Meaningful training

The path that you take as a PDI training to become a driving instructor will meander between the abstract and practical application.  One moment you will be considering which tools of techniques to increase road safety, then you will be not just monitoring how well your pupil is practising those skills, but also considering learning techniques that practically assist your pupil.  It makes for an interesting and somewhat complex string of actions that a competent driving instructor will confidently handle.  Any long-term readers of my blog will be aware of my contention that it is too convenient for many a martinet to slip into 'compliance' mode thus negating the need for that last ingredient for active learning; "will you just do what I tell you to do please".

Your ability to appreciate your sense of purpose in the above description is highly relevant.  Understanding how things feel to you, absolutely you, is essential as is the desire to check if your trainer feels the same way.  The relationship in a learning environment is key to outcomes.  Let me digress ever so slightly to try to illustrate that point.

When my 16 year old son was in the last two years of his school education, I am firmly of the belief that what was missing was this fourth element of 'meaningfulness'.  I regularly monitor 'edutwitter', and there are often references to 3 key factors: the ability a student has towards a subject, the environment in which they learn and how much they enjoy the learning.  What I do not read so much about is how meaningful the process is to the student, the level of engagement, or connectedness the student has towards the learning.  Non-academic students will fall at the first hurdle, they may well be unfortunate in not having the best of learning environments, and unsurprisingly, they do not enjoy the process.  But if students were encouraged to personalise the process of learning in a way that is meaningful to them, then things could be a whole lot different.  As an observant Father, I hope it will not appear to be an offensive fatuity to say our education system fails so many.  The narrowness of the scope of the curriculum is purely due to the drive for grades of certain subjects; works wonderfully for your academics. Meanwhile, all the others come out the other end of the process feeling disenfranchised.

To appraise a learning process is a skill.  As is reflecting on one's ability; to cogitate, evaluate, ponder.  A PDI pupil communicates how they feel about what they are learning, attempt to put it into context, and they discuss their feelings in respectful conversations with their trainer, peers, family.

There are of course signs that all is not well, such as working with a PDI where there is an unwillingness to set goals or grade ability with no expressions of emotion.  Errors are continually recurring, and I feel like I am working harder than my pupil.  There can very easily be hidden problematic external influences on pupils with devastating consequences to the learning path.

The reason why I find this to be particularly relevant to PDI's is the low pass rates for Part 3.  Demonstrating the 17 competencies will inevitably involve engagement by the pupil.  The PDI must have a willingness to place the core of the in-car learning environment firmly at the driver's seat where your pupil is sat rather than what too much PDI training concentrates on; having the heart of the in-car learning environment at the passenger seat.  When you train as a PDI, there must be an understanding of the purpose of the training.  Ultimately the goal is to achieve active learning.  A pupil who can demonstrate reflecting on practice is a good sign; they utilise resources you make available to them, converse with friends and family about their experiences.  The pupil has an unquestioning belief in your motives and skills to facilitate learning.  You find yourself having unique conversations with pupils not only about the 'techniques' that you introduce to them but very often about how driving training relates to them as an individual.

It is an art to incorporate into driving training sessions conversations that purposefully manage: lesson planning, risk management and teaching & learning strategies.

When the school education system fails, the fallout comes in the form of unconfident young adults unequipped in how to learn life-skills such as driving and adding value to the job market.  When a driving instructor's ability to facilitate learning fails, the fallout comes in the form of disgruntled customers with sometimes profoundly traumatic experiences that affect nerves and confidence and the reputation of the driving school.