Noggin wrote: ↑Fri Jul 02, 2021 7:58 am
I had a similar experience (from a learning point of view) - I showed my first riding buddy the CCS leaflet many many years ago and said I was considering it. After the next two morning rideouts, he pointed out that we'd covered the syllabus!!
The difference is that CSS break down the overall goal into smaller, bite-sized pieces which are easier to chew and swallow. For each chunk, they cover the topic first in theory, then offer the opportunity to practice that particular technique in a controlled environment, followed by feedback on how you performed and what needs to be changed, then you get the chance to apply that correction, before moving onto the next topic. It's a way to structure coaching that aids the learning process immensely.
I use the same structured approach but without a handy track, I use the road, choosing the routes to set different challenges.
Your buddy may - or may not - have done the same. I don't know. But my experience (directly when I myself was a novice, and indirectly through talking to trainees) is that most new riders who are shown the ropes by more experienced riders are simply told "follow me and do what I do". How do they know what the rider ahead is doing if he / she doesn't explain? I certainly didn't. How do you know who is riding well enough to follow? I remember one ride on my 125 following a much more experienced (well, he'd passed his test two years earlier) rider who was busy telling me I was too slow, and cleared off into the distance. I passed him a few minutes later pulling his Norton Dominator out of a hedge.
I think the issues is that too many IAM take a "know it all/god-like" approach to inflicting their 'knowledge on unsuspecting people, which results in those people grouping all instructors into the same brackets.
Which is exactly why I long since divorced and distanced myself from the IAM and RoSPA. I do not respond well to being talked down to myself - I get quite arsy actually, which is probably why I respond to 'you instructors are all the same' comments! We're NOT all the same, and anyone who has prior experience of the IAM and has also experienced my approach (or Horse's back in the days when he was a trainer himself) would know that. [/quote]
I've learnt that I learn better when it's with someone I can laugh with - my two French teachers are great and we laugh in every lesson, it makes it fun! I react badly to being 'instructed' from the 'know it all level'!! But if someone will talk to me and chat and laugh, then I'll learn loads
It's all about creating a relaxed learning environment.
Slightly off topic, something I have discovered in the last fifteen months is that switching briefings to Zoom, rather than trying to do them on the day over a cuppa at a cafe and services, has achieved this in a way I really didn't expect. I actually thought that it would be the other way round, that people would find the Zoom environment alien and disruptive. In fact, quite a few people have remarked that being able to sit in comfort in their own home and at a time that suits them has really helped. They're not so nervous, they are comfortable with a cuppa and not sweating (or freezing) in bike kit, nor are they pressured to take things in immediately before riding - they have time for some reflective thinking before the course on the road.
For you, part of the issue is that people read things in the tone of voice they expect. So whilst you write in a chatty helpful way, anyone who has been IAM'd will read what you write in a totally different tone of voice. Not sure how you address that tho!
Astute observation. Really all I can do is carry on doing what I try to do... to explain in a way that allows the reader to see the benefits for himself / herself, rather than say "this is what you will do and trust me, it's good for you".