DISCRIMINATION
Did the trainer maintain an appropriate non-discriminatory manner throughout the session?
Many people mistake the word Discrimination as being PC with what they say.
But Discrimination goes a lot deeper than just being PC.
There are so many Ism's in the world right now that it can sometimes be hard to distinguish what can be said and what cannot.
Just some of the following subjects and how you treat them could be deemed discrimination if your opinion is prejudicial.
AGE
RACE
RELIGION
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
COLOUR
SIZE
SHAPE
POSITION
GENDER
ABILITY
KNOWLEDGE
POLITICS
These are just a few of the common areas where without even thinking about it, your personal opinion or thoughts may put you in deep water.
Other subjects that could also put you in a discriminatory place.
Making comments about Brands of car and the typical sort of behaviour you might expect from the drivers.
The age of a driver, old, young, male or female etc
What someone is wearing.
What someone is eating
How someone chooses to exercise.
Cyclists
Motorcyclists
Horse riders
Lorry Drivers
I mean this list could just keep going and going.
But if what you have to say about anything is deemed to have been said in an unjust or prejudicial way it could be deemed as being discrimination.
Everyone has opinions, it is our right to freedom of speech.
However, your freedom of speech has a place!
While in a car supplying driving lessons your opinion may not be the place to voice them.
Not only might it be bad for business, but it could also get you in trouble with the law if someone were to take offence and make a complaint to the police.
This without a doubt would be bad for your business.
Let's just say you personally have an issue with a typical brand of car driver.
Your learner possibly has none at the moment, unless maybe a friend or family member has had an opinion on a particular brand of vehicle as well,
and has in the past voiced their opinion.
At the moment your learner only has the opinion about this particular brand of car from the friend or family member.
No different to a friend liking one football team and not another.
But now you start voicing your opinion about the same brand.
Are you now instilling into that learner something that they will go on to set up as their opinion as well.
When people have opinions, they should be opinions based on what they have seen for themselves and make their own mind up about that particular thing.
Are you opinions now going to set this learner up for life to have the same opinion as you about this brand of car driver?
Will it create an air of discontent for these drivers?
Is it possible they will react different around this brand of car compared to other brands?
Does your pupil family member own this brand of car and because of your opinion cancel lessons with you?
Yes you have an opinion, we all do. You are entitled to it as everyone is, but it does not need to be shared.
Babe, Flower, Hun, Mate, Geeza, Chuck, Buddy, Darling, Love.
These are just some of the pet names I hear from some instructors toward their pupils.
Your pupils are NOT your Babe, Mate, Darling etc.
They are you Clients and as a professional you need to be professional toward them.
You'll never hear an examiner coming out of their office to greet a pupil taking their test with greeting of
"Alright mate or Hi ya Hun"
They introduce themselves and ask the pupil how they would like to be reffed to.
This is exactly how you need to deal with your customers and address them accordingly.
It can be deeply offensive to some people just by you shortening their name.
As an example.
If your pupil has asked you to refer to the as Rebecca then don't start using Bec's as a pet name.
As part of your professionalism toward your customer, you also need to respect THEIR SPACE.
Remember, a vast amount of your lesson may be with someone half your age or more.
They want to feel safe themselves while carrying out their paid tuition.
The Instructors side of the car is for the instructor and the drivers side is for the driver.
Other than to avoid a Safety Critical Incident from occurring, you should NEVER need to invade your pupils personal space.
On your very first lesson with your pupil, it is your responsibility to explain and make clear that there are two sides to the car and your side is yours and their side is theirs, and the only time you may possibly need to encroach onto their side is from a safety point of view.
Should the need arise for you to encroach, you need to explain why.
I would strongly suggest that during your first lesson that you explain to your learner about how you will be observing them while giving instructions and at various stages during their drive. Explain why you are doing this and also reassure them that an examiner will do the same during the driving test.
This will prepare them as well for when the driving test comes around.
General chit chat!
Rapport is huge when building up a relationship with your customer,
and you will want to have a level of conversation that enables your pupil to trust that they can talk freely about items that they may be having trouble with to do with driving.
Mirroring your pupils vocabulary can be a way of "getting on their level" but their level may be one that involves a level of bad language,
Mirroring this would not make you look professional.
There is also a line that you need to draw if your pupil has opinions and becomes discriminatory.
In a polite manner you need to make it clear that you are not prepared to get into conversations of this manner and you are being paid to give driving instruction.
If their discrimination continues and you find that it makes you feel uncomfortable, then a conversation will need to be had that it either stops or a mutual parting of ways will be forthcoming.
Some things you may find yourself faced with during lessons, is pupils talking about boyfriends / girlfriends / their parents/ money problems / drugs / college / Uni or a multitude of other subjects.
It is not your place to engage with these conversation as part of your job.
Obviously, how you handle these are down to you but not advisable.
However, there is a fine line between general Chit Chat and stepping over the mark.
Being flirtatious, Patronising, Bullying, Making innuendos, Being over familiar toward them,
Arranging meetings outside of lesson socially, Texting on a personal level outside of lessons.
These all break the professionalism an Instructor should have.
Remember, part of the requirement for an instructor to be on the DVSA register is that they must be deemed a "Fit and Proper Person"
And although the DVSA do not specify what makes a person Fit and Proper, in my opinion nothing in that list would be deemed FIT AND PROPER.
ENSURING YOUR PUPIL HAS A DUTY OF CARE.
There may be occasions however small, where a subject might come up that puts you in a place where you have to act on it.
You have a duty of care to your customer, and as mentioned earlier a lot of your customers will still be minors.
If in anyway you feel that something that has been said raises a question about a Safeguarding concern you must inform the relative parties.
This may be the Police, Social Services or depending on the circumstances the minors parent/s
