ADI Part 3 - PST 5 Phase 1

PST 5 Phase 1 Mirrors and Emergency Stop

The DSA classify your learner as a part trained for this pst.

Always keep in mind that this pst has two distinct elements, mirror use and the emergency stop. Many trainees go on for so long about mirrors that they run out of time to adequately cover the emergency stop. The SE would give you a poor mark for control of the lesson in this instance.

It's sensible to quickly deal with the mirrors first, so that you can actively teach and deal with any errors in mirror use on your way to the area chosen by the SE for the emergency stop.

After the initial formalities, you'll get into the passenger seat and the SE into the drivers seat. You'll stay there for the next hour.

Let's think, as always, where our learner is 'at' in their training . . .

Well, it's likely that they'll have covered the controls lesson, moving off and stopping, and approaching and emerging. It'll be unlikely that your learner will have done this before, so your lesson will need to be pitched accordingly. Remember for all phase 1 pst's, that the learner will usually have never been trained in the subject area of the past, so you'll need to place a heavy emphasis on actively teaching in the early stages.

The Briefing

Use the briefing to set the aims and objectives for the lesson. State the objectives positively, as it helps you to remember what the lesson actually is, and the learner knows exactly what to expect.

Once in the car, you'll brief the SE on use of the mirrors. This should be more of a question and answer session though. Remember 'empty boxes'?

You may need to teach a little, such as the differences between flat and convex glass, but ask first. You may just get the answer.

After your initial couple of minutes or so on mirrors, you'll get the car moving so that you can get to an area to teach the SE how to do the emergency stop. During the drive, the SE will make driving errors which you'll deal with using the core competencies. The main focus of these errors will be on mirror work, so actively look for them. However, the SE can make the full range of driver errors to test your flexibility.

The drive will only be short, perhaps just a few streets. It will probably seem like forever, though! Once you reach the area the SE wishes to use for the rest of lesson, you'll bring the SE to a stop and continue to brief on the emergency stop.

Aim for a briefing of around 5 minutes maximum. If the briefing goes on a bit, the SE will more than likely prompt you to get on with it. Take the prompt!

Use the briefing time to display all the sub skills by keeping control, and establishing the level of instruction.

The Marking Sheet

The areas shown on the left side of the marking sheet are those directly relevant to this pst. Please be warned . . .

You need to have an excellent knowledge of the pst relevant knowledge areas, but you will not get a green card based on an in depth knowledge of these areas. That is NOT the main part of what you are being tested on. You are being tested on your skills as an instructor, the areas on the right side of the form - the Core competencies and Instructional Techniques.

For this pst, the relevant areas are:

• briefing on emergency stop/mirrors
• quick reactions
• use of foot brake/clutch
• skidding
• mirrors, vision and use
• mirrors, direction, overtaking and stopping
• mirror, signal, manoeuvre

You will need to try to cover these areas in the briefing or on the move, but don't get hung up if any particular skill isn't mentioned or tested. If it doesn't arise, the SE will strike a line straight through it and ignore it for the purposes of assessing your performance.

The simple fact is that these are the basic 'common sense' areas that you'd cover with a learner on a lesson anyway, so they should present you with no great challenge.

Remember, the highest mark you can get for the pas relevant areas, on the left side of the sheet, is 'satisfactory'. Not 'good' or 'excellent', but 'satisfactory'.

Developmental phase

We've covered a little of the developmental phase above, when I mentioned that you'll get the car moving and the SE will make errors for you to sort out. Now it's time to consider the next part of this phase - the emergency stop.

I find that a full talk through 'dry run', with the engine switched off, helps enormously. If you do a dry run, you can sort out any problems such as the SE trying to use the wrong feet on the pedals or reacting far too slowly to your 'STOP!' command, before you find that you have those problems with the car driving towards other hazards!

Think about your level of instruction . . . the SE will never have done this before, so you'll need to teach actively to start with. Look back at the sub skills pages of the site to check your understanding and knowledge.

You'll be giving a full talk through, but only in the skills of this subject. For instance, don't teach the SE to move off unless you have to. The idea of learning to drive is that the learner can do it all for themselves when they pass the test. They'll never get there if you spoon feed them what they should already know.

Contrary to many trainers views, you can over instruct at phase 1. You should try to get the SE to perform the manoeuvre for themselves by the end of the lesson. After all, that's the objective!

Remember what the lesson subject is and don't change it into a different lesson. You would receive a poor mark for control of the lesson if you allow this to happen.

You will use the core competencies throughout the entire lesson.

Have no fears about 'nit picking' - if you see a fault, identify it and sort it. Remember, bad habits become very strong habits if left to grow. This does not mean, under any circumstances, that you pull the learner over every hundred yards to have 'a go' at them. You can deal with almost all phase 1 faults on the move, using good communication skills and by exercising your control over the lesson and the learner.

If you anticipate a fault, deal with it before the SE makes it. Please ignore the nonsense so widely talked about that the SE will mark you badly for the Core Competencies, unless you allow them to make the errors for you to deal with. Would you do that with a real learner? NO! So don't do it with the SE. Remember, part 3 is a lesson. Simple as that. Much better to fix it when you suspect it's about to happen, rather than to wait for it to happen. To do so could be dangerous, unprofessional and simply downright bad instruction.

You'll probably have the time to perform the emergency stop two or three times during the main part of the lesson. By the end of it, your learner should be doing much of the work for themselves.

Remember, if the learner keeps making the same errors over and over, even though you've mentioned them, consider that you may not have analysed it correctly and put the remedial action in place.

Typical SE Errors

It really is impossible to define a list of the errors the SE will make, but think about the skill level of the learner that the SE will be role playing. The errors will be very similar to a learner at that level. You need to remain flexible in your approach and deal with errors in the way that you think best.

Again, it's impossible to prepare a 'script' or strict lesson plan, because the SE can take you down any 'route' he or she wishes, to test your instructional skills.

Typical errors would include

• poor use of the mirrors in all situations
• failing to check door mirrors before turning, overtaking or changing direction
• adjusting mirrors incorrectly
• errors in ms-psl - out of sequence, mirror checks missed - especially when stopping
• poor co-ordination of the foot pedals for the emergency stop - do a dry run!
• failing to react quickly enough - do a dry run!
• failing to press the brake pedal hard enough, extending stopping distances
• taking the hands off the wheel before coming to a stop
• applying the hand brake before the car comes to a stop
• trying to veer into the kerb, or further into the road
• sitting too far forward or closing their eyes during the manoeuvre
• pressing the clutch too quickly / too slowly
• failing to take good, effective observations before moving off after the manoeuvre
• the list goes on and on . . .

Phase 1 errors tend to be procedural errors and co-ordination errors. In other words, typical learner errors in using ms-psl correctly or in road positioning, and also in the physical co-ordination of the controls of the car to achieve the lesson objectives.

At the end of phase 1, the SE will tell you that the lesson has ended. They will then make some notes on your performance whilst you take a look at your notes for the next lesson. Then, before you know it, it's straight on to phase 2 . . .

ADIT team