Driving tips for supervisors
Planning a lesson
Lesson structure
It is important to plan your lessons prior to taking your learner driver out on the road:
- Decide what driving task is important for your learner driver taking into consideration:
- what driving skills the learner driver already has
- what skills they need to learn or revise
- the difficulty of the tasks (ordering them from easiest to hardest). - Explain the task to the learner before and during the lesson, and ask them to tell you how they’ll do it.
- Have the learner try the task as you talk them through it.
- Let them know how they went, giving clear, positive and constructive feedback.
Have the learner practise the task until you’re both confident they can do it confidently and safely.
Tips for planning lessons
- Pick a location and a time to hold the lesson. Make sure the location and route suit your learner’s current driving ability.
- Start with short, frequent lessons and focus on one new driving skill each lesson so the learner doesn’t get overwhelmed.
- Consider questions the learner might ask you about driving. Our StreetSmarts website provides advice on speeding, driver fatigue, driver distraction and other driving techniques.
- Driving tasks that seem easy to you may be difficult for your learner to perform or understand at first. It takes time and practice to develop the skills to become a safe and competent driver.
- Allow time at the end of the lesson for review and questions.
Communicating with learner drivers
When you’re instructing your learner driver, how you say something is as important as what you say. These tips will help you keep the learner calm and focused on the task:
- When attempting a driving task or a driving trip, break it down into smaller steps and review successes and mistakes when the task is completed.
- Give directions well in advance and keep your language consistent.
- Try to keep your instructions short and simple. The learner will be concentrating hard on the task at hand. If you need to have a longer discussion, pull over safely first.
- Be patient and use positive language - use words like ‘correct,’ ‘ok’ or ‘yes’, rather than ‘right.’
- Avoid starting or continuing driving if you or your learner is upset or frustrated. Take a break and resume when you are both calm.
- Encourage your learner driver to talk about any concerns or questions that they may have, and reassure them that it takes a lot of practice and experience to become a safe driver.
- Try and give constructive feedback. Keep your language simple and speak in a calm voice. Remember to balance critical feedback with praise when your learner successfully completes a driving task.
- After the driving lesson, have a debrief. Explain to your learner driver what went well and ask them what they thought went well. You can also discuss what didn’t go so well by providing better next time.
- Model safe driving behaviour yourself.
In this guide:
- Preparing to be a supervisor
- Planning a lesson
- Gaining experience and avoiding hazards
- Moving on to P plates