My view is unusual in that I worked in the Driver Ed field for 13 or more years when I was in my twenties. Then, a few years back, I joined the industry once again.
Given the fact that I had spent several decades in several other careers, I thought it best to enter Driver Education from a beginner’s level, once again, to see what had changed. Additionally, my preferred way to learn is from the bottom up.
I like bottom-up because it allows me to really understand firsthand, every corner of a business so that when I climb to the top, I would know precisely what is needed to make serious changes/improvements.
I love improvements. It’s what motivates me. And I love top-down positions because they are the best place to be to implement widespread positive changes. However bottom-up is the best place to learn as a newbie. I am always ok to be a newbie because I love to learn.
One Way Street. The biggest change I found was with the context. The new teachings were presented from a top-down position, that of, we know, you don’t, so just listen and do as we say. It was a one-way street.
In the past, the road to education was a Two Way Street. The context was more a union of what you see as a beginner and help from the educators as to your best path.
This old way was gone, I still don’t know why however I have some theories.
I then, as part of this new learning, spent time with other trainers watching them apply the same top-down method. I discovered the same attitude of, we the trainer know, and you the newbie doesn’t. Often I would toot my horn while being trained and each and every time I got yelled at by the trainer. HAHA, and of course I simply kept tooting!
And yes, the top downers used all the right words along the way such as empathy, listening, step into the learners’ shoes, however, it was just talk.
I worked for one school and suggested all their trainers be helped, work together, share and improve across the entire organization and strive for higher quality, continued learning, case law studies, sharing of client learning difficulties, crash analysis, including some of the crashes the instructors had experienced.
All of it was a big joke to the owners. That doesn’t make us money!
No instructor has a clue what my past experience was, not that I hide my abilities. No one was interested to ask. It simply wasn’t part of their top-down agenda.
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So after you have experienced a top-down school and maybe it didn’t work that well for you, consider a very different approach. A two-way, a joint approach, a bottom-up strategy that places you the learner as the source of all the education, of all the learnings, of all the actions a trainer takes while they surround and help with your struggle and joy of learning to drive a car.
Come Find Cooper.
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