The Hidden Contradiction at the Heart of Modern Training “Let me tell you how to coach.” Read that again. It’s a phrase heard every day in training rooms, webinars, workshops, and professional development sessions. And it contains one of the biggest contradictions in education. If coaching is about helping people think for themselves, why do so many trainers spend their time telling people what to think? The irony is hard to miss. We stand at the front of a room explaining th

Last week, I wrote about pass rates and why they don’t necessarily tell us how effective an instructor really is. This week, I want to continue that conversation by looking at another measure that often receives almost mythical status within our industry: The clean sheet pass. Few achievements generate more excitement among driving instructors. A learner returns from the test centre with zero driving faults. The social media post goes up. Congratulations pour in. The instruct

That statement often makes people uncomfortable. And before anyone rushes to the comments, a strong pass rate can absolutely be an indicator that some things are being done well. It may reflect good lesson structure, effective communication, and learners arriving at test well prepared. The problem arises when pass rate becomes the primary measure of instructional quality. Teaching someone to pass a driving test is not the same as training someone to become a safe, adaptable d