I’ve been a driving instructor for about 15 years now and honestly, I’m not 100% sure why learners still want to know, “Why does my driving instructor shout at me”? Only because it really really should not happen!
The problem is that it happens more often than I would care to admit. We get so many clients that come to us from other driving schools and driving instructors that, have decided that enough is enough.
I’ve even been at the driving test centre where some instructors have laughed and joked about bullying behaviour towards clients.
The biggest worry I have is that learners think this is acceptable or maybe not acceptable but they expect it to happen. I’m here to tell you that it’s neither acceptable nor should you expect it to happen.
I’m also going to say right now if you feel your instructor is shouting at you, find another one. If that instructor works with us then email me directly at ian@revolutiondrivinglessons.co.uk and, I’ll sort it for you. Confidentiality assured!
No Shouting – That’s a promise
We have developed our “No Shouting Promise – Guaranteed” to try and help learners. We want you to able to make choices based upon your preferences and, make sure that if you don’t want to be shouted at when (not if) you make a mistake then you can choose with confidence.
Recently I even had a new learner join us for driving lessons. I noticed that she had her inhaler with her. I suggested she pop it in the drinks holder in the middle of the car so I could grab it for her in case she needed it when driving. Her response shocked me, “ I won’t need it unless you shout at me”.
That got me thinking again, Why do Driving Instructors Shout?
But then it’s not only shouting it’s generally just aggressive or bullying type behaviour that could include shouting but also extreme sarcasm or blame.
Why do they do it?
I don’t actually know, but what I do know is that it really really doesn’t help. I’ve not met a learner that did something wrong intentionally. From our point of view, it’s about helping the learner explore the mistakes that they make, keeping them safe, and allowing them to learn a new skill.
To shout at a learner driver is about as useful as a parent shouting at a child who is learning to walk for falling over.
There are, in my opinion, a few reasons a driving instructor may be resorting to shouting at a learner.
It’s how they were taught to drive
Seeing as learning to drive is a learned skill often how you were taught is the best way. Also as being shouted at as a learner didn’t “do them any harm” they may see no real reason why you can’t shout or raise their voice to get the point across.
They don’t have the skills as an instructor to not shout
Keeping calm and dealing with a learner’s worries, helping them keep safe all while letting them make “safe mistakes” is something that is not generally taught when a driving instructor is training. It is something that they must take upon themselves to learn. Sadly most driving instructors don’t invest in additional training so it’s unlikely that the shouting instructors will have spent anything to improve their skills.
They Panic
Seems a little weird but the instructor may not have the skills to maintain a safe learning environment or the skills to control the safety critical aspects of a driving lesson. This means if you or the learner makes a mistake they may not have seen it coming and so they panic or get scared. Their fight or flight instincts kick in and they verbally lash out at the cause of their anxiety/fear.
Are they tired?
We all feel a little more on edge if we’re tired and driving instructors are no different. If they have been working all week and you’re the 50th driving hour with a learner that they have done this week, then it stands to reason they are tired, Sadly the instructor is then in a cycle of poor quality sessions, leading to fewer clients leading to lower prices leading to more lessons needing to be done to make enough money to survive. Driving instructors are not limited to how many driving lessons they can do in a week and often burn out but before they do they probably let the stress get hold and they start shouting.
Maybe they are in it just for the money
This one sounds a little bit odd but in reality, having been around other driving instructors for the last 14 years they are a negative bunch. Many don’t enjoy the job anymore and are just going through the motions waiting to retire or for something better to come along.
Maybe something is going on at home?
I saw this and the one below on another post whilst researching this post. I’ll say now that I don’t think either is an acceptable reason to shout at a learner driver.
Or the instructor may have personal problems. This means that they are already on an anxiety high and so a little mistake can send them over the edge. Personally, if I didn’t think I could leave my home life at home and it did not affect my clients learning experience I would probably cancel the sessions explaining my reasons and it would be because I have my clients best interests at heart.
The instructor cares about you.
If they didn’t they would just sit there all not bothered and relaxed. I have no idea where this comes from, but I 100% do not agree. If they really cared then they would work out how to be the help not the hindrance.
Does shouting help?
I genuinely don’t think it does. I’ve never personally ever felt better about something when someone is shouting at me for doing it wrong.
A lot of driving instructors could help their learners more by thinking more about the cause of the problem, not the problem.
Mostly when someone does something wrong they are already feeling pretty rubbish and shouting at them won’t help. It usually makes people less likely to want to learn for fear of making a mistake.
In short, if your driving instructor is shouting at you for making mistakes during your driving lessons they are probably not doing their job properly or even lack the skills to do their job properly.
Revolution Driving Lessons is a driving school that provides quality tuition tailored with our clients in mind. Our expert driving instructors sign-up for our “No Shouting – Guaranteed” charter to ensure that we provide the best possible service to our clients.
Our expert driving instructors cover the Mansfield, Kirkby-In-Ashfield, Sutton-In-Ashfield, Hucknall, Alfreton and Matlock areas.