Pressure of a penalty shoot out

It's not often that England is successful at winning a match on penalties but last night, in Russia they only did it!  A feat never before accomplished by England in a World Cup match.  Listening to the players and Manager in post-match interviews there was much talk of "owning the process" and remaining "in the moment".  Fascinating comments because it very much reminds me of the situation that happens with pupils taking their driving test.  

How many times do you come out of an interview and as you reflect, you kick yourself for NOT saying something for a given question, or talking nonsense for a different question?  The moment in time gets the better of us; the pressure affects the behaviours.  

The England Manager Gareth Southgate mentioned about the preparations the squad have done should it come down to penalties.  There are stats on specific players' scoring rates as well as goalkeeper performance on saves.  The goalkeeper mentioned that he had researched where certain players like to place the ball in a penalty stating that of the five penalty takers for Columbia, only one player struck the ball in a different area of the goal than usual.  

So there is constant, meticulous tracking of performance by individual players when taking penalties.  There is meaningful, specific research.  And there is "owning the process"; an exciting phrase deserving exploring a little.

Often in these high-pressure situations that crop up in life, e.g. interviews, exams, driving tests, first dates, there is an "unknown" element to them which can quickly develop in the imagination and become a monster.  Many of the England players would have had to overcome this last night due to their relative inexperience - they just would not have been in that situation before.  They would have taken dozens if not hundreds of penalties in competitive games in their lives, but never in a World Cup game in front of billions of viewers where the consequence of not scoring is being knocked out of the competition.

The player either volunteers or would be expected to take a penalty.  The player is physically shattered.  He will have confidence levels which will be very personal to him.  Where in the line up of 5 does the player take the penalty?  What are the expectations of the Manager, peers, the nation?  Did the opposition score or not immediately prior to taking the penalty.  The long walk from the halfway line to take the penalty.  The possible verbal and non-verbal exchange with the opposing goalkeeper.  What the referee says/does.  The atmosphere in the stadium created by the fans.  The behaviour of the goalkeeper immediately before taking the penalty.  The run-up.  The execution of the strike.

What examiners say on a driving test, how they behave, what you think, how you act, what events surrounding the situation ARE you in control of, which things that happen do you have no say in at all?  How do you feel, is the adrenalin helpful or harmful, are nerves affecting performance, do you have external pressures with which you think you MUST pass the driving test?  Have you practised this situation by doing a mock test, what is your actual driving ability (not perceived, but real), are you in control of your body - is your leg shaking, your heart pumping out your chest, you have a headache, you are sweating like crazy, your hands are literally shaking, you cannot think straight?

When the England Manager talked about "owning the process" he is referring to his players being aware of these elements and taking responsibility for doing the best they possibly can to prepare for them.  I noticed he was quick to make mention of the team around him and the work they did with the players.  He has considered a strategy for dealing with the high-pressure situation of penalties in the World Cup; he has first-hand knowledge of how it feels not to score (not all unfortunate experience is negative).  He has arranged an array of resources to be available for the individual players.  Ultimately, it will be how effectively the players engage in those resources that will determine outcomes.  This is what it comes down to.  At some point, the player will need to take responsibility for owning how he prepares for this situation.

I have known pupils not accept my feedback of their driving ability, not engage in a mock test, not ask any questions about how the driving test is conducted or how the examiner behaves.  Some are not even aware of the structure of the test, how it is assessed or even how long it lasts. 

It is a matter for our pupil.  We can advise but what we can't do is force a pupil to take responsibility for "owning the process".  It is for this reason that making training providers responsible for pass marks is a minefield.  Look at schools for example.  The stress exerted on teachers and students at schools is primarily due to the exam grades being a key indicator for the OFSTED assessment.  There appears to be no limit as to what a school will now consider doing to maximise exam grades with seemingly little regard ironically to how it affects the well being of the student or indeed the staff members.  

If you are considering joining the BIG TOM franchise and growing concerned as you are reading this, then I am happy to state I do not fall into this trap of holding instructors to account for pupil pass rates.  The current national driving test pass rate is 45.4% for a good reason; everything to do with the contents of this blog.  One of the critical values of BIG TOM Driving School is to provide a safe, enjoyable environment in which to develop long-lasting driving behaviours in our pupils.  A 100% first-time pass rate does not feature in our BIG TOM Customer Charter.  I would go so far as to say it would be impossible to run a thriving and prosperous driving school if the school DID have a 100% first-time pass rate, such is the negative impact it would force on customers.  That methodology does not make for happy customers.  There is nothing long-lasting about forcing pupils to drive in a particular manner to pass a driving test, that is not the pupil "owning the process" that would be the driving instructor taking complete control of the process.  The problem is that those pupils who have been "coached" to behave in a particular manner to pass the driving test, don't continue with those behaviours post-test, they don't own them so they won't do them.  

If you are interested in road safety rather than 100% driving test pass rates then BIG TOM would be VERY interested to hear from you.

The driving test conveyor belt

When you first enter the industry as a driving instructor it is natural to assume that the key skills you need to possess include patience, calmness, understanding, empathy and reassurance and let’s throw in a dollop of sense of humour as well, that always goes down well.  Undoubtedly having these skills in your armoury can do you no harm but what you really need to understand is where you fit into the bigger picture, because that will NOT be quite so apparent.

You will realise quite quickly that there is more to the job of a driving instructor than developing the skills, techniques and knowledge that makes a safe driver.  In all walks of life we can focus our attention and efforts to achieve a particular goal but that does not in itself lead to permanence in our behaviours.  Driving instruction is no different.  Our education system places a heavy bias on exam results, but that is not necessarily resulting in well rounded, confident young adults equipped to deal with all the challenges soon to come their way.  And what you are going to discover as a newly qualified driving instructor is that there will equally be a heavy bias on passing the driving test.  The pupil(s) sat next to you, quite naturally has one thing in their mind, passing the driving test as soon as possible.  They are not interested in developing skills to aid anticipation of hazards, assessing driving conditions, reflecting on decisions they make as a driver, considering personal strengths/weaknesses for given situations.  They are interested in your pass rate, how quickly you take people to test, the test routes, how long it takes to book a test and if they fail when can they take another test. 

Our DVSA driving standards are designed to offer a guiding light in the thoroughness of our training.  They do not mention about driving tests and neither should we to our pupils.  Recently a driving instructor commented on a forum that everyone should calm down about their concerns regarding the new law for taking learners on to motorways; motorway driving is not on the test, we should feel no obligation to cover it in our training, in his opinion.  This is a person who appears to be training pupils to pass driving tests.   One of the problems with this approach is in the permanence of the learning.  Students who learn to pass exams have limited retention of knowledge beyond the exam; they have after all only temporarily retained the knowledge to pass the exam, what is the point in retaining it for any longer?  Equally, one could argue what is the point in learning ANYTHING that is not going to be asked in the exam?  The same goes for our pupils who learn how to pass a driving test, once that goal is achieved, that knowledge is also disposed of under the “no longer required” category.  This IS why the driving behaviour of newly qualified drivers is having to be further monitored by the use of “black box” telematics.  It is an attempt to re-name that newly acquired knowledge into the category of “Temporary hold” rather than “no longer required”.   

As professionals in the industry we have a duty to act like professionals and work to driving standards rather than the standard required to pass driving tests.  If you train a pupil to make a certain observation at a given moment in time in order to pass a test, do you honestly think that pupil is going to continue making that observation after they pass the test?  Do you intend to offer to assist pupils navigating up and down multi-storey car parks, dealing safely with breakdowns, managing in-car technology, handling a group of excited passenger friends in the car?

Passing of the driving test is a natural by-product of good driving training.  Your younger pupils may not be too willing to hear that to begin with.  They may have any number of very real obstacles to learning to drive, obstacles that simply cannot be ignored in order to develop a safe driver but that does not necessarily mean that THEY will recognise that fact.  Some pupils will need guidance in appreciating unrealistic expectations as they may not be too experienced in that so far in their life.  An educational factory that is bending over backwards to condition students to take exams does not develop an understanding of what real, practical, meaningful learning actually looks like.  Managing obstacles to learning simply comes in the form of re-taking of tests repeatedly.  There is no need to develop a responsibility for what any learning actually means to you as a student when you are simply being encouraged to regurgitate knowledge in the short-term.  As all of us know only too well, if we don’t feel a sense of “owning” our involvement in something, then the outcome is “out of our hands”.  As a newly qualified driving instructor, if you can develop a relationship with your pupil so that they can sense they very much are in control of outcomes then that is certainly heading towards “safe driving”.   A student who fails exams can re-sit it or even the entire year but consider what failure means to our driving pupils.  It is the easiest thing in the world to teach a pupil to pass a driving test, but if they then go on to have accidents, feel unconfident to drive, can’t afford the insurance then really, what value have you added?  All of us driving instructors can look the other way with this, pretend it is not happening, but all the evidence out there is suggesting that many of our pupils are being seriously let down by our unprofessional approach to learning to drive.

Tom Ingram provides driving training for trainee driving instructors 0775 607 1464   http://drivinginstructortraining.bigtom.org.uk/ 

How will you contribute to the driving training industry?

One of the challenges that meets newly qualified driving instructors is the problem that the behaviour that a pupil intends is not what actually occurs.  Bearing in mind that driving instructors do not require a teaching qualification this problem can sometimes cause great frustration and irritation to the instructor.  In this blog I will expand on this particular issue and discuss why this happens.

James takes a mock test with you which he fails as he was doing 35 in a 30.  Does that seem harsh to you?  Pupils do need to receive good quality feedback. You discuss this with James, it is not a new problem, he has been consistently wanting to drive at just over 30mph for a long time, he knows it, he knows you know it.  Where to go from here?  James is itching to do another mock test, because he just wants to show you that when he really really concentrates on his speed, he can manage to not go over 30mph.  So you do another mock test, sure enough, he passes with no speeding, and James is feeling really good about himself.  Hoorah!  Let’s book the real test then.  Has that speeding problem gone away?  Of course it hasn’t.  There is a disconnect between what James intends to do and what he actually does.  Here we are talking about speeding but it could equally be related to texting while driving, tailgating, drifting between lanes on a multi-lane roundabout, excessive acceleration or braking that makes for an uncomfortable ride.  As the driving instructor, you encourage the pupil to become aware of how they are driving, you check for understanding but there is no change in behaviour.  Hmmmmm…… that’s annoying isn’t it? 

One of the reasons why we have the level of distrust from car insurers about newly qualified drivers is due to how your ‘average’ driving instructor deals with this problem.  Many instructors will say to James after the 2^nd successful mock test “There you go James, you see, you CAN do it.  That’s all it requires, just need to focus like that when you are driving and you will be fine.  A couple of endorsements for speeding James and those points on your licence will mean you have to start all this over again, including the theory…. so, have you got that now then?”  James nods his head whilst thinking “I only wanted to prove I can pass your mock test”.

A glance at the GDE matrix shows us some pertinent considerations:

Regarding risk, we have sensation seeking, acceptation of risk, risky driving style.  Under self-evaluation we have risky tendencies, typically risky motives when driving, personal safety margins, realistic assessment of own skill, strengths and weaknesses regarding driving skills in traffic.  James' attitude to the risk associated with driving at 35 in a 30 may not match yours.   His thoughts on the subject might raise an opinion or belief that will not be changing any time soon – he may have formed this through his upbringing, due to the influence of friends or family members or it may simply be deeply ingrained in James.  My point is, unless we make attempts to understand the influencers on his behaviour, as a professional, how can we ever hope to assess the risk associated with it?

As our driving standard tells us and this blog has mentioned on many occasions, we can help develop a pupil’s self-awareness but at some point, it really is incumbent on our pupils to take responsibility for the outcomes of their learning process.  It will only be through open and honest conversations with pupils that we can ever hope for them to change driving behaviours.  At the core of your relationships with your pupils must be openness, integrity and respect.  On the whole, pupils do not enter into driving training with driving instructors to completely ignore any issue that crops up, what they do need assistance with however, is discovering what is affecting them to make the decisions that they are.  Right now, more than at any time since I have been in this industry, what is needed is some acknowledgement of how poor training affects outcomes – not in terms of passing driving tests, but in terms of developing safe drivers in the long term.  That accountability is sadly very much lacking.  We have car insurers telling our customers after they pass their driving test that the only way to make the insurance premium affordable is if they are continually monitored with telematics fitted to their car.  That consequence of the training provided is shameful and if you are coming into the industry now, it would be good to ask yourself what kind of driving instructor are you wanting to be: one who exacerbates this distrust in newly qualified drivers or one who seeks to assist pupils in truly changing driving behaviours for the better.

The choice is ultimately yours.


Tom Ingram provides payg driving training to trainee driving instructors 0775 607 1464  http://drivinginstructortraining.bigtom.org.uk/ 

Don't give me that glazed eyes look

In this blog Tom Ingram from BIG TOM Driving School explores the pitfalls in not engaging with our pupils.

A learner could have a misconception about what is involved in learning to drive, or what “good driving” looks like, and having been developed over many years it is well entrenched in their belief system.  A learner may fall into the common trap of under-estimating how long it will take to learn to drive and this affects their motivation to actually learn.  But what about the learner who quite simply is not engaging with you? 

One of the reasons why it is good practice to have a re-cap of the key learning points from the previous driving session is because it enables you to identify if your pupil IS actually learning.  I’ve had pupils looking at me with that glazed eyes look, yawning, illogically nodding or crossing their head, startled when they realise they have been asked a question that requires the formulation of a string of words that are actually meaningfully related to it.

My point here though, it is not their “fault”.  It undeniably needs to be dealt with, without a shadow of doubt, but a pupil should not be in some manner, penalised for not engaging with you.  Lack of engagement inevitably results in lack of learning and progress.  If pupils don’t make progress, they often go elsewhere to a driving instructor who will make progress.  It really, really is that simple.  The teacher in the clip above will be salaried staff, he is getting paid regardless of his “output”, you as a driving instructor on the other hand….. are not!

Tom Ingram provides PAYG driving training for driving instructors  0775 607 1464