Introduction
In my years of teaching, I’ve learned that many men are more aggressive instructors. They often push and prod their female students a little harder than is necessary. This can be frustrating for anyone who’s trying to teach them how to drive safely and responsibly. However, it’s important not to let this frustration get the best of you! If your student starts pushing your buttons in response (which they probably will), here are some tips on how to keep things under control:
Stay calm. Take a deep breath and think through the problem. If you react strongly to criticism, your student will learn that they can push buttons and get a reaction out of you.
As a driving instructor, you will be dealing with many different types of students. Some are calm and easy to teach, while others can be difficult and frustrating. As an instructor, you want your lessons to run smoothly and without problems. If you find that one of your students is exceptionally difficult, use the following tips:
- Stay calm. Take a deep breath and think through the problem. If you react strongly to criticism, your student will learn that they can push buttons and get a reaction out of you.
- Don’t take it personally or as a personal attack against yourself or your teaching abilities. Instead, look at each situation objectively as an opportunity for improvement in both yourself as well as the student’s driving skillset overall (not just specific moments).
- Don’t argue with your student about what happened during their lesson but rather focus on how best move forward from there so everyone remains safe on our roads!
Don’t argue with your student.
- Don’t argue with your student. A good driving instructor knows that it is not their job to tell a student what to do, but rather to show them how to do it. If a student wants to drive through the red light or make a turn in the middle of an intersection, it is up to you as the professional driver trainer and friend of theirs to explain why this action would be dangerous and why they shouldn’t do it. The more you argue with them about these things, the more likely it is that they will become even more determined not only to prove you wrong but also that they themselves are right!
Use praise. Find something – anything! – to praise them for. Then tell them what they’re doing right in specific terms.
Praise is a powerful tool. It can be used to build up the confidence of the learner and make them feel more comfortable in the car, or it can be used to correct bad habits and reinforce good ones. When you find something for your student that he/she has done well, praise him/her for it! It doesn’t matter if it’s something small; even if they’ve said “thank you” after asking where your handbrake was located, tell them how much you appreciate his/her politeness.
When praising a student for doing something right, focus on what he’s done well rather than what he’s done wrong (if there are any mistakes). For instance: “That was an excellent job of checking mirrors before pulling out into traffic” is much better than: “You’ve corrected many of the bad habits we discussed last week.”
Don’t try to win over the student by making excuses for their behavior.
It can be tempting, when dealing with a student that is behaving poorly, to try and make excuses for their behavior. You may feel like you should tell them that they’re doing the best they can while they are repeatedly failing the driving test. Or maybe you’ll want to tell them that it’s okay if they forget everything because it’s all so difficult! However, this isn’t going to help anything at all. In fact, making excuses for poor performance sends a message of weakness and discourages any attempt at improvement from your student.
Stick with your lesson plan unless the student’s behavior becomes dangerous or disrespectful.
- Stick with your lesson plan unless the student’s behavior becomes dangerous or disrespectful.
You can’t control what your student does in the car, but you can control yourself. If an inappropriate joke goes too far and makes you uncomfortable, stay calm and ask the student to stop it. If they refuse, it may be time to ask them to leave the car—but only if their behavior becomes dangerous or disrespectful. Even if they don’t want to go quietly (or at all), do not let them intimidate you out of following through with this request! Call a colleague or supervisor if needed; it’s also acceptable to call local law enforcement on behalf of a client if needed as well.#ENDWRITE
Choose your battles carefully. You don’t have to control every aspect of the lesson to control the lesson as a whole.
The best instructors are those who try to choose their battles wisely. You don’t need to control every aspect of the lesson, nor should you attempt to do so.
Instead, focus on what’s important and make sure that your student understands that.
Keep detailed records of your lessons and interactions with the student, including any incidents that occur with other instructors in the case you need to pass on responsibility for the student’s training.
As a driving instructor, you may at times find yourself dealing with difficult male students. Sometimes their behaviors can be so egregious that they jeopardize the safety of your other students and yourself. In this case, it is important that you keep detailed records of your lessons and interactions with the student, including any incidents that occur with other instructors in the case you need to pass on responsibility for the student’s training.
A good rule of thumb is to keep a log of all lessons and interactions between yourself and students. This includes any incidents that occur while driving (including speeding), as well as phone calls or emails exchanged between yourself and parents/guardians if applicable.
If a male driving student is rude or disrespectful, lady driving instructors can use these techniques to keep control of the situation.
- Be calm and take a deep breath. If a male driving student is rude or disrespectful, lady driving instructors can use these techniques to keep control of the situation.
- Don’t argue with the student, don’t make excuses for their behavior. If your student is being rude or disrespectful during a lesson, don’t argue with them or try to make excuses for their actions. Stick to your lesson plan and keep your cool.
- Stick with your lesson plan: As soon as they become aware that they are in trouble, most students will lose interest in what you are teaching them and start thinking about how they can get away with whatever they want without getting caught (or at least without getting punished too heavily).
Conclusion
That’s all for today! We hope you found this article helpful. If you did, please let us know by leaving a comment below. If there are any other tips or tricks that we didn’t mention here but could be useful to future lady drivers out there, leave us a message as well! Thanks for reading and happy driving!