CCL for learner drivers

Four weeks ago I wrote to the minister of transport, as a fully qualified life and executive coach. I did identify myself as a driver trainer, however I also passed on some of the research I am involved in.

 I am deeply concerned by the watered down approach to change within the driving instruction industry, particularly this spoon fed coaching which are words with no substance. having studied hard for my qualifications over the last few years and taken time to build a robust portfolio of clients within the executive sector as well as individual clients, I have found it quite difficult to see how coaching can be incorporated in it's purest form to help learner drivers. It was a relief to find that it has been recognised within Government that misuse of coaching has the potential to be damaging to the client, as I felt that had been over looked.

Some of the response covers the Standards document and the fact that trainers should not change their methods, just that ADI's have felt restricted within their work with clients and this encourages more listening and a better transition of the transfer of responsibility from trainer to trainee.  It also says that once the standards check comes into force instructors will be given a clearer idea of what is expected of them and this will enable them to choose more effective training.

I asked how an instructor could present coaching to a client without years of study and qualifications

'We do not want to lose what we already have and if we were to suddenly say that all ADIs had to become coaches there would be some who would become confused about what was being asked of them.  Others would try to deploy what they understood to be coaching tools and not do it well.  The result could be an overall deterioration in the quality of driver instruction.'


I asked why CCL is considered to be coaching within the driver training industry, the response was

'I can assure you that we are very aware client centred learning (CCL) is not the same as coaching. '


Although the reply was very in depth I have felt that these are very relevant to the sudden twist towards coaching for instructors, there are many other elements that were specifically asked linked to my research and understanding of the real risk within the young driver sector.

However, I am passionate about road safety, I do still work as a driving instructor, and I desperately would like to see better fatality figures for young drivers. Some of you may have seen my research and others may have read extracts from my up coming book, although not for the driving instructor industry, young drivers and road risk is touched upon. So, with this in mind I needed some answers, and today they were not just answered in full, but they satisfied my concerns.  As I am known to be cynical, as most writers are, when dealing with quotes and lengthy exchange, I feel that this response was by far one of the best I have received to date.

Moving along, it was felt that although HERMES was used as a reference which had emphasised coaching as a concept, this has been decided against, with the overall feeling being that there will be no attempt to use fully formed coaching skills, the aim is to relieve instructors of rigid approaches to training and allow more listening in the learning environment.

This appears to be quality control with the clients needs being more important and the tutor taking a guiding role. However, although this seems like a sensible approach it still doesn't tackle scientific evidence which shows that the young driver brain activity, risk, excitement etc is the controlling influence as opposed to the training environment.

Copyright A.Green 2013 - no extracts or reproduction without express consent of the author.

 

Missing a Loved One

It's a difficult time of year for many families across the World particularly if you have lost someone you love, whether your grief is fresh and raw or has been with you for years.

For some counselling helps, therapy, tablets or denial, being tough or feeling bitter and angry, every path has been trodeen a thousand times before, yet your sadness is unique at the same time. Guilt and anger go hand in hand, bereavement coaching can help with the second phase of grief, not through counselling or therapy but help to get your life back on track even if it feels like an impossible target.

It is nearly five years since I buried my son, at 18 years old it seemed unreal it still does, yet my life has moved on but not exclusive of my child, yet I am neither morbid nor a quivering wreck, although there were days. Christmas is particularly hard, as are anniversaries and birthdays, and sudden days just out of the blue when asomething small triggers a memory which evokes emotion in whichever form, sometimes tears other times anger and disbelief.

As a qualified coach I understand and specialise in bereavement coaching, follow my blogs on here or on my website, it may help with your grief, you may feel I can help you, but even if you are coping just fine, we wish you all the best for the coming year, sincerely from someone who has lost too many close to me in the last few years.

http://www.aicoachingsolutions.com/missing-loved-487.html

Quitting Smoking

1. When you had your first cigarette of the day, how did you feel?

That moment, when you take the first deep drag on a cigarette and the smoke hits the back of your throat, relief after a night of abstinence or the fleeting thought that there are other things you could be doing right now. Was the cigarette rushed, a few quick puffs because you were running late, or was it a slow draw and an indulgent moment of your day. Was it closely followed by another one. Did you give it limited thought and treated it as routine, is smoking a luxury or a need?

2. How did you feel one hour later?

Had you already had another cigarette, or two, did it take priority over other things you needed to do, or does it fit around your lifestyle easily. Or had you not had another one.

3. Do you enjoy smoking?

When you first started smoking, what was the motivation, were your social group smokers, were your family smokers, are they still. Think back to the day you very first had a cigarette, how did it feel was it a pleasure or was it uncomfortable, what makes smoking enjoyable?
When I very first had a cigarette I was 11 years old, it wasn't to be cool I just wanted to try one, my family smoked which was common in the seventies, secondary school was my first opportunity on my own, I'd tried smoking hair grips in front of the mirror it wasn't the same. I can still picture that moment, the strange taste different to anything I'd ever experienced, then panic set in and I dumped the pack of ten and bought some mints, smoking in adult years is different because nobody is in a position to tell you it is forbidden. So why do we make these choices as adults. For me at 17 I tried again, my friend smoked so although it wasn't an influencing factor curiosity did get the better of me. I can't say I enjoyed it so why did I have another one, well I think it was because I was sure it would get better, it did, I soon needed a fix of nicotine yet didn't actually see it that way. I did stop at 18, so an intermitent smoker. Yet at 24 I was back there and this time instead of the odd cigarette with friends or booze it was twenty a day puffing my way through and enjoying it, so how did the transition take place, I think because it was a difficult time for me a cigarette gave me refuge, when I was smoking I did not have to think about anything else. So of course I took pleasure in escape, so not the cigarette as such but the hiding place it provided. I gave up again 5 years later when life settled down and then took it up again during a rough time, but for me it is solace. Do I enjoy smoking - no, do I enjoy the distraction - when needed obviously I did.

4. Do you honestly want to quit?

So do you want to give up, if you do then it's not always as easy as throwing the packet in the bin, because that little devil on our shoulder says you can buy more if you really want to. Quitting is about more than willpower.
Step one - why do you smoke, and saying because you like smoking is a cop out, think more deeply.

I will move on to answering some of the questions I've been sent and dealing with step one soon.

My smoking clinic is on 27th October at 11am, details on my FB page. It's free for the first session.

Feeling SAD?

Seasonal affective disorder, heard of it before? Maybe, maybe not. It's that time of year when the nights begin to draw in, more quickly than usual this year, previous years have seen summer drift into late September and early October. So does dark nights and cold mornings affect how we feel? YES it does!
Sunshine is a mood enhancer, where even things that are getting us down,  can be improved by a bright, warm day which can lift spirits and even the hardest of days can then seem better. So cold, dark, rainy days are mood depressants, and who wants to feel down and depressed.
Sleep patterns are the first disruption to how we are, so with the early mornings being replaced by darkness, our body feels the urge to sleep more, compared to a bright morning and our body clock wakes us early, so sleep patterns contribute to our performance at work.  They also contribute to how we cope with life, a restless night doesn't feel nearly as bad when the weather is good, but a sleepless night and a dark cold morning is going to be a bad start to the day.
Lifting the mood and feeling brighter is difficult, fighting nature is not the way forward. Identifying your triggers is the first step.
1. Do you feel positive about tomorrow?
2. Ask yourself the same question as you get out of bed in the morning
3. Do you feel as if your life has direction?
4. Ask yourself the same question one hour after you wake up
5. Do you have a plan for your day tomorrow?
6. Ask yourself at the end of tomorrow if you achieved your plan
7. If yes, how did it feel. If not, why not?
Life is a journey, and the road can be bumpy, having to fight the natural pattern of light and dark on our mood is an added pressure, it may never have affected you, but if it is just a little, you may never have known. So answer these questions and read my next blog to find out if SAD affects you.