Routing for you! Practise makes perfect...
This week I have a story about a ‘big thick lad' (forgive me – this was not my description)… But before that I want to offer a little more information about 'subject introduction routes' and follow up the ‘count the crossroads' task which I left you with last week.
Last week I gave you an overview of the importance of good route planning. In particular I explained the concept of each topic having its own ‘subject introduction route'.
Regardless of the standard that a learner has reached the route used when a new topic is introduced should always be free of anything that might distract from the core lesson. With this in mind, introduction routes will often be on quiet roads or the lesson might be done at quiet times of day.
Motorways
An example that I didn't mention last week was ‘motorways'. In the time when instructors told me that it was impossible to sell post-test motorway lessons, most of my customers signed up for 2x three hour sessions. These would either be done one-to-one or with ‘training buddies' (I hadn't invented the tern ‘team lessons' at that time.
Obviously, having passed their driving tests, my motorway customers were fairly proficient in all traffic conditions and, because of where I worked at the time (Chichester), they had all driven on high-speed dual-carriageways. I've not been to Chichester for many, many years, but back then, all of the Chichester test-routes included a stretch of 70 mph dual-carriageway.
Despite the fact that my motorway customers had driven in fast, busy traffic, I used to do the first motorway session early on a Sunday morning, sometimes a 7am start.
At that time of day there was very little traffic and so for the first hour we could practise the ‘mechanics' of entering and leaving the motorway and get used to the lanes and signs. Towards the end of the session the traffic was a little busier. The second motorway session was usually mid-week and included busy traffic – sometimes the M25.
Opportunities to practise…
An important principle for route planning is that there should be plenty of opportunity to practice the subject being learned. One of the best and easiest ways to achieve this, especially when a subject is being covered for the first time, is to use a short, repetitive route.
By short I usually mean between two and five minutes long. By repetitive I mean that the route would do the equivalent of going ‘around the block' looping back to the beginning.
The benefit of a repetitive route is that after the first or second time around the learner will know the route and be able to focus on the task (as opposed to wondering/worrying where the road goes next).
In last week's Saturday update I left you with a brief task… To watch the two-minute video and count the crossroads.
The video showed a short route that was about two minutes long around a quiet estate with parked vehicles.
So! How many crossroads did you count?
If you counted two, well done – that's what most ADI's ‘score' when they are in the car with me. If you counted three you get top marks. But this is just for starters.
Watch the short clip below for a typical reaction to the 'third' crossroad on the route. Both of the ADI's in the car had counted two crossroads on the first drive around the route. (I also demonstrate 'how to be rude to your clients.')
The thinking so far…
If I have taken a learner around the route twice we will have driven for approximately five minutes and I will have covered 2x crossroads on each circuit. I would only introduce the staggered crossroad on the third time around.
This means in the first five minutes we would gone around the block twice and have covered 4x crossroads, then if we go around the block twice more including the staggered crossroads we will do a further 6x crossroads; an opportunity to practise 10x crossroads in ten minutes.
The reason for not mentioning the staggered crossroad the first time around is simply to build the learner up gently. (In at the deep-end works well for some learners - but the majority drown!)
Any more than 10x crossroads in the first ten minutes would probably lead to ‘overload'. The one-minute average spacing allows time for discussion on the move between the crossroads.
As the learner's skill increases you can introduce more content – one way to do this is to move to a different route. But I'm going to show you how, using the same route for another 4x circuits the learner could get a massive 28x more opportunities to practice.
Crossroad skills
Watch the video below to see how the same route can offer 'intensive' crossroad practise.
The video refers to two extra places where ‘crossroad skills' are needed. These are not crossroads, however, they are junctions where, because of the road layout and parked vehicles, the driver will need to use the same planning, speed and observation as at a ‘real' crossroad.
On the route shown in the video there are a total of 7x opportunities to directly use crossroads skills (including the 3x actual crossroads). But if you were a ‘big thick lad' you might spot several more - see the next video...
Repetition builds skill (providing that the learners understands what they are doing). This route has the potential to offer almost 40 repetitions in a half-hour lesson chunk, structured in such a way that the learner is not 'overloaded'.
Note that in the video I refer to ‘counting to three' – this is my ‘easy as I,2,3' method shown in the video at the end of this article.
Any subject
This principle can be applied to any subject on any route to focus attention. For example, when approaching a t-junction to emerge during a pedestrian crossing lesson you will refer to use of the MSM routine and a scan for pedestrians who might be crossing – thus maintaining an awareness of the ‘pedestrian theme' and using ‘crossing skills' in a different situation.
If you are meeting vehicles during the same lesson you would again refer to MSM as used at crossings and scan for pedestrian who might cross from behind any parked vehicles – you could also use the parked vehicles to explain why parking is not permitted at crossings (demonstrating how the parked vehicles block the view)
The big thick lad…
In the video below I tell the story of an ‘unresponsive learner' who was brought along to see my by his instructor. The instructor wanted to know if there was anything I could suggest to make the learner respond or whether the advice would be to ‘encourage' him to find a different instructor.
Please be aware – I do not wish to overtly criticise the instructor who brought this customer along; he had a genuine wish to help all of his clients and was giving three hours for free for the trip to visit me (plus paying a fee to me). He went on to take a course with me after being ‘gob-smacked' at how some simple route planning could make such a major difference…
The story above shows that most learners will respond with the right input. This learner didn't have any issues, he was not dyslexic or dyspraxic, he did not have ADHD or Asbergers…
He was just uninspired – and had probably learned to be uninspired by a series of schoolteachers who never expected much from him… By focussing his attention and inviting his input I found a spark in him – we carried on with the lesson for another 40 minutes and the instructor told me that if he hadn't seen it he wouldn't have believed it possible.
There were a couple if key ingredients that contributed to the learner's success:
- I don't believe that anyone is ‘thick' or ‘unteachable'. Even those with learning issues will do well with the proper help (See John Brown's web site)
- The route provide space for the learner to think and content for him to think about – without unnecessary distraction.
Next week I'll look at a couple more routes and why you should not use ‘general routes' or a ‘general drive' as regular lesson strategies – especially if you want to command premium rates.
Easy as 1, 2, 3
A method for observation at crossroads... The 'easy as 1, 2, 3' method is explained here in the context of turning left at crossroads.
Lack of proper observation at crossroads features in all types of driving tests (including ADI P2), especially when turning from a main road to a side road - getting into the '1, 2, 3' routine can help form good observation habits.
Next: Article 3 - General drive routes...