Car driving instructor

Car driving instructors teach people the theory and practice of how to operate a car safely and according to regulations. They assist students in developing the skills needed to drive and prepare them for the driving theory tests and the practical driving test.

The duties of a car driving instructor include, but are not limited to:

• Preparing lessons that are tailored to students’ needs.
• Providing instruction on the parts and functions of a vehicle, and on-road regulations.
• Teaching practical skills related to all aspects of driving.
• Helping students to develop confidence in their driving skills.
• Gaining control of the vehicle during emergency situations.
• Calming students who are in distress.
• Documenting and reporting on students’ progress.
• Informing students when they are ready to take the driver’s test.
• Reporting all accidents to the Head of the driving school.

Classrooms are usually clean and comfortable. However, on-the-road instruction can be stressful because car driving instructors are responsible for beginning drivers who are operating machinery that can be dangerous.

High school driving instructors follow the regular school schedule, while instructors in commercial schools arrange their own hours.

The following job titles also refer to car driving instructor:

car driver instructor
driving instructor
car driving training instructor
car driver training instructor
automobile driving instructor
driver education instructor

Car driving instructors need at least a high school diploma. In some places, they also need to be of legal age (over 18 or 21 years old).

They must of course be excellent drivers, and have good training records. Sometimes, they need an additional certificate or license to teach driver education.

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

• the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
• the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
• the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Car driving instructor is a Skill level 2 occupation.

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to car driving instructor.

bus driving instructor
motorcycle instructor
truck driving instructor
driving instructor
automotive test driver

Part-time car driving instructors can become full-time instructors and then directors of their programs. Instructors who want to be directors of commercial driving schools need advanced education in business and safety education. With experience and business training, some car driving instructors open their own schools.

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of car driving instructor.

• Car controls: The functioning of specific car equipment such as how to operate and handle the clutch, throttle, lighting, instrumentation, transmission and the brakes.
• Types of vehicles: Field of information which distinguishes rental agency classification systems, containing types and classes of vehicles and their functioning and components.
• Road traffic laws: Understand road traffic laws and the rules of the road.
• Mechanical components of vehicles: Know the mechanical components used in vehicles and identify and resolve potential malfunctions.
• Health and safety measures in transportation: The body of rules, procedures and regulations related to health and safety measures intended to prevent accidents or incidents in transportation.
• Curriculum objectives: The goals identified in curricula and defined learning outcomes.

These skills are necessary for the role of car driving instructor.

• Guarantee students’ safety: Ensure all students falling under an instructor or other person’s supervision are safe and accounted for. Follow safety precautions in the learning situation.
• Control the performance of the vehicle: Understand and anticipate the performance and behaviour of a vehicle. Comprehend concepts such as lateral stability, acceleration, and braking distance.
• Monitor developments in field of expertise: Keep up with new research, regulations, and other significant changes, labour market related or otherwise, occurring within the field of specialisation.
• Drive vehicles: Be able to drive vehicles; have the appropriate type of driving license according to the type of motor vehicle used.
• Observe student’s progress: Follow up on students’ learning progress and assess their achievements and needs.
• Show consideration for student’s situation: Take students’ personal backgrounds into consideration when teaching, showing empathy and respect.
• Diagnose problems with vehicles: Diagnose issues with vehicles and assess the efforts and costs required to resolve them.
• Adapt teaching to student’s capabilities: Identify the learning struggles and successes of students. Select teaching and learning strategies that support students’ individual learning needs and goals.
• Apply teaching strategies: Employ various approaches, learning styles, and channels to instruct students, such as communicating content in terms they can understand, organising talking points for clarity, and repeating arguments when necessary. Use a wide range of teaching devices and methodologies appropriate to the class content, the learners’ level, goals, and priorities.
• Adapt to new technology used in cars: Adapt to new technology integrated in cars; understand systems operation and provide troubleshooting.
• Ensure vehicle operability: Keep the vehicle clean and in roadworthy condition. Ensure regular maintenance of the vehicle and provide valid official documents such as licenses and permits where appropriate.
• Teach driving practices: Instruct students in the practice of driving a vehicle such as a bus, taxi, truck, motorcycle or tractor safely, practice mechanical operation on roads with little traffic, and promote an anticipatory way of driving. Recognise the student’s difficulties and repeat the learning steps until the student feels at ease. Plan routes on different types of roads, during rush hour or at night.
• Give constructive feedback: Provide founded feedback through both criticism and praise in a respectful, clear, and consistent manner. Highlight achievements as well as mistakes and set up methods of formative assessment to evaluate work.
• Interpret traffic signals: Observe lights on the road, road conditions, nearby traffic, and prescribed speed limits to ensure safety. Interpret traffic signals and act accordingly.
• Park vehicles: Park motorised vehicles without compromising the integrity of vehicles and safety of people.
• Ensure vehicles are equipped with accessibility equipment: Ensure that the vehicle is equipped with accessibility equipment such as passenger lift, seat belts, restraining harnesses, and wheelchair clamps or webbing straps.
• Assist students in their learning: Support and coach students in their work, give learners practical support and encouragement.
• Encourage students to acknowledge their achievements: Stimulate students to appreciate their own achievements and actions to nurture confidence and educational growth.
• Perform defensive driving: Drive defensively to maximise road safety and save time, money, and lives; anticipate he actions of other road users.

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of car driving instructor. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Customer service: Processes and principles related to the customer, client, service user and to personal services; these may include procedures to evaluate customer’s or service user’s satisfaction.
• Operation of different engines: Know the characteristics, maintenance requirements and operating procedures of various kinds of engines such as gas, diesel, electrical, and engines with steam propulsion plants.
• Adult education: Instruction targeted at adult students, both in a recreational and in an academic context, for self-improvement purposes, or to better equip the students for the labour market.
• Learning difficulties: The learning disorders some students face in an academic context, especially Specific Learning Difficulties such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, and concentration deficit disorders.
• Mechanics of motor vehicles: The way energy forces interact and affect components in motor vehicles such as cars, buses, invalid carriages and other motorised vehicles. 
• Types of vehicle engines: Types of car engines in road and racing cars, inclusing those with emerging technologies like Hybrids and electric motors, and how they work.
• Driver’s license structure: The different types of driver’s licenses, the procedures for obtaining them, and which vehicles may be driven holding each type. Any special conditions or responsibilities tied to a driver’s license.
• Mechanics: Theoretical and practical applications of the science studying the action of displacements and forces on physical bodies to the development of machinery and mechanical devices.
• Engine components: Know the different engine components, and their operation and maintenance. Understand when repairs and replacement should be undertaken.

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of car driving instructor. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Drive automatic car: Drive a vehicle operated under an automatic, or self-shifting, transmission system safely and according to regulations.
• Drive in urban areas: Drive vehicles in urban areas. Interpret and understand transit signs in a city, the regulation of traffic, and the related common automobility agreements in an urban area.
• Read maps: Read maps effectively.
• Assess students: Evaluate the students’ (academic) progress, achievements, course knowledge and skills through assignments, tests, and examinations. Diagnose their needs and track their progress, strengths, and weaknesses. Formulate a summative statement of the goals the student achieved.
• Demonstrate when teaching: Present to others examples of your experience, skills, and competences that are appropriate to specific learning content to help students in their learning.
• Teach driving theory: Use didactic ways to educate on road traffic laws, on the appropriate driving behaviour, on authorisation requirements for vehicles and trailers, on the operation of different types of vehicles, and on the dangers of road travel.
• Use geographic memory: Use your memory of geographic surroundings and detail in navigation.
• Operate an emergency communication system: Efficiently operate common communication systems used in emergencies, such as base station mobile transmitters and receivers, portable transmitters and receivers, repeaters, cellular phones, pagers, automated vehicle locators, and satellite phones as required.

5165 – Driving instructors

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References

1. ESCO
2. Automotive Driving Instructor Job Description – StateUniversity.com
3. Driving Instructor Job Description – BetterTeam
4. Featured image: Photo by Bas Peperzak on Unsplash