Show Notes
Emma Fonnaland posted a list called "controversial things I do as a driving instructor". It did over 300,000 views and the comments filled with instructors telling her she was wrong. Phil read it, found he disagreed with almost none of it, and got her on the podcast to work through the list one item at a time.
What comes out is not really a list of quirks. It is one idea applied ten different ways: do not steer your pupils around the hard thing, take them into it while you are still sat next to them. Snow. Motorways. The drive home after the test. A toddler yapping in the back seat. Emma's own line is the one worth keeping: you learn from experiences, not explanations.
Some of it will land straight away. Some of it will annoy you. Phil went in disagreeing about mock tests and came out having changed his mind on letting learners drive home after the test, which is worth the listen on its own.
What we cover:
- Why Emma has never taught a test route, and what she does instead at the junctions that genuinely catch people out - The case against mock tests, and Phil's counter-argument for running them as a pressure rehearsal rather than a driving assessment - Taking every learner on the motorway before they pass, and why this should not be controversial at all - Ditching reference points completely, and what happens when a borrowed reference stops working in a different car - Why a firm lesson plan can make you a worse instructor, and the difference between a plan and a direction - Letting learners drive home after the test, and the reasoning that flips every objection on its head - Not publishing a pass rate, and the type of enquiry that stops arriving once you stop - Eye mirrors, lessons in the snow, and pupils bringing their kids along
Key takeaways:
- A plan is a direction, not a route. If you cannot abandon it at the first junction, it is doing your pupil a disservice. Worth hearing twice if you are working towards Part Three. - Teach the principle, not the place. Knowing your local roundabout is useful. Being unable to drive an unfamiliar one is a fail waiting to happen. - A reference point you handed them is yours, not theirs. If they build their own, make sure it can flex. - Ask what your pass rate is actually recruiting. Publish it and you attract people who want you to get them through. Stop publishing it and you attract people who want to learn to drive. - Pick one thing you currently avoid because it is hard, and put it into a lesson this week.
Mentioned in this episode:
- Emma Fonnaland, Wheelwise Driving School. Wheelwise Emma on TikTok and Instagram, Wheelwise Driving School on Facebook. - Oli Taylor, on hazard management: be a spectator, not a participant.
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