Feedback
We used to talk about the praise sandwich when I first started training people to be driving instructors. When a fault was identified we should first pick on something that was done well before diving in and talking about the fault they had made and then afterwards we should wrap up with another positive statement. The conversation (albeit one-sided) went something like this, ‘Not bad, not bad at all. But you forgot to bring the clutch up after selecting second gear before steering around the corner. That means you were coasting which is dangerous because you could lose control especially if you were going downhill. Next time make sure you bring the clutch up as soon as you have selected a lower gear but like I say, overall, not bad.’
Okay, I might be exaggerating a bit. Certainly, if someone gave feedback like that we would speak about the difference between ‘Not bad’ and ‘Quite good’ in terms of how these two phrases would make someone feel. We would also discuss the benefits of identifying something specific that the person had done well. We would say, ‘At the least, they will have shut the door well when they got in the car.’ We would discuss the negative impact the word ‘but’ carries and that ‘however’ is a much more neutral word to use. Finally, we would suggest that they ask the learner how they felt it went.
This last bit was actually a cursory nod in the direction of coaching and a client-centred approach. Cursory because we weren’t really interested in the client’s response; in fact, we hardly expected a response beyond ‘Yeah, not bad.’ And yet, listening to what the client has to say about their driving experiences is the most vital part of feedback, as this is what tells you whether and to what extent they are learning. Driving is a task which involves a high level of reflection and self evaluation if it is to be carried out safely. The process of feedback develops the student driver so that they can evaluate and reflect upon their driving when they are unsupervised. If a newly qualified driver is involved in a ‘near miss’ incident and has been coached to develop self evaluation skills, they will be able to reflect on this incident and determine how to prevent a similar one occurring in the future.
What sort of questions could you ask in order to elicit feedback from the learner on their own performance? Questions around scaling are effective because they encourage the learner to take responsibility for their own learning. You could ask, for example, ‘On a scale of zero to ten how confident did you feel when we were reversing around the corner, where zero is horrendously nervous and ten is super confident?’ or ‘On a scale of zero to ten how well do you think you controlled the speed of the car when we were reversing around the corner, where zero is very badly and ten is brilliantly well?’ It doesn’t matter what number they give when scaling themselves because you are helping them to monitor their own progress so that they can take and remain in control and go on to establish new goals.
During a feedback session, scaling questions could be followed up with questions that look for evidence because evidence objectifies the feedback and ensures that it is constructive and can be built upon. The next question might be ‘What evidence have you got for giving yourself that number?’ You might need to use additional questions at this point to help your learner find the evidence that made them give themselves whatever mark they did. For example, when considering how well they controlled the speed, you might need to ask them what kind of gradient they were on to get them to consider whether they needed clutch or brake control; or, you could ask them what they need to do with the clutch to slow the car down; or, where was their right foot when controlling the speed of the car – on the gas or on the brake. These questions encourage the learner to recall precisely what their feet were doing in order to control the speed of the car and this raises their self awareness and builds their self evaluation skills.
Follow-up questions could be around development and goal-setting. This is all still part of the feedback process where you are coaching the learner to take responsibility for their learning. You could ask, ‘What would you need to do to move up the scale one point?’ (If they gave themselves a ten from the outset, then the question might be ‘What would you need to do to maintain a ten?’) The previous questions were around recalling what they did. Now you are asking them to visualise what they could do. If they say ‘I don’t know’, you could refer back to the evidence they used to give themselves the score in the first place because within that evidence will probably lie the information about how to improve.
Other questions could be ‘What help do you need from me to move up the scale one point?’, ‘When would you like to have another go?’, ‘How long is it going to take you?’ and ‘How will you know when you have got there?’
When we coach we understand that what the pupil does is more important than what the teacher does. This pupil-centred approach to feedback ensures that newly qualified drivers remain safer than if they had simply been taught to pass the driving test. The reason they remain safer is because they have practised giving themselves feedback on their own performance and this has developed their ability to self evaluate and take responsibility for their driving.
We used to talk about the praise sandwich when I first started training people to be driving instructors. When a fault was identified we should first pick on something that was done well before diving in and talking about the fault they had made and then afterwards we should wrap up with another positive statement. The conversation (albeit one-sided) went something like this, ‘Not bad, not bad at all. But you forgot to bring the clutch up after selecting second gear before steering around the corner. That means you were coasting which is dangerous because you could lose control especially if you were going downhill. Next time make sure you bring the clutch up as soon as you have selected a lower gear but like I say, overall, not bad.’
Okay, I might be exaggerating a bit. Certainly, if someone gave feedback like that we would speak about the difference between ‘Not bad’ and ‘Quite good’ in terms of how these two phrases would make someone feel. We would also discuss the benefits of identifying something specific that the person had done well. We would say, ‘At the least, they will have shut the door well when they got in the car.’ We would discuss the negative impact the word ‘but’ carries and that ‘however’ is a much more neutral word to use. Finally, we would suggest that they ask the learner how they felt it went.
This last bit was actually a cursory nod in the direction of coaching and a client-centred approach. Cursory because we weren’t really interested in the client’s response; in fact, we hardly expected a response beyond ‘Yeah, not bad.’ And yet, listening to what the client has to say about their driving experiences is the most vital part of feedback, as this is what tells you whether and to what extent they are learning. Driving is a task which involves a high level of reflection and self evaluation if it is to be carried out safely. The process of feedback develops the student driver so that they can evaluate and reflect upon their driving when they are unsupervised. If a newly qualified driver is involved in a ‘near miss’ incident and has been coached to develop self evaluation skills, they will be able to reflect on this incident and determine how to prevent a similar one occurring in the future.
What sort of questions could you ask in order to elicit feedback from the learner on their own performance? Questions around scaling are effective because they encourage the learner to take responsibility for their own learning. You could ask, for example, ‘On a scale of zero to ten how confident did you feel when we were reversing around the corner, where zero is horrendously nervous and ten is super confident?’ or ‘On a scale of zero to ten how well do you think you controlled the speed of the car when we were reversing around the corner, where zero is very badly and ten is brilliantly well?’ It doesn’t matter what number they give when scaling themselves because you are helping them to monitor their own progress so that they can take and remain in control and go on to establish new goals.
During a feedback session, scaling questions could be followed up with questions that look for evidence because evidence objectifies the feedback and ensures that it is constructive and can be built upon. The next question might be ‘What evidence have you got for giving yourself that number?’ You might need to use additional questions at this point to help your learner find the evidence that made them give themselves whatever mark they did. For example, when considering how well they controlled the speed, you might need to ask them what kind of gradient they were on to get them to consider whether they needed clutch or brake control; or, you could ask them what they need to do with the clutch to slow the car down; or, where was their right foot when controlling the speed of the car – on the gas or on the brake. These questions encourage the learner to recall precisely what their feet were doing in order to control the speed of the car and this raises their self awareness and builds their self evaluation skills.
Follow-up questions could be around development and goal-setting. This is all still part of the feedback process where you are coaching the learner to take responsibility for their learning. You could ask, ‘What would you need to do to move up the scale one point?’ (If they gave themselves a ten from the outset, then the question might be ‘What would you need to do to maintain a ten?’) The previous questions were around recalling what they did. Now you are asking them to visualise what they could do. If they say ‘I don’t know’, you could refer back to the evidence they used to give themselves the score in the first place because within that evidence will probably lie the information about how to improve.
Other questions could be ‘What help do you need from me to move up the scale one point?’, ‘When would you like to have another go?’, ‘How long is it going to take you?’ and ‘How will you know when you have got there?’
When we coach we understand that what the pupil does is more important than what the teacher does. This pupil-centred approach to feedback ensures that newly qualified drivers remain safer than if they had simply been taught to pass the driving test. The reason they remain safer is because they have practised giving themselves feedback on their own performance and this has developed their ability to self evaluate and take responsibility for their driving.
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