Historically and certainly when I learnt to drive the methods employed then were very much based on instruction. The instructor to whom you paid your money was considered an expert in their field and the mantra was “do as i say”. The instructor would tell a student how a particular exercise should be completed and until the pupil was able to do it just as the instructor said, it would be repeated over and over until correct. These days the term “driving coach” is probably more apt. There are life coaches, football coaches, nutrition coaches and many others ad nauseum. Yet, show me a person who is looking for driving lessons who enters “driving coach” into a search engine. If they did, they are likely to return results where you can learn to drive a bus or a coach instead of a car. The legacy is that people still look for a driving instructor. It may just seem like a play on words but the ethos of driving instruction has changed. It is very much coaching with minimal instruction. By focusing on customer centric learning and taking into account the many different possible variations of pupil, be they mental or physical, cultural or just approach to learning, coaching brings out the best in individuals. With questioning, motivation and listening, a student feels that they are at the centre of the process. The student is in control, they set the goal and it is up to the coach to get the best from them by utilising their own driving and teaching skills. While driving requires a steady build up of skills, it is the student who should decide the lesson content. The coach still has overall control. An example would be, a student is competent at general driving. The last two lessons have concentrated on left turns and positioning. At the start of the next lesson, where left turns is on the agenda, the student is despondent and not looking forward to going over left turns again. A good coach will ask the student if they would prefer to try something else and return to left turns at another time. That lesson can now work on a different aspect to improve confidence. The student is in control of the lessons content and will progress in another discipline. Left turns can wait for another day. All within reason of course. It would be foolish to agree to take a student onto a busy dual carriageway when the student needs to build on the more basic skills. One day the terminology will change to future drivers looking for a driving coach but until then, we will be coaches and help to get the most from our studentsand prepare them for a life of driving instead of instructing just to pass a test.