The short answer is “no”.  But now for the longer answer.

You can either tell a learner what to do in driving training (this is what Mum and Dad driving lessons look like), or you can encourage them to discover what to do.  [And there is a whole raft of variation in between those].

The pupil digs deep, and trys to discover for themselves why, what is happening, is happening. Now that can be a giant leap in difference to how an ‘instructor-led’ driving training session looks and feels.

With coaching, a pupil needs to have raised awareness and accept responsibility for what happens. This is why it is important that the correct approach is used for the needs of the particular pupil. It’s not about you, as the instructor, taking all responsibility for outcomes and MAKING your pupil aware of what is happening.

Coaching is wrapped up in a world of non-judgement, our role as driving instructors is not to sit there telling our pupils what they are doing wrong. We are much more interested in our pupil’s thoughts and feelings.  We might ask a pupil, “What outcome are you looking for?” and a follow up being, “And how much control do you have personally over the outcome?”.  Wonderful questions, very rich and deep.

It’s a very interesting approach, and for any instructors who tend to provide “instructor-led” driving instruction, it requires a completely different mindset, because they are used to calling all the shots in a lesson; they decide what is going to happen, when, where and how. They expect the pupil to just absorb everything that the instructor says. As such, one observation of this approach is that the pupil will only ever be as good as the instructor. Whereas in a coaching setting, pupils can be better than their trainer.

Would all pupils like this approach to learning? No, so it is a good idea to discuss options of approaches beforehand.

Not to be confused with, hey let’s just rock up this morning, make it up as we go along, you tell me what you fancy doing, and we’ll just go from there.  No. There is much talk about utilising SMART goals, encouraging pupils to evaluate by using scaling and keeping in mind the GROW model – to name but a few techniques. There is particular emphasis made on effective listening, observations, imagination and providing feedback.

When a pupil owns what is going on, where there is a desire for continuous improvement, the pupil is happy to step outside of their comfort zone and recognises the link between discovering the unknown and maximising potential. This is fundamentally why this approach to learning has no ceiling.

You might say that rather than forcing learning IN to your pupil, you would be cultivating the learning from within, OUTWARDS. One beautiful consequence of this approach to learning, is that you will be amazed at how conversations go; it will instigate unique conversations that are incredibly beneficial to pupil and instructor, and will help us as instructors appreciate the complexity and unqueness of each pupil we work with.

Which is why the answer to the question is “No, but let me talk to you about it a bit over a coffee”.

In the BIG TOM Franchise, we recognise the most valuable asset we have, is the quality of the driving instructor. Which is why you can truly grow and add value for your customers with this franchise.