Self assess
How are you going?
If you’ve never supervised a learner driver before, then - in
some ways - you’re a learner too; if you can think this way, you’ll
be able to self-assess and find ways to improve.
The ability to give yourself useful feedback is what your
learner driver needs most to hit the six months zero harm target.
This page suggests questions you can both practice to learn it
together.
Feedback questions should help you work out what you are doing
and how it compares to what you should or could be doing. Effective
feedback also:
- guides you to the clue that will help you improve
- is most useful soon after the event
- is best when you’re both calm and attentive
- should leave you both feeling good
when you notice something isn’t quite right, ask questions like:
“How do you think you went? What would help you do it better next
time?”
Use this checklist to help you judge and improve your use of
feedback:
| DESIRABLE |
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO |
| 'Soon after' and 'calm' |
‘Soon after’ and ‘calm’ go together. If you wait too long,
memories of what happened will fade. When you are both calm you
have the attention you need to make feedback effective. |
| How did you (or I) go? |
To notice errors, you have to pay attention and be able to work
out which part or parts of the action are incorrect. For example,
saying “You didn’t change lanes properly back there” is
unhelpful—it describes an action that has many parts, and focuses
on what didn’t happen rather than what did happen. In this case,
perhaps the learner began to steer first before looking over their
shoulder – discuss this with them. |
| How should you (or I) go? |
This step requires you to know what the correct action is and
explain and demonstrate it. If you’re not absolutely sure, find out
the facts from a keys2drive accredited driving instructor - you
could learn with your learner. When you both know and agree on the
facts, there shouldn’t be any arguments. |
| What’s the clue that will help you (or me)? |
You agree there is a difference between “did do” and “should
do”. At this point if you simply say “Have another go” or “Do more
practice”, it’s unlikely you’ll see a quick improvement. In fact,
the same mistake could be practiced, which could lead to
frustration.
Before having another go there must be a clue for solving the
learning problem. Clues can be prompts, suggestions for trying it a
different way or a question that leads to new understanding. Access
clues by saying “We know exactly what you should do. What will help
you get it right next time you try?” |
| Feel good? |
When giving feedback, aim to stay in the ‘feel good zone’.
Praise the bits that are good enough and provide encouragement for
the bits that need to improve. Don’t praise poor actions, as this
will send the wrong message, but you can praise effort. When the
driver gains confidence, ease back on the praise so they don’t get
over confident – this is a good time to ‘raise the bar’. |
Download the
'How are you going?' checklist (PDF)
Next: Tactics for managing
'difference'
