Balls of steel

'Modelling' from a driving instructor is a key attribute of effective teaching, which is why it is important to raise your own self-awareness as a professional driving instructor.   Take how you deal with mistakes, for example. 

Your childhood may have been indelibly marked in your mind by a  domineering parent or an abusive or neglectful relationship.  It could well have moulded your mindset of self-perception permanently.  You may instinctively feel 'weak' when speaking to a person in a position of higher authority.  It could have affected your ability to manage relationships with teachers or maybe bosses at work.  Perhaps peers in a working environment are a challenge when you feel like you are being observed, judged or even spoken about.

As a result, unbeknown to you, your emotional reactions to anything competitive can be extreme.  Targets at work, appraisal objectives, bonus payments, selection for promotion, interviews, even not being given space to have your voice in a group of people.  

These things are often self-perpetuating: one thing leads to another such as it can affect your attitude towards making mistakes which then leads to you not challenging yourself or going the extra mile.

But really my point is, that this outlook that you have developed can very easily also project itself on how you react to your pupils too.  This is where modelling comes in.  

Let's take how you would deal with a pupil who stalls in a busy street.  I had this last night; the stall created an instant and profound reaction from drivers behind.  As is always the case, it is important first of all to root-cause why things happen.  My pupil last night was attempting to move off from queuing traffic at a red light, on a slight gradient, without the use of the handbrake.  A clever, challenging, courageous thing to practice for a novice driver with only 8 hours under her belt.  Balls of steel - and I absolutely loved it.  One might argue that she really should be practising that kind of technique on a hill when there is no-one around, and yes, I would quite agree.  But she KNEW what she was doing.  She KNEW what was required.  She was merely practising it in an awkward, perhaps inappropriate context.  Hardly the crime of the century.  Yes, it inconvenienced some behind by about 20 seconds, but my pupil's progress is my priority.  We talked it through in a positive discussion where I praised her for her efforts.  

She is not frightened to try with the potential of failing, and I deeply admire that attitude to learning.   Please do not allow your own mindset (in this case, about making mistakes) to project on to your pupils and prevent them from growing.  If that means you need to seek some professional assistance in developing your self-awareness then don't delay, seek it, your pupils will thrive as a result.