive skills required for safe driving, whereby a learner is encouraged to develop critical thinking that is aligned to their personal experiences. In terms of breadth of learning, the matrix goes beyond the required knowledge and skills of a safe driver, and introduces the subject of identifying risk factors associated with driving and also a drivers ability to self-assess their performance, reflect and continue learning.
Interestingly, on page 5 of the guide I am about to read there is a very clever graphic that encapsulates much of the above under the heading of "Psychological model of behaviour". I have taken a snap of the graphic as shown here, it is worthy of note:
I am in the process of formulating a definition of my intervention. It is early days, but my initial thoughts involve:
younger drivers
no connection between training and standards
rural roads are less forgiving and extent of injury more serious
I would tend to summarise this as an unwanted "Target Behaviour" of poor assessment of when driving conditions have worsened. My "Target Audience" being 17-20 year olds.
As I say, early days. I am being encouraged to give thought to my aims and objectives for the intervention. More to come.
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