Move to bring driver training into the 21st Century

AN innovative trio of driving instructors are launching the first ever BTEC Professional Award in Coaching for Driver Education.

Aimed at driving instructors, this ground-breaking new qualification will help driving instructors up and down the land gain the knowledge and skills needed for successful in-car coaching – and in turn boost their businesses.

The exciting Tri-Coaching Partnership – made up of Graham Hooper, John Farlam and Sue McCormack – is geared at developing an approach centred on the student, while also:

• Developing the instructor’s potential to earn more money - better equipped instructors are able to buck the ‘low price lessons’ trend, recognising they are not ‘victims’ of the local or global economy and developing a customer experience that stands out from the competition.

• Improving the instructor’s business by providing a more compelling customer experience and combining this with pro-active recommendation strategies new business will be brought it.

• Developing methods for dealing with ‘difficult’ customers - a customer-centred approach will ensure the responsibility for learning sits with the customer. With the focus on the customer rather than the instructor, barriers will be removed and customers will no longer appear ‘difficult’.

• Helping the instructors gain a healthy life balance - many instructors are working long hours and unable to cut down because they would not earn enough money. With the skills gained from a qualification like this, they will be able to successfully charge higher lesson rates and therefore will be able to work less, achieving a better work-life balance.

• Contributing to improved road safety – one in five newly qualified drivers will be involved in a serious crash within the first 250 miles of driving un-supervised. Most driving instructors prepare their customers for the driving test but do not necessarily cover areas which are going to put them at increased risk. The qualification will ensure instructors are raising their students’ awareness and building their sense of responsibility for the driving task, resulting in them anticipating hazards and managing risks more effectively.

Mr Farlam said: "Our aim is to help driving instructors gain the knowledge and skills required for successful in-car coaching and a better business.

"There has been a lot of discussion about coaching in the industry press during 2009 and 2010 – attitudes towards coaching vary.

"Some instructors are against change of any kind, others apprehensive they might be left behind as coaching becomes more popular - some are ‘afraid’ that they might not be able to learn a new and complex method of teaching.

"The reality is that in all business, change happens. Those who move with the times prosper - the candlestick maker who moved into oil lamps, the stable owner who learned about ‘horseless carriages’. In the same way, driving instructors who learn new and efficient methods will be among the modern survivors."

He said: "Shifting to the new approach and taking the BTEC route will build upon and complement the individual instructor’s skills."

The BTEC qualification has four modules for the instructor to take.

The first focuses on effective communication, the second looks at different types of feedback, the third centres on the importance of structuring a coaching conversation during a driving lesson to achieve raised awareness and self-responsibility on the part of the student, and the fourth module is about address higher cognitive skills.