Something I saw on a forum reminded me of the simple fact that you should never judge a book by its cover!
The discussion in question revolves around instructor training – teaching people to become ADIs. It’s a hot 
topic in the industry, because virtually no ADI who is currently on the register believes that anyone else should be allowed to join it. They have the same opinion of the trainee (“pinkie”) system – they may well have utilised that route to becoming an ADI themselves, but woe betide anyone else who tries it!
A couple of comments centre around the issue of whether someone is “cut out to be an instructor”.
As I write this, I’m trying hard to think of any job out there – I hate calling this one a “profession” when I see and hear some of those who do it – where it is a closed shop, and no one else is allowed to do it because admission to the Hallowed Halls is blocked.
If you are prepared to do the training, and to fight to grow your subsequent career, you can be anything you want to be – and I mean that in both the absolute sense (i.e. no one can stop you), and the relative sense (i.e. try hard enough and pass the tests, and you’re in). It doesn’t have to be a Divine Calling any more than it should be a Divine Right. This is precisely the way it should be.
Teaching people to drive isn’t rocket science. And, whether ADIs like it or not, the sole responsibility of an instructor is to teach new drivers enough to pass the test and to be safe enough to go out and gain more experience on the roads. It’s always been like that and, unless the minimum age for driving is raised to 35, it always will be!
In the end, all it is is a job. A simple, day-to-day job.
It is NOT the ADI’s responsibility if the newly-qualified driver chooses not to continue to learn or drive safely. It is NOT the ADI’s responsibility to change someone’s fundamental behaviour or character. And – extreme cases notwithstanding – it is NOT the ADI’s responsibility to decide if someone should be allowed to learn to drive or not.
This is where an ex-pupil of mine comes to mind from some years ago.
He was a really nice lad, and he had a good job with good prospects. But he was not a natural driver. Sometimes, I despaired at how I would ever get him to test standard and – in all honesty – in my own mind I was often hoping that he’d realise for himself that for his own sake, and everyone else out there on the roads, he’d give up the idea of learning to drive and stick to buses.
But I was totally wrong. You see, my feelings were based purely on my own enjoyment of the lessons sometimes (i.e. frustration) and my awareness of how much it was costing him (i.e. what I though his perception of me might be). He didn’t see it that way at all – he was always upbeat and was adamant that he was still learning, even when I was convinced we’d not moved forward at all when I compared my lesson notes from previous weeks.
In the end, he was with me for over two years, and he spent more that £4,000 on lessons. But he passed at the third attempt. I know for a fact that he is happily – and safely – driving every day now.
So, taking all this one step further back, and considering the trainee instructor rather than the trainee driver, does anyone have the right to declare who can and who can’t do this job? No!
It doesn’t matter if someone has been made redundant from their job and is now considering becoming an ADI. As long as they know the risks, the choice is theirs – certainly not mine. They don’t have to be über-dedicated, or be hand-picked by the Heavenly Host because all they’re doing is a job. They’re trying to support themselves financially. And if they don’t provide a good service then they’ll fail – which is simply part of the risk they assume when they decide to become ADIs.
The people who are always blaming new ADIs and trainees for their own predicament, and who believe that this job is a calling of some kind, should perhaps take a step back and look at their own position in a little more detail..
Many are so disillusioned and bitter – and have been for so many years now – that they come across as considerably less dedicated to the job than the people who’ve just been laid off from the local coal mine and who want to become instructors. And until a couple of years ago, they blamed Red Driving School for everything.
Now it appears to be anyone who is offering instructor training.
Yes, it would be nice if we could make it a closed shop, and have the ultimate say in who gets kicked off the register just because we’re having a tough time at the moment (as though the rest of the world isn’t). But that isn’t going to happen. Nor should it.