Warning – this unit was last revised in 2007

Unit 16: Positive and Retrospective instruction

Research Material:
The Driving Instructor’s Handbook

Definitions:
Positive instruction – guiding or prompting in a way to keep the customer at the limits of their ability, while still driving safely and without significant fault.

Retrospective instruction – fixing a fault which has occurred.

Learning a something new in any sphere involves learning how to do it (knowledge), practising the actions of doing it (skill), and having the mental ability to put these together in the real world (attitude). Coaching someone through these steps involves keeping the customer within their ability, but pushing them beyond their current experience, but not into the unknown.

Current experience
(capable, within their comfort zone with known skills and environment)
No Real Learning

The next known step
(learning a new skill in a familiar environment, or testing a familiar skill in a new environment)
Real Learning

The unknown
(beyond current capabilities, new skills being taught in a new environment)
AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!

The ideal, and the quickest way for someone to gain learn something new is to keep them within the centre section – always at the next known step, where you have made sure they are capable, but not pushing them too far into the unknown, where they are being asked to do too much.

Positive instruction is keeping control of the session, by planning and your abilities, not letting things go wrong. When teaching a new skill, explain what it is, demonstrate it, or have a dry run before practising it, and convey the importance of being able to use it. Then talk through the actions necessary to achieve the action, being aware that your customer may have holes in their knowledge, skill or attitude which need filling before they fall into them! If they fall into these holes – we’re in the realms of retrospective instruction.

Teaching something new should always be positive. For example, if when practising moving off your customer sets the gas and is about to look all around ready to signal – but are still in neutral, prompt them to engage the gear and find the bite point before anything else. You have spotted the potential for a mistake which could have affected others, and have provided a positive instruction in order to avoid it. Allowing them to put the signal on, take the handbrake off and only then realise there is no bite point would involve correcting something which had already gone wrong – retrospective instruction.

Keep it positive – head mistakes off at the pass – don’t let them happen at the learning stages. Anticipation and experience play their part in this – assess any hazard early, with reference to your customer’s capabilities. If you feel a mistake might happen, adjust your level of instruction accordingly.

This all sounds great until you start to put it into practise – and in the real world you may not be able to anticipate every possible mistake. This is where retrospective instruction becomes necessary, and this should be conducted through the core competencies previously covered. Sometimes it is not possible to fix things on the move – analyse them immediately after they have happened, but things should never be left any later than is absolutely necessary. More on this subject will be covered in Unit 23 – Stop or on the move?

There is an old saying that people learn by their mistakes – they do, but they find it a hell of a lot easier to learn by being aware of the possibility of mistakes, and avoiding them! Much of this ties back in to the level of instruction provided – under instruct and mistakes will be made, your customer will feel bad and may not learn so well. Over instruct, and a comfort zone will become harder and harder to get out of. Pitching instruction at the correct level is very important to progress learning positively.

One area where retrospective instruction becomes necessary and even useful is during mock tests. More on that later.

Discussion Points:
Prevention or Cure?

With positive instruction – if a mistake has been prevented it must still be identified, analysed and corrected

The dangers of too much positive instruction – over reliance on the instructor, and no transfer of responsibility.

Exercises:
Moving Off
Meeting situations
Approaching roundabouts
Parking safely
The turn in the road

Warning – this unit was last revised in 2007

Unit 17: Control of the Lesson

Research Material:
The Driving Instructor’s Handbook

“Deals with the overall control of the lesson and the interaction processes within it. Directions must be clear and given at the correct time. Instruction should be given in good time to help the pupil respond to the situation at hand. Instructions must relate to the prevailing road and traffic conditions. This has strong links with the ‘Core competencies’, ‘level of instruction’, and ‘Feedback and encouragement’.” – From the examiner’s marking guidelines (ADI1)

Planning and observing everything around you – while being fully aware of what your customer is doing takes huge concentration. When it works it is great, but when it starts to go wrong it feels like you are having to constantly catch up with yourself. Your instruction becomes more frantic, less planned, and everyone gets stressed – at this point you know you need a break, and your customer will as well. Control is about creating those breaks and using them constructively – to learn and to get ahead of things, rather than trying to catch up.

Fault analysis is often the first thing to go by the wayside. It takes brain power and it is often hard to judge whether it should be done on the move, or whether parking up is necessary.

If a fault occurs which is a safety concern and your customer is in any way unsure about what happened, why it happened, or how to deal with it if it happens again – pull over.

While learning to drive – certainly in the early stages – much of the brain’s concentration is focussed inside the car, on the use of the controls – this often means that remembering circumstances, and thinking through consequences will take away concentration from the control of the car. This is when stopping is necessary. Often you will be alerted to this when you start to analyse the mistake, and you will find that your customer will frown, ‘um’ and ‘err’, and generally show that they need to stop in order to think things through. The more worrying effect is that they might transfer all of the thought process from the control of the car to the analysis of the problem, and you will find that you are heading rapidly into trouble!

Often customers will think that being pulled over is a bad thing. Remind them that there are different processes going on, there is the acquisition of knowledge, practice of the skill, and learning how to deal with real life situations. Time spent at the side of the road is time spent learning – a positive thing.

Make sure that you stop as soon as is safe after a safety issue has arisen – talking about the problem ‘at that roundabout about a mile back’ is liable to get the answer ‘erm, which one?’. Fix things while they are fresh in the mind.

Many faults are minor, and depending on circumstances will have no effect on safety – these can and often should be dealt with by question and answer on the move.

Discussion Points:
Alert (Fault ID) on the move – pull over as soon as is safe
Fault analysis then allow them the chance to correct it
Ensure that parking up is positive
Fault analysis on the move – safely and constructively

Exercises:
Your trainer will role-play faults which you will need to use your core competencies on. You will need to decide whether you can or should fix them on the move or by pulling over

Approaching junctions to turn left or right

Gear problems

Clutch control problems

Warning – this unit was last revised in 2007

Unit 18: Communication

Research Material:
The Driving Instructor’s Handbook

“Is concerned with pupil’s understanding of instruction, appropriateness of language, and use of jargon (with or without explanation). Includes the ability to adapt and to use language and terminology likely to be familiar to the particular pupil and not to overload them with over-technical and complex explanations.” – From the examiner’s marking guidelines (ADI1)

Everything you say needs to be understood. This may seem simple and obvious, but when you put this into context of (for example) explaining how the clutch works, you realise that you would use very different language when dealing with a mechanic or a nail technician. Watching your customer’s reactions to your explanations will help with this – the glazed look, or the nod of agreement can be small clues as to whether something is understood or over their head.

Be aware of how things are interpreted, and if necessary, ask your customer to repeat things back to you, in the way that they have understood them. Watch for inaccuracies, or easily twisted phrases.

An awareness of your customer’s knowledge here is essential, so be aware of re-cap information, and during examinations, the “word picture” given to you by the examiner.

Remember the different way that people learn – a thinker may want more explanations, in order to be able to get a big picture before attempting something, a researcher may well have read up on something already, and a tryer may well be fidgetting with the controls – a sure hint that they just want to start doing it!

Discussion Points:
Clear words or jargon
Body language
Understanding and gaining agreement

Exercises:
Talk through the MSM/PSL routine on approach to a left turn without using the words “check” “signal” “manoeuvre” “position” or “speed”!

Explain the clutch to your trainer as they role-play:
A trainee mechanic
A nail technician

Warning – this unit was last revised in 2007

Unit 19: Question and Answer Technique

Research Material:
The Driving Instructor’s Handbook (p101-103)
Coaching for Performance – Chapter 5

“At appropriate points during the lesson the PDI should preferably ask questions that contribute towards realising the objectives of the lesson. Ideally the questions should be simply worded, well defined, reasonable and relevant. There is a need for questions that are thought provoking and challenging as well as ones that simply test a pupil’s memory. In addition the PDI should encourage the pupil to ask questions at appropriate times.
Bear in mind that, whilst this is a useful technique to employ, excessive importance should not be placed on this alone as it is quite possible to give a satisfactory lesson without it.” – From the examiner’s marking guidelines (ADI1).

The questions asked during lessons perform several different functions. Recapping on knowledge and experience in order to determine levels of instruction, questioning on the move in order to prompt the driver into positive action, and questioning in order to determine why a fault occurred – analysing a problem in order to come to an agreement about how to solve it.

Discussion Points:
Closed Questions – testing knowledge
Open Questions – testing awareness and attitude
The use and dangers of the leading question as a prompt
WHY and YOU – the defensive reaction
The question focus – from broad to narrow
Creating awareness and responsibility

Exercises:
Using a roundabout lesson as an example, write a list of closed questions which can test knowledge of how to approach and negotiate them. To be used when briefing.
Eg: What routine will we use on approach to the roundabout?

Using the roundabout lesson again, write a list of leading questions with regards to prompting the MSPSL routine.
Eg: Which mirrors will you use on approach to this roundabout? (depending on which way you are going)

Using the roundabout lesson again, write a list of more open questions with regards to confirming attitudes and skills within the MSPSL routine.
Eg: At the roundabout ahead, we will be turning left, taking the first exit – what is the first thing we need to do?

In role-play, put some of these questions in place on approach to a roundabout. Your trainer will try to react like a customer would.

Once these questions have been practised in role-play, your trainer will start to introduce mistakes, you will need to identify:
What happened?
Why it happened?
What are the dangers involved?
How to fix it?

Warning – this unit was last revised in 2007

Unit 20: Feedback/Encouragement – motivation and plateaus

Research Material:
The Driving Instructor’s Handbook – p103-106, p241-242
Coaching for Performance – Chapters 13 and 14.

“Providing feedback and encouragement to the pupil relating to their performance. Praise, confirmation, reinforcement for effort / progress / achievement. Correction / information when errors / faults occur. Encouraging the pupil is part of any teaching skill. The pupil needs to know when they have done something well. Feedback is key to providing the necessary level of instruction and has close links with the Core Competencies.” – From the examiner’s marking guidelines (ADI1)

You should by this time know why your customer is learning to drive – this is where you start to gear everything towards those ends. For example – if they have children, they will be able to do the school run without relying on relatives and neighbours; if they need to drive for a new job, encourage the development of skills and ensure they imagine their use in the work environment. If they know why they want to learn, this can be used to encourage them to push themselves forward into new and possibly frightening situations. We must acknowledge these fears, but allay them and use their motivations in a way which makes our customer want to face them.

Praise should be linked to positive actions, and should be given as soon as is possible once something has been achieved. However, praising for the sake of it is counter productive, and can lead to complacency. Make sure feedback is realistic, and specific. Body language and eye contact can make a huge difference to how we relate to people, and should be borne in mind when talking to a customer – make sure they believe you and what you say.

The plateau is the stage at which a learner will feel that they are not progressing – constantly repeating the same routes or manoeuvres can be demoralising. Explain that by acknowledging the plateau, and allowing more time and experience, things will become clear. Gaining a perspective on things can be done by changing the objective of the lesson, while bearing the problem area in mind. Taking the specific sticking point out of the equation, while continuing to teach the skills used can be useful. There are great benefits for someone to simply prove to themselves that they can drive from ‘A’ to ‘B’ – a journey which has some relation to them – a visit to a friend, a supermarket or a college for example can restore a sense of perspective and can encourage a customer who felt it was all going wrong.

Discussion Points:
Focussing on the customer’s motivation for learning to drive
Encouraging and nurturing an atmosphere of wanting to find out how new subjects work
Immediately praising independent decision making and actions
Realistic and specific praising & avoiding false praise
Body language and eye contact
Encouraging questions to enable accurate feedback
Dealing with Plateaus

Exercises:
Your trainer will role-play a customer near the end of the following exercises. Time is running out, and you need to summarise the lesson.
Turn in the Road
Crossroads
Use of the MSPSL system in response to hazards

Warning – this unit was last revised in 2007

Unit 21: The Instructor’s use of controls

Research Material:
The Driving Instructor’s Handbook

“This aspect refers to all driver operated controls. (Steering, indicators, brakes etc.) Should only be used when necessary. The pupil should be told when and why they have been used. The PDI must not be controlling the pupil all or most of the time.” – From the examiner’s marking guidelines (ADI1).

We have all been in a car with a driver who makes us nervous – where we actually reach for a brake pedal which isn’t there! Well we’ve got one now – but their use must be thought of as a safety net and nothing more.

Any use of the controls by the instructor must be seen as being retrospective, and therefore not positive – this is a serious instructional mistake – ask yourself how it could have been avoided. They are for emergency use only.

Your most effective dual control is what you say, and the tone in which it is said. A firm sharp ‘off the gas, and brake firmly please’, will often have as much of an effect as using the brake pedal, and though your customer may well feel that they have made a mistake (if it’s got this far – they have), they will feel slightly better about the fact that they fixed it themselves.

Using the dual controls can be demoralising, but it is sometimes necessary. When the duals are used – you must always make it clear that they have been used, and why. Many customers leave instructors saying ‘I didn’t realise, but he was doing loads of stuff for me – it made me feel that I wasn’t as far on as I thought’.

There is one important safety point with the dual controls and that is that when you push the instructor’s pedals down – the customer’s pedals will also go down. With the brake pedal this is not a problem, but with the clutch pedal this can lead to broken toes if their foot is underneath their clutch pedal at the time.

AVOID using the clutch pedal in an emergency – brake the car to a stall if necessary.

Discussion Points:
The emergency stop
The rear end accident at roundabouts and emerging
Clear instructions ‘Brake’ or ‘Slow Down’?
Good use of dual controls for demonstrations

Exercises:
Vocally and manually preventing your customer pulling out into traffic.
Vocally and manually helping with steering problems.
Demonstrating a Reversing exercise from the passenger seat.

Warning – this unit was last revised in 2007

Unit 22: Instructor’s Characteristics – attitude and approach

Research Material:
The Driving Instructor’s Handbook

“This aspect should be dealt with as an overall assessment of the PDI characteristics and is concerned with the skills used to create a relaxed, but supportive learning environment. It is not to be used as a measure of the personality characteristics of the PDI, but as a measure of how effective they are in establishing and maintaining a good rapport and creating the right atmosphere for learning to take place. The PDI should display a relaxed manner and be outgoing but not over-familiar. They should be self confident and capable of transmitting confidence to the pupil in a patient and tactful manner. Any unnecessary physical contact with the pupil will be reflected in the marking.” – From the examiner’s marking guidelines (ADI1).

As soon as you start asking for money to do something – the people who are giving you that money are expecting you to act in a certain way – you have responsibilities! You must come across as professional, comfortable and knowledgeable at all times.

However – you should remember that if your customer feels patronised or uncomfortable with you then they may not take more lessons with you, or they may not learn as quickly.

Small things make a big difference here – smiling seems obvious, but it is so often overlooked! Being a professional doesn’t mean being cold and aloof, so don’t be afraid of casual language (avoiding swearing), and a relaxed manner.

Body langauge needs to be friendly but not unnecessarily tactile, handshakes may be invited by your customer, but be prepared to draw the line before things get over-familiar.

Being in a car with someone on a 1 to 1 basis for up to 100 hours can lead to complications. Awareness of feelings outside the trainer – trainee relationship. Be prepared to deal with these in a manner which will not put your job at risk.

Unnecessary physical contact must be avoided at all costs – the easy way to do this is to imagine a glass partition down the middle of the car which can only be broken in emergencies.

Discussion Points:
Dealing with unwanted (or wanted) attention
The instructor’s seating position

Exercises:
Introductions
Using the wheel or gear lever from the passenger seat:
As demonstration
In an emergency

Warning – this unit was last revised in 2007

Unit 23: Core Competencies – Fault Identification

Research Material:
The Driving Instructor’s Handbook

Fault Identification is the first of the core competencies – the cure for driving faults. You need to know the fault before you can offer a cure.

“Faults – Identified
This covers the ability of the PDI to clearly identify all the important faults committed by the pupil that require correction as part of an effective instructional process. This ability is expected to cover all aspects of control of the car and procedure on the road at all times. The fault assessment need not be immediate if this would be inappropriate at the time, but it should be given at the first opportunity.” – From the examiner’s marking guidelines (ADI1).

Fault ID – What? – SEE IT!
This is the start of it all, but remember, 99% of all faults occur within the MSM/PSL routine, so if you are unsure what the fault is, but know one is occurring, then start at the beginning:

Mirrors – look at Eyes – remember there are only 2 things you can do in a car: change speed, and change direction. So before either of these, ensure mirrors are being used effectively – find out if they know what is behind or to the side, and how it could affect them.

Signal – look at Hands – decide whether their signalling is informative and of use to other road users, or is it unnecessary or timed incorrectly, and a cause of confusion to others

Position – look at Road – normal road position should be a doors width from any obstruction on the left where possible, kerb or parked vehicles. Where not possible (meeting situations for example) make sure that the speed has been dropped to cope with the lack of space. Through junctions and roundabouts be sure to point out any deviation from what you would consider the ideal line or lane choice.

Speed – look for Safe Distances – there’s a simple test for this, if you are nervous, it’s too quick; if you’re worried about the people behind it could be too slow. Included in this area is gear choice, and whether any coasting is happening, which means keeping an eye on feet. Ensure that speed limits are being adhered to, and that in safe areas they are achieved.

Look – look at Road and Eyes – The most important thing to be done. If a hazard isn’t seen, then it can’t be dealt with. Remember that even for experienced instructors, watching the road while watching where the student is looking can be hard, so until you are sure good observations are being carried out, keep the speed down and give yourself time to be sure of both the road and your customer. There is a really simple rule in this section- don’t get let anything happen that you are not 100% sure is safe.

Fault ID – SAY IT!
Here we need to state the fault simply and gain agreement about it. It is all too easy to jump straight to questions here like “do you know what the speed limit is here?” when what you actually need to say is “we’re doing 34 in this 30 zone”. This is especially important, when the problem is one which could cause a hazard.
Try to be as early as possible with this, unless saying it immediately is going to cause more trouble to yourselves or other road users. Nervous students may sometimes head for the brakes at the wrong moment, so use your judgement. If there is no way to sort the problem immediately, then tell your customer you will come back to it as soon as you are in a safe place. Stick to this though, because saying “do you remember that roundabout 15 minutes ago?” is likely to get a blank look!

Discussion Points:
Watching your customer and the road – extra eyes needed!
Spotting body movements and feeling the car
Drive through similar hazards more slowly if unsure
No questions – state the facts

Warning – this unit was last revised in 2007

Unit 24: Core Competencies – Fault Analysis

Research Material:
The Driving Instructor’s Handbook

Before you can give them a cure – you need to know why the problem happened so that it can be prevented next time.

“Fault Analysis
This covers the ability, having identified a fault, to accurately analyse the cause and offer an analysis as appropriate. It covers inaccurate, incomplete or omitted fault analysis.” – From the examiner’s marking guidelines (ADI1).

Fault Analysis – Why? – GAIN AGREEMENT!
In it’s simplest form, this would follow the “we’re doing 34 in this 30 zone” with “look behind, and ease off the gas/brake a touch until we’re back at a safe speed”.
Problem sorted. However, this does not prevent the same mistake from happening again. Here we have to work out why the mistake occurred.

1: Did the customer know what they were doing wrong?
(“did you realise we were going 34?”)
If the answer to this question is yes, skip to question 2.

If the answer is no, you need to work out why not – were they following the car in front, or going down a hill? From here you should agree on a way of preventing it happening again.

2: Did the customer know what they should have done?
(“did you know we were in a 30 zone?”)
If the answer is yes, skip to question 3.

If the answer is no, you need to work out why not – had they missed a sign, or presumed a wide road was a faster road? Again, you need to agree on a plan to prevent it happening again.

3: Why did it happen?
(“if you knew we were exceeding the limit, why didn’t we slow down?”)

This is the awkward one – were they feeling pressure from the truck behind? Were they trying to gain speed ready for a raise in speed limit ahead? Once you have found out why it happened, you need to restate the dangers of the mistake.

It can often be useful to follow up with the final question:

Why shouldn’t we do that?
(“Why shouldn’t we go over the 30 limit here”)

Guide the answer toward the dangers – beware of the answer: “because I’ll fail my test”!

As driving instructors we have a duty to make people think!

Discussion Points:
Why did it happen – was it:
A lack of knowledge?
A lack of skill?
Or an attitude problem?

Exercises:
Your trainer will role-play the same faults as in the fault ID unit, and this time you will need to continue through the fault analysis.
Clutch control
Use of speed
Signalling

Warning – this unit was last revised in 2007

Unit 25: Core Competencies – Remedial Action

Research Material:
The Driving Instructor’s Handbook

The end result. The cure – make it a lasting one!

“Remedial Action
This relates to offering constructive and appropriate action or advice to remedy a fault or error that has been identified and analysed.” – From the examiner’s marking guidelines (ADI1)

Remedial Action – How? – SOLVE IT!

This is the most important bit!

You need to agree on what the problem was (fault ID), and why it happened (fault analysis), and then you need to instruct them in how to ensure it doesn’t happen again (remedial action). This may be as simple as ensuring they check their speedometer when going down hill, or starting their MSPSL routine a touch earlier.
You will need to identify what kind of a problem it is:

A knowledge problem can be simply cured, but may have underlying attitude problems.

A skill problem will often need detailed instruction and practise, but may also have underlying attitude problems.

An attitude problem alone can be interesting to solve! You will need to find out why they are doing something when they know they shouldn’t, and are capable of avoiding.

Discussion Points:
Fixing Knowledge Problems
Fixing Skill Problems
Fixing Attitude Problems

Exercises:
Your trainer will role-play different customers with the same problem – speeding. You will need to assess whether it is a knowledge, skill or attitude problem, and put in a place a course of action based on this assessment.