Q and A Techniques on the move

On the Move

Q and A on the move is a highly complex subject, but is one of your greatest part 3 'weapons' when you master it.

In your training sessions, do you ever have long periods of silence as your learner drives around?

Do you ever feel stuck for something to say? If you do, then developing your skills of Q and A on the move will improve your performance immeasurably.

Q and A on the move needs to be targeted towards improving your learners skills, it needs to be specific so that nothing is left to chance, and it should be used with the full range of your communication techniques.

The SE needs to feel as though you are contributing to the lesson and the learning process, not simply 'having a go' at them all the time.

This is a subject I just don't have the space for here, but as a taster of the value of this superb technique, imagine this . . .

You're learner is driving along a busy town centre street. There are shops on both sides of the road and people going about their lives, some of them looking like they may step into the road at any instant. . . using your well developed advanced observations you see a truck about to emerge from a side road on the left into your path. In your experience, you know that you'll soon have to slow down behind the truck as it gets under way . . . your learner is doing a steady 25mph towards the situation . . .

You turn to your learner, and hoping to use Q and A to add to your learners experience, you say "now, what are you going to about this?"

The car continues at 25mph, and your learner develops a puzzled, frightened look. Your learner is now alert but worried that they have missed something . . . your learner turns and says "about what?"

The car has travelled a couple of hundred feet and you now have to positively instruct by saying "check the mirror and slow down". You've missed a superb learning opportunity and you're learner has missed the chance to demonstrate that they can make decisions for themselves.

Think about the question you asked . . . "what are you going to do about this?"

Remember how communication works. You have something in your mind. To you, it's obvious that you are thinking about the truck, so anything you say is directly relevant to the truck. But your learner is in another world. Their own world, inside their minds. Just as each and every one of us is. They see different things to you, and may just interpret your words in a totally different way to your original meaning.

The learner has been worrying about the lady in the red coat outside the shop, the big white delivery van parked on the nearside, the post man on his bike, the old man about to step out from the left, the traffic lights that might change so that they have to use the scary clutch thing, the truck pulling out from the side road on the left . . .

So, do you now have any idea how utterly pointless and confusing your question really was?

Not only did you not add to the lesson, but you added to the learners fears and confusion.

How much better would it have been, had you asked "now, what will you do about the truck pulling out of the side road?"

You're learner now has a specific reference and knows exactly what you want them to deal with. You're learner has the comfort of knowing that they can deal with one specific thing, and that you'll be pleased with them if they get it right. Remember feedback and encouragement? Use it.

So, your questions on the move need to be targeted. They need to add to the lesson and pick up on any learning points available.

Sit back and think now of any situations you've had where targeted, specific questions would have helped. A great thing about the human brain, is that we can create our own experiences, and learn from them. Albert Einstein did this all the time. He called them 'thought experiments'. He recreated experiments in his mind and learned from what he was thinking.

Can you do this with driving instruction? Of course you can!

Over the next few days, simply imagine yourself in various situations with an imaginary learner. Think what Q and A you'll use that's targeted, specific and adds to the learners experiences. Build up a 'mind store' of questions and techniques, and you'll never be stuck for words on a lesson again.

I could go on for ever about the use of Q and A on the move, with concrete examples of using these methods to get the learner to do exactly what you want them to do, simply by asking questions.

Never forget, there's a fine line between instruction and over instruction, a major cause of ADI failures. The use of Q and A on the move can overcome these issues, leading to success and the delivery of a great lesson. Unfortunately ,I don't have the space on this site to go into the subject in any greater depth.

ADIT Team.