As we approach a broad sweeping bend into advent, I thought now might be a good time to share my thoughts on 2019 in the driving instruction world. ADI's often ask why I bother putting pen to paper on the broad range of subjects that I cover, wondering if I do in fact, 'have a life'. The fact of the matter is, that since I started my blog on 15/11/2011, it has proved to be of excellent therapeutic value to me. I imagine some will scoff at that remark, how can that possibly be true they will undoubtedly say.
I've discovered that the resources that an instructor provide a pupil are just an opportunity to help reach a goal. No-one can force a pupil to engage in resources. We should raise their awareness of the possible benefits for sure, but after that, it comes down to their call. This very point was proved only yesterday with a pupil who was getting herself tied up in knots. Driving instructors will be familiar with the struggles our pupils encounter on the learning path; some of these are painful to observe. It is human nature to allow self-doubt to consume our heads and affect outcomes due to the 'fog' that slowly but surely sits and impedes cognitive thinking. The turnaround that occurred yesterday was entirely due to the systematic application of the resources I provide for my pupils. As pompous as that sounds, there is no other way of describing what occurred. I've personally observed this transformation on so many occasions with pupils now that I can say without hesitation, it is entirely due to the resources. Just because my pupil yesterday had not had the time to read them previously, it didn't stop the two of us reading them at the side of the road. Readers of this blog from many years ago would know I use to have a low opinion of instructors who spend too much time paused at the side of the road. Paused, engaged in this kind of activity though is time very well spent. If you are a reader who likes labels and names for such things, then, in my opinion, it would be metacognition and self-regulated learning. A process of developing knowledge by the use of techniques, to help our pupils think about how they are learning.
It was a while ago when I concluded that we could not "force" learning; we can only help create the environment in which facilitates it. If any readers here don't believe that the act of writing my thoughts and feelings about my instruction experiences in this blog is not therapeutic, so be it, let that be. But it is.
I have never experienced such a good feeling of job satisfaction as I currently do. 2019 has brought its challenges (more on that to follow), but I don't think I can convey to you in this blog, quite the feeling of satisfaction I have in helping my pupils. The more I get to know about the intricacies of this job we do, the more I realise what I did not know. The flip side to this feeling of satisfaction and pride is a deep sense of regret that I may have been able to help many past pupils in a better way. I guess that is the nature of the beast; if you strive to improve in your professional work continually, in doing so, you are more able to recognise your previous limitations. A point not lost on brain surgeons I imagine. But I will go into more detail on this subject later in this blog.
So, buckle up! Settle yourself in and let's take a brief tour of all driving instructor things for 2019.
Making progress
A unique aspect of being a self-employed driving instructor is that on the one hand, you are mindful of the health of your business (revenue vs outgoings). Yet, on the other, you would do well to keep in mind the state of the industry that you are in (road safety statistics).
It would appear that there is a flat-lining effect over the past few years where the DVSA have responded with their 2019 strategy to continue improvement (see previous blogs for more details).
The challenge that every driving instructor wrestles with daily is how to balance the needs of proper quality driving training, with customer needs. What our customers recognise to be their needs do NOT necessarily align with maximising road safety, or for that matter, their learning potential. It is sad to reflect on customers who go through the process of learning to drive, qualify and find that they are ill-equipped for the demands of every day driving. We find ourselves in an industry now that attempts to resolve this fact by the use of 'black box' telematics. We have witnessed a very clever (one could suggest manipulative) strategy from the insurance industry. The implication is the continual (telematics) monitoring of driving behaviour can mitigate poor driving standards. A claim that the DVSA has previously proven through research to be false (see Published Project Report PPR828).
I have discovered that some 17-year-olds are quite literally unable to fully appreciate the responsibilities that come with driving safely on public roads. I think it manifests itself in a variety of different ways: impulsive driving due to influences from peers, imperception of increased risk factors, not recognising the possible consequences of poor driving, a lazy attitude to learning, a desire for immediate gratification. The hope for the outcome is so immense that there is a clouding of judgement regarding meaningful learning.
But before I get too carried away with my teenage character assassination, there is nothing particularly new about the delayed frontal lobe development in teenage males versus females. This fact has not evolved only in the last few decades. There is peer pressure, but hasn't there always been?
I do feel there can be ineluctable differences with the Millenials approach to learning; I wonder how much it hinders them when learning to drive. This multi-tasking that occurs so frequently is baffling to me. I was brought up with the thinking that to concentrate on a task takes focus, no distractions and a clear mind. I see my sons doing homework and revision with earphones in; I increasingly see drivers with earphones in too. My boys will watch the television while using their devices. Single-minded attention while performing a task is old-school. Technology has created an attention-deficit culture which is not conducive to periods concentrating on driving. Perhaps the biggest obstacle that it has created for a learning environment relates to how practised a pupil is listening to information, analysing it and expressing thoughts/feelings. I often observe a complete breakdown in a meaningful conversation due to facile responses. Let me give you an example from one only the other day where I was discussing with a pupil the distance travelled in a second at 20mph. The topic was being able to stop in the distance seen to clear, and we were attempting to understand the necessity for reduced speed and increased attention when passing parked cars in case a pedestrian stepped out between them. It went like this, with the HWC stopping distance table in front of the pupil:
Me: "Can you work out how far the car will travel in a second at 20mph?"
*Pause for much thought*
"Nine hundred."
"Nine hundred what?"
"Metres"
"Really? Are you sure?"
*Pause for thought*
"Yes"
"So you are suggesting that a car will travel 900 metres in a second at 20 mph?"
"Uhm..."
I'm not saying that I know enough on the subject to say that this error is due to inattention, but it does demonstrate a severe lack of meaningfulness. How practised are our younger folk at analysis and understanding? Listen carefully, think deeply, check and verbalise the response. I do wonder how over-exposure to technology contributes to a lack of practice.
A subject that I have mentioned previously in my blog is this culture in schools of superficial learning of keywords to regurgitate in a test, that has no bearing on context, perspective, application or knowledge. You get these answers that are meaningless to the question, perhaps incoherent and show no depth of understanding. I don't think this approach to learning helps in any way when we are attempting to relate about a practical skill.
Much is affected by the attitude our pupil has to the process of learning to drive. The author Alain de Botton recently remarked "If you expect to succeed, you will almost certainly fail" which is an interesting take on the subject. It is most regrettable when a pupil has grossly under-estimated the task of learning to drive; the autodidact has a rude awakening of the difficulties that lay ahead. It would be naive to think that all pupils arrive for driving training with a perfect alignment of expectations and understanding for the instructor-pupil working relationship. But much can be done with effective communication to help develop constructive bonding. When there is a breakdown of the relationship, it can often be rooted in the decision of when to take the driving test. The dissonant opinions of the instructor and pupil will test the most established of a working relationship. I have blogged, vlogged and spoken much on the subject. Newly qualified teachers will no doubt struggle with setting expectations as they start their career, and I am in no doubt it is common for recently qualified ADI's too.
One of the particular challenges for ADI's in these days of social media is the obloquy that can arise simply by an ADI who has safety standards at the forefront of their mind. The byzantine tactics being used by some members of the public in these situations begin to justify why some ADI's will put aside their professional judgement for the sake of their reputation. Irrational responses to feedback can be a problem. Whether it be towards a pupil who then implodes with the perception of being an utter failure, or sometimes the reaction from parents is unhelpful. Parents will often compare what their son/daughter is doing to how they learned to drive and might be confused by differences. But helicopter parenting is tricky when an instructor is attempting to raise standards. The fragility of mental health in teenagers is relatively new. I've only been working in the industry for ten years, and even I can detect a difference over that period. It's troubling because driving instructors are merely attempting to ensure a pupil is safe on the roads. But learning to drive does sometimes involve digging deep and working hard; part of the process of improvement does necessitate constructively working with feedback from an instructor. If a pupil crumbles into a heap of self-loathing on receipt of some good quality, formative feedback, then it does leave you wondering if they have the necessary maturity for the task in hand. I get the general impression (I could be well off the mark here) that some of our 17-year-olds appear to be struggling to cope with the stresses and strains of modern-day living. The perception of feedback is aggression or undermining. It comes across as a very fragile mental health perspective, where feedback is undoubtedly questioning their right to drive. One of my sons relayed to me recently a snippet of information that he had heard and he was asking for my thoughts. It went along the lines of how GCSE exam grades can have a sliding scale of additional points on offer depending on the circumstances in which the exam is taking place in the student's life. Family grief, the death of a pet, break up of parents, financial hardship, not feeling very well and on it goes. Whatever my thoughts, the fact is these rumours are even doing the rounds! According to a recent article in The Times, 26% of children at private schools are being awarded extra time in exams on grounds of health/special educational needs - compared to 17% at non-selective state schools. Food for thought.
Just in my adult lifetime, there have been a few signposts along the way that may begin to explain what is happening. I recall attending a primary school as a parent governor, and being struck by all the wall displays that explained all of the rights the students had. I won't repeat the detail, but the message was clear. No mention of responsibilities, just rights. I remember the first time when attending a primary school sports day; there were no losers. Everyone was a winner. It's almost as if there can be no failure, hardly preparing our youngsters for adult life. Just look at how younger pupils of ours respond to driving test fails: it's truly devastating and unjust because the CAUSE of the failure had nothing to do with them. The result was related to another road user, the weather, the time of day, the examiner, the sat nav, the quota of pass/fails. If you keep telling young minds that there is no such thing as failing, then they have no experience of failing and recovering from a setback. When I listen to some of my pupils talk about stress, it often involves their ability to manage adversity. Mock test results, relationship breakdowns, pets dying. When schools place a heavy burden on homework and revision at home, they feed this sense of impending doom. I can only imagine it must be a thoroughly miserable existence. They are continuously bombarded, in every academic year with tests which are supposed to be preparing them for the final exams. So there is this very high expectation from teachers for success (one might even use the word 'demand' these days), failure is not an option. Look at all these tests that we have prepared for you over the last five years; you better make sure you nail these exams. It's like a 'Step by step guide how to damage mental health' by insisting upon unrealistic demands.
Our industry is currently pondering on why theory test pass rates are as low as they are. As I say, I could be way off the mark here, but I think you will find theory tests come low in priorities in the workload of your average 17-year-old. We are creating 'pressure pots' of stressed teenagers who know there are high expectations but have no idea what it is to fail. You imagine living your life like that and see how that starts to affect your outlook.
I recall speaking to a Mum on the phone recently. Her daughter has high anxiety levels due to an event which neither Mum nor pupil cares to disclose. The driving behaviour of her daughter is inconsistent, erratic and progress is flat-lining. There is nothing about the situation which is anything particularly unusual, on the face of it. Typically, if I demonstrate that what I'm attempting to develop in my pupil is technically sound, as per the DVSA driving standard, then all is good in the world. But all is not good in the world for this pupil, and she is not slow in letting me know she has no time for my contribution. Everything that comes out of my mouth is beneath her. Taking the emotion out of the situation and showing this pupil the same message via DVSA publications makes no odds. This pupil won't even look at the publications.
She is consumed in self-doubt, expressing feelings of hopelessness. She can't hear my advice on a technical or metacognitive level, because there is too much 'noise' distracting her. You could say the red mist is truly fogging up any rational thoughts. Her emotional state of mind is busily telling her how useless she is and how she may as well give up. It is very, very sad to observe, and not at all unusual. Mum tells me that her daughter does, in general, tend to focus on negatives. You see, it often comes down to learning to deal, manage, cope with adversity. All of this wrapping young folk up in cotton wool is not helping them. Life is hard, a struggle, often cruel, with the odd addition of unjust at times. It can be miserable, some might even say at times unbearable, but we learn to plod on, recognise our weaknesses and make our way through life. Beautiful sunshine at times gives way to being dark, wet, bitterly cold and downright miserable - but hey, that is life.
One particular disappointment for me personally in 2019 is the quality of some CPD I attended on Safeguarding. I blogged on it at the time. It's a great shame as there are so many opportunities to provide proper, meaningful support for ADI's. I am a regular listener of the DIPOD podcast as well as a member of one of the driving associations and can see how poor the CPD choices are for ADI's. I haven't seen the latest statistics on retention in the industry. Still, having attended a safeguarding course mid-2019, I do find myself less inclined to participate in such activity. A generous description would be 'unprofessional'; let's leave it at that. On the subject of resources, the new 'Official DVSA guide to learning to drive' book came out on 23/10/19 and is available on Amazon for £7.19. It's an excellent guide, and the updates are good to see. My only gripe is with repeated reference made to 'The Driver's Record'. Not only is there a mismatch of the 'five levels' mentioned in the book (pg 14) as against the > online version of the driver's record < but the graphic shown within the book (pg 169) does not even exist! But as I've mentioned before in this blog, all publications from the DVSA should be purchased by ADI's, and I can see no reason why ADI's shouldn't be buying a copy of this book for their pupils. At £7 it is a small price to pay for a handy guide to pupils and accompanying drivers. DES has also been updated near the end of 2019 and while I would always recommend the latest versions, the updates in this are less significant.
There may be some more news coming to us in December 2019. There was talk a couple of years ago about a review of the SatNav TomTom model for driving tests - a change for an improved device would get my vote. I believe there is an update to the driving standard coming our way.
Happy training folks.
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