Driving Instructors Branch of Unite the Union Special Edition | Page 8

6. If necessary, continue with open questions and if necessary add your opinion beside the customer‘s opinion

7. What does the customer you need and what would motivate him to apply this?

Hermes Definition of Coaching:

Coaching is a learner centred approach that engages body, mind, and emotions to develop inner and outer awareness and responsibility through an equal relationship between learner and coach (trainer).

The GDE Driver Matrix: (Hatakka et al 2002)

There are a number of these about; some have four levels and some five. I tend to us four, these are;

1.Basic Vehicle Control

2.Mastery of Traffic Situations

3.Goals and Context of Driving (trip specific)

4.Goals for Life and Skills for Living.

The powers that be have stated that driver trainer, have traditional taught levels 1 & 2, and in fact these are the levels in which the DSA test. The driving test is not designed to test levels 3 & 4.

The whole idea behind this is not for driver trainers to ditch what they have been doing for years. The tools they have been using have stood them in good stead and still will be relevant for many years. These new ideas are to give driver trainer new tools to add to their existing ones.

Traditional method of instruction means that a pupil has little or no input into the way they are taught or what they are taught. The instructor talks a lot and the pupil says very little or in some cases nothing.

Basic Vehicle Control is something you teach on a daily basis. Learners have very little input into this, purely as in most cases they have very little idea on how the controls work and what happens when they press this pedal or use that switch, so the instructor has the major part to play at this stage.