Practical Teaching Skills and Tips for Driving Instructors

26/06/2020

As an instructor, you have an important role in shaping the driving abilities of your learners. For this reason, strive to provide active learning to enable the learner to acquire a wide array of cognitive and physical skills. To achieve positive training outcomes, you should have the necessary teaching skills and tools. 

Adopt student-focused training

When developing the learner's vehicle control skills and situational awareness, there is a need to focus on the student's cognitive abilities. Research has shown that skills, such as risk awareness and hazard perception are best imparted through a student-focused training process. 

People absorb information differently and at a varying pace. Some learners take considerable time to reflect on the training information. They struggle to progress if you hasten the teaching process. On the other hand, some students prefer learning through practicals and may struggle to grasp the lessons if forced to observe too many demonstrations.

Student-focused training is an effective approach that forms part of the teaching skills for driving instructors. By adopting this approach, you will impart information and skills more effectively. People grasp information better when you encourage them to take responsibility for their training. 

As such, pay attention to your student's needs and encourage them to use the best learning resources, such as the Lesson Recap Pads offered by Grade Six Supplies. Your students will benefit immensely from this popular pupil handout set.

Be adaptable

To make driver training sessions fun and effective, adopt a variety of teaching techniques. The lessons must cater to the specific learning abilities of your students. Adapting to the situation and the needs of learners generate interest. Allow learners to practice vehicle control while you observe and provide expert guidance. 

The Optimum Eye Check Mirror is useful during practicals as it enables you to monitor the student's eye movement closely. Allocating more time to practice sessions helps improve your learners' performance. 

Use your intuition

Leveraging your intuition is one of the essential teaching skills for driving instructors. In doing so, you can respond to the needs of your learners quickly and appropriately. An intuitive approach helps you determine when a learner is nervous, distracted, or stressed. In turn, you provide an accommodative response that allows the learner to focus on the training and grasp the training material. 

Consider using a Q&A routine to assess your students' progress. Learners can benefit from your feedback, particularly in areas that require improvement. In some cases, learners may feel they need extra tuition on specific areas when their performance is satisfactory.

Harness your interpersonal skills

Effective communication makes it easier for students to understand your driving lessons. You should strive to interpret the body language of students to gain visual clues about their state of mind. As a professional driving instructor, always stay calm regardless of the situation. As a result, you will retain full control of the training process and achieve positive student outcomes. 

Advanced teaching techniques

Advanced teaching skills for driving instructors allow you to employ mind mapping techniques designed to help students understand information quickly and easily. You can adapt the training to suit the learners' cognitive abilities. In some cases, you apply scaling measures to gauge the learner's progress. 

Also, consider assessing a student's progress using a wide variety of Driving Instructor & Trainer Supplies.

Use time efficiently

A good instructor maximises productivity to ensure that the student receives quality instruction in every session. Plan your lessons to suit the learner's abilities. This approach enables you to reach specific goals by the end of the training session. Avoid dragging the lessons along by making every session interesting and easier to grasp. 

Using time efficiently eliminates the need for students to take extra lessons. However, you should avoid rushing the slow learners. Instead, adapt the lessons to match their capabilities. Consider using training aids, such as the Reversing Demonstrator and Clutch Demonstrator Bundle. 

This set is available as part of the Colourfile Professional 3 Bundle Deal.

Refine your technical skills

To become a competent driving instructor, you should improve your overall knowledge of the vehicle. In some cases, you may need to perform some minor repairs. Technical skills enable you to understand the vehicle's behavior and response more accurately. 

To discover more driver training supplies to improve your lessons, browse our driving instructor & trainer supplies page.