Pre-course profile/questionnaire

[TripleS]

The first thing that sprang to my mind was the matter of: do they want to be instructed or coached?

For most people that may not matter, but to some it could make all the difference between staying the course, and ducking out very early, as I did.

+1

Oh, hello again, K.

How are you getting on with that car of yours - MX-5, was it?

Sorry, maybe we should go back to the appropriate thread for that.

[Kimosabe]

The first thing that sprang to my mind was the matter of: do they want to be instructed or coached?

For most people that may not matter, but to some it could make all the difference between staying the course, and ducking out very early, as I did.

+1

Oh, hello again, K.

How are you getting on with that car of yours - MX-5, was it?

Sorry, maybe we should go back to the appropriate thread for that.

Hello TS. Please PM me anytime for an expanded update as this is a very important thread (Kudos to Zadocbrown for creating it) and I wouldn't want it to be diverted off course. In short, wheels, tyres, alignment, full service= haven't stopped grinning and learning. Dropped RoADAR due to same inflexible approach of 'Instructing' (if that's what they want to call it) and lack of scope as IAM SfL observers. Considering Masters but still put off with preference to private coaching, due to reading reports of apparent inability of examiners to accept anything other that permaBGOL and 10-2 PP.

[Kimosabe]

I'm putting together a pre course questionnaire specifically in this case for candidates starting IAM skill for life. The intention being they complete it before the first run. There are several reasons for doing this:

- To make it easier for me to pitch the course just right for each candidate
- To get them thinking analytically about what they want to achieve
- To distract them from unnecessary tinkering with their drive before I see it (I'd rather see what they really do than a half-arsed attempt at a partially understood house style)

I'm interested to hear from anyone else who has done this or who has views on what should go into it. It will have to be easy to complete, but of sufficient depth to be of use. More generally, what are the most important questions to ask a trainee?

I hope this goes some way to helping you to consider your aim. I can only answer this from the perspective of a therapist as I have no experience of teaching people to drive. This is an outline of the procedure I adopt.

I would definitely ask what AD means to them in terms of the broader concept of AD and not get too focussed on the 'how to'. I might ask how they would recognise an advanced driver from anyone else, how they would recognise improvements in their own attitudes (to life in general) and driving and so on. You may well be dealing with an experienced driver, so they may not want to have the entirety of their experience and beliefs negated as if they are being deconstructed for basic training. In my experience of being told how to AD by both IAM and RoADAR observers, their expectation was that I knew absolutely nothing about driving and this didn't change unless I demonstrated that I would set aside personal beliefs in place of adopted hoop-jumping to pass the test. A near perfect demonstration of how not to coach and dogma. You too have personal experiences, so draw on them and make a list of the questions you would have liked to have been asked as they're likely to be similar.

Give them a sample copy of the IAM test marking sheet when you first meet them. Exactly what the resistance is to explaining AD marking criteria is escapes me. If they know what to expect, they will have a head start on development and you will have a clear template from which to explain the IAM's expectations.

I don't think asking 'closed questions' at this stage would be helpful, so keep the questions on the 'open' side if you can. ie How, why, what, when, where and who instead of questions which illicit 'yes' or 'no' answers such as 'will you enjoy learning advanced driving?'.

I don't always give every client a pre-session questionnaire as some clients don't respond well to them or even require them. What I always do is make contact on the phone after their initial enquiry (often negates any need for a questionnaire) as far prior to their initial session as possible and if this isn't possible, i'll email them a questionnaire for them to gain focus and ask that they return in before our first meeting or bring it with them. Their answers can be the foundation for shaping future sessions to their needs and can be useful to refer back to in order to show that goals have been changed, met or not met. Following on from TripleS' comment, this is also when we can gain some insight into which style of sharing information and development would work best for them and if you're the person to do it. Just because they sit on my couch, doesn't mean I am the person to help them.

I also aim to meet every client during an 'initial consultation' (one week before their first session), as this helps us to gain rapport, to explore and plan in more depth what it is they hope to gain from our sessions and in helps to put them at ease with the environment in which we will be working together. This is also the time when ground rules are agreed, when limitations and scope will be discussed at length and when they get their first experience of who I am. What you don't want is a really eager person who expects to learn close-protection driving skills finding out after six drives that they would have been better off looking elsewhere.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions for me, please PM me