Driving Instructor Training (Part 4) - Toni's Journey

In our latest blog edition, where we follow Toni's journey to becoming a driving instructor, she talks about her first ever lesson, steep learning curves, and how difficult being an instructor can be sometimes.

"Throughout December, I fretted that I only had a few pupils to teach. This turned out to be a small blessing; I didn’t realise how tiring this job could be! 

So, then came the 8th of January 2025, my first ever time teaching a real pupil!

Her name was Jess, a young girl who had had some unpleasant experiences previously with other driving instructors, so she was extremely nervous about starting back up. No pressure then!

On that day, I drove her to a quieter area for her to get used to the feel of my car, trying not to let on just how nervous I also was! Jess and I have since spoken about that lesson, and I admitted to her that her first lesson with me was my first ever time teaching a pupil. She assured me she would never have guessed! Phew! 

My next lesson, however, I didn’t quite get away with it! On the drive down to the practice area, my next pupil asked me, “So, how long have you been a driving instructor for?” I told the truth, “You’re the second lesson I’ve ever taught!” Though I reassured them, we have to do a lot of training before we can teach anybody. 

Throughout these lessons, I began completing in-depth reflection logs. Using the 17 competencies you are marked on in the Part 3 test, Ady wrote out some points for me to write a little reflection log, which was designed to help me reflect on what I felt I needed to improve on, but also what I felt went well in each lesson. 

As the weeks passed and I gained some more pupils, I became more and more confident. Until the day came that I had to teach my first brand-new pupil! I suddenly became a nervous wreck again; this pupil is going to rely on me to get them started on their driving journey. But I got him through it, and we are currently working on ironing out the last things to get him ready for his test! 

Then was the time for someone to sit in on one of my lessons, just to check up on how I'm doing with them. Ady had the pleasure of being the first to witness me as a real instructor, with Jess again being my pupil for this. Though Ady had some good points about the lesson, it was clear even in just a few weeks I had slipped into some already bad habits. Too chatty, the instructions were all over the place, and I was taking my pupil out of their depth. 

Ady then sat in on a few more of my lessons over the coming weeks and gave me some more pointers on what to improve on. I then used these within my lessons and within my training with Steve, as I always took Ady's notes with me. 

Day Tripper received an inquiry one day from a pupil wanting to start up lessons after being taught to drive mostly by their father. Their availability really suited mine, so I began teaching them. I was pleasantly surprised at just how well this pupil had been taught. Having only a couple of early start-up lessons with a previous instructor, over a year previous to our lessons, there were only a few things I thought this pupil needed to work on to become test-ready.

I taught them for a few weeks, then suggested to Ady that I felt they were ready to have a mock test conducted on them. So we got a lesson booked in on a weekend so Ady could conduct the mock test and I could sit in the back and observe, to learn how they needed to be done.

Unfortunately, the student did not pass. The reasons being simple habits that the pupil had and needed correcting, which I, as their instructor, hadn’t noticed. So, with me not feeling well, Ady helped them through these on the way home from the mock test. Unfortunately, I then received a message from that pupil the next day asking if they could transfer their lessons over to Ady and no longer be taught by me. This massively knocked my confidence as an instructor, but Ady continued to remind me I am training, that he has done this for a much longer time than I have, and I need to stop being so hard on myself!

Around May , I began teaching 2 pupils, both new learners.. One had just turned 17 and was extremely excited about learning to drive. The other was in their 40s and extremely nervous about the whole thing. They had recently moved to the area after living in a city their whole life, so had never felt the need to learn to drive.

The younger of the two flew through their lessons, thoroughly enjoying them. The other really struggled with just the basic controls of the car. I felt like a terrible instructor, turning to Ady for lots of pointers to help this person out. However, I had to remind myself that this person may be struggling, but the other is learning quickly. It's not necessarily my teaching; it's the pupils' ability too. This allowed me to better understand how to adapt my teaching to suit the learner's needs.

Around the beginning of June, I was still waiting for my Part 3 test date to come through. So, I thought it was best to begin applying for my second trainee licence.

To be continued!"

Toni - Approved Driving Instructor

Great Yarmouth and surrounding areas

Day Tripper Driving Tuition