When people think of what is needed to be a driving instructor, generally speaking, they’ll talk of patience and being a good driver.  Thoughts are generally inward-looking. The aspect of the work that is often not thought about is the person who is being trained, and yet, it is THE most important part of the work.

Rewinding just for a brief moment. Driving instructors are self-employed business people and all business people need to create an enticing value for a customer to engage with them. If the public do not associate receiving value from a business, I doubt that business will be operating for too long.

So really, the question should be, how are you, as a driving instructor, going to create value for your customers? Take a half a minute to really think about that.

In the words of Clinton Baptiste: “I’m thinking of a word…..”, and I bet a word that just came into your head was….. “patience”. The value you are thinking of giving to your customers will be patience. That is indeed needed, but wont be enough I’m afraid.

It’s rather odd this industry that you are thinking of joining, because the ‘bread and butter’ of our work is one of facilitating learning, and yet apparently we don’t need any previous teaching qualifications to join it. How strange.

It will be your ability to help others to learn where you will find your magical value. What is it about the process of learning that we need to at least be aware of?

By way of answering, I’ll draw on a real-life example (not a bad technique to make note of in a learning environment).  I’m currently trying to learn the following passage from Ernest Dowson:

Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat incohare longam

They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,

Love and desire and hate:

I think they have no portion in us after

We pass the gate.

They are not long, the days of wine and roses:

Out of a misty dream

Our path emerges for a while, then closes

Within a dream

 

Now my ability to learn this passage is going to depend on a few things:

The reason for me learning it – what is my motivation?

Do I understand what is being said – does it have meaning to me?

What is the best way in which I can learn it?

Is it an achievable goal for me to memorise the entire passage?

 

Because only once I start to think through these questions, can I begin to realise whether there is any likelihood in achieving the goal.

So when you tell your nearest and dearest that you want to be a driving instructor, it would be wise to have given these questions some thought.  Moreover, when a pupil calls you for the first time looking for driving lessons, you might want to have a discussion based around these questions too.

Fundamentally, you have to realise that you cannot force someone to learn.

So knowing you cannot force learning, it then begs the question, how can you facilitate learning? Creating a learning environment that is civilised, professional and enjoyable is definitely a start. Complying with the ADI Code of Conduct – yes. But hold on, I am now beginning to turn inward again, let’s keep facing outward towards the person who is paying for your service.

Remember, you have identified how learning occurs, and this is your goal, so how do those questions relate to your pupil?

What is their motivation? Contrast “because I need to have mobility for when I go to Uni” with, “because my mum and dad are tired of being a taxi service for me”.

Does the pupil understand what is being said? When you speak to your pupil are they listening and understanding what you are saying. “I work to the DVSA driving standard in terms of the syllabus so that you become a safe, confident, competent driver – not just to pass a driving test”. Does the pupil understand what you mean? Is what is being communicated actually meaningful to the pupil?

The best way to learn? Previous experiences may come in handy here. What works for the pupil? If they don’t know, how can we discover what works for them? This is NOT about how YOU like to learn, this is how does your pupil learn things?

Is the goal achievable? I’ve tried to learn german, chess, playing the piano and a guitar, to ski, tennis and I dare say many more with varied degrees of success in my lifetime. It is NOT a given, that every goal we set ourselves is achievable. Learning is effortful – remember those 3 words…. learning is effortful.

Whether this has happened to you yet or not, when people come into our industry, they have the enthusiasm and  excitement knocked out of them when training providers start talking about: ORDIT, parameters, client-centred learning, sharing risk and responsibilities, coaching, adapting lesson plans and so much more. Wow! Suddenly, out of the window goes meaningful learning, and flying into the car comes meaningless jargon! The concepts mean things, it’s just the words being used are not appropriate (at this moment in time) for the person who is hearing them.

Before you stop reading this due to all the doom and gloom, it doesn’t go like this with the BIG TOM Franchise. We know that in order for you to provide effective training to your customers, you need to experience what effective training looks and feels like – and that does certainly not involve needless jargon. If you train with me, I’ll treat you how I’d like to think you would treat me – meaningfully. So I wont ask you to do anything that I would not do in a training session. This is incredibly important to know because I can think of nothing worse, than someone teaching me something and I literally don’t understand what they are saying or why on earth they are doing it.

Just to summarise. When you, as a driving instructor, finish a training session with a pupil and you ask them to tell you about 3 new things they have learnt from the session and they recall nothing – then you need to adapt your communication and learning techniques because there is NO VALUE being added for that customer – they will not stay with you for long.

Joining the BIG TOM Franchise is making a business decision, we are not providing driving training as a hobby. We are aligned to the needs of our customer and we do everything possible to meet those needs so that we create….. value. No value – no business.

If you find this approach to learning quite refreshing, you’ll love my franchise – call on 01928 508 833