TISFB

There is nothing quite as off-putting as a trainer thrusting upon me their acronyms.  Many trainers including driving instructors can still be found insisting that pupils remember these complicated sequences of letters.

The military currently uses "COC", "JSTFA" and "PES".  Driving trainers use "IPSGA" and "MSPSL".  On a CPD course I attended, the trainers expected me to remember "SEDSS" and "HPSaucePLease".  

I wonder how many readers could accurately recall the acronym for overtaking on a motorway (pg 296 of DES will reveal all)?

The fact of the matter is that your average driver out there will struggle to remember "MSM" let alone any more of the other complex varieties.  They might be able to recall the three letters with a bit of prompting, but what they stand for and in what context might be a stretch.

When I train driving instructors I like to keep things real and relevant; if I'm saying ANYTHING that my pupil is not understanding, I may as well not mention it.  This problem of relevance will be one of the reasons why only 3,000 out of the yearly 9,000 people who start the driving instructor application process, actually go on to qualify.*

In my experience of training PDI's, people like to connect to the training; it needs to practically and mentally make sense for it to stand any chance of sticking.

*DIH pg 3

("This is so f'ing boring" for anyone wondering about the title)