Driving examiners like thinking drivers and learners like thinking driving instructors.  

Anyone with an interest in learning may recall Daniel Willingham, “Memory is the residue of thought”. There will be many a DVSA observed driving lesson where the examiner in the back is desperate to see the instructor stop “telling” and instead test for understanding by asking their pupil to think. When our pupil starts thinking independently, we start to create some learning.  

The value that we create as driving instructors is our ability to think about what we know; to apply theoretical and analytical knowledge acquired from formal training and facilitate learning with our pupils. It is what makes us ‘Knowledge Workers’: we intently think when we work with our pupils and we focus on our interactions with pupils. We utilise our expertise, critical thinking and interpersonal skills – the service we deliver is in our interaction with humans, and humans are complex; which is why we need to think. 

Research tells us that this characteristic of focused effort is best achieved in a 3-4 hour window. Having experienced the outcomes of working within these timescales with pupils for 15 years, I can wholeheartedly agree it is the way to go. When an instructor attempts to perform for longer periods, it inevitably results in lesser quality of outcomes and a reduction in their mental wellbeing. I do 4 hours of dedicated work with one pupil, once per day, and no more. I am not distracted by thoughts of other pupils and their various needs, or bombarded with possible cancellations, or concerning myself with hunger or fatigue. In that period of 4 hours my pupil and I are working in ‘flow’, intense effort with incredible outcomes. Deliberate practice is effortful and extremely powerful. When my time is done, I switch off, and my brain effortlessly processes in the background with no conscious thought on my part. The time outside of the 4 hours is as important as the 4 hours – we all need downtime, rest and mindless activities for our subconscious mind to facilitate imagination and creativity.  When I next see my pupil, often there will be momentary sparks of intuitive thought that are beneficial to the learning environment. These moments are not rehearsed, they are not memorised by rote, they are spontaneous and effortless. 

When you work 12 hours in a day, attempting to assist 6 different pupils for example, all with varying needs, finding focus in the chaos is impossible; I know, I used to do it often. I was unconsciously incompetent, not even realising that I was working within utter chaos. We valiantly battle on, thinking that this is normal, but our ability as a driving instructor is compromised, the quality of service is reduced, it affects the outcomes, and we get home utterly exhausted and unable to calm a completely traumatised mind. 

These long hours mean there is little time for recharging and inevitably the last thing we do in our hectic day, is browse the diary to see what kind of hectic day awaits tomorrow. And on we heroically go, blind to our weaknesses. 

Back to these shorter 4 hour sessions. Many pupils will benefit from 4 hour training sessions – they just don’t realise they would. A 4 hour session of focused deliberate practice, interspersed with periods of rest and reflection. Inviting our pupil to evaluate how the learning is going.  

Take ‘push/pull’ steering as an example.  

In an hour driving lesson when you remove time for a briefing and de-briefing and travel to and back from the practice location, you will realistically be looking at a period of deliberate practice of 30 minutes. Rarely is 30 minutes long enough to feel any accomplishment with this technique and so this means that the topic is returned to in a week or so time – with all the in-built inefficiency affecting that session too.  Welcome to the world of ‘plod along’ driving training.

Consider going to location A – introducing push/pull steering and letting the pupil effectively just experiment for however long they like. However long THEY like. Interject some other related skills such as reversing in a straight line while looking out the rear windscreen, reversing with push/pull steering, adding some structured mirror checks when driving forwards with a corresponding signal prior to the push/pull steering. Stop and rest. While you take your pupil to a different location, chat, laugh and relax. Then, swap over again, and continue with some deliberate practice in this different setting – same skills, different setting. Stop, rest and while you take your pupil to a suitable location, introduce the idea of reverse parallel park.  While you do the foot controls, see if your pupil can use push/pull steering while they do a reverse parallel park with you giving Level 1 Full Talk Through verbal guidance. Ensure the goal is achievable and measurable and wait and see the smile on their face when they start seeing success with push/pull steering…… going backwards. Go somewhere else suitable and incorporate some push/pull steering in first gear only – no other expectations or distractions, purely playing and experimenting. Now THIS is what learning looks like. THIS is what makes pupils happy. They feel safe, they feel freedom, they hear options, they can make mistakes and try again, they can recognise progress, they are stimulated by differing goals, they can sense increased confidence, they start to feel good. 

The regime above isn’t intended to suit every single pupil; as a Knowledge Worker, we are thinking as the session progresses. We are willing and able to adapt, to suit the circumstances presented. We have the confidence in our ability to allow our intuitive sense to roll with what occurs and lead us into other options. But notice the flow. It is a flow of high-quality learning that is taking place. It is taking place over a continuous period of time but carefully managed to ensure that instructor and pupil are not overwhelmed. And it is extremely powerful. If you are not aware of this type of training, you will be amazed at just how powerful it is.  

We welcome contact from any thinking instructor who wants to maximise the learning potential with their pupils.  Call 01928 508 833