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Making Sense of the Goals for Driver Education · Part 11 of 14 · HERMES in everyday lessons

HERMES set out to answer a practical question: how can instructors actually reach the higher levels of the GDE matrix in real lessons? Its answer was coaching. This article turns that answer into something you can use on Monday morning.

What HERMES meant by coaching

The HERMES materials quote Sir John Whitmore: “Building awareness and responsibility is the essence of good coaching.” That is a good summary of what the higher levels of the matrix need. Awareness is self-evaluation. Responsibility is the learner owning their decisions, including the ones made long before they reach a junction.

HERMES promoted learner-centred, active methods across on-road training, track training and the classroom. It was not about asking questions for the sake of it. It was about the learner doing the thinking.

The five essential skills

Chapter 8 of Coaching for Driver Development sets out five essential coaching skills for ADIs:

• Listening: the most underrated skill. Active, intentional, at the deeper levels.
• Questioning: open, neutral questions that invite reflection, not compliance.
• Feedback: specific, balanced and behaviour-focused, building awareness rather than dependency.
• Rapport: the foundation of learning. If you lose rapport, you lose learning.
• Intuition: noticing subtle shifts, and checking rather than assuming.

A worked example: T-GROW at Level 3

Chapter 15 covers GROW and T-GROW as a structure for coaching conversations. Here is how it might look with a learner who mentions they will be driving friends home from college once they pass.

• Topic: “You mentioned driving your friends home. Shall we talk about that for a few minutes?”
• Goal: “What would a good journey home with them look like for you?”
• Reality: “What’s it usually like in a car with that group? What happens when they’re in a good mood?”
• Options: “What could you do if the car gets loud, or someone wants you to go faster? What else?”
• Will: “Which of those will you actually do? How confident are you that you’ll stick to it?”

Nothing in that conversation is instruction. The learner has identified a Level 3 and Level 4 risk, explored it and chosen their own response. That is what HERMES was describing.

Coaching is not only questions

The decision guide from Chapter 4 still applies. If something is new, teach it. If something is unsafe right now, instruct. Chapter 2 is clear that coaching can never justify delayed intervention when safety is at risk. Coaching is the default, not the only tool.

Common pitfalls

• Leading questions: “You didn’t check your mirrors, did you?” is a telling-off dressed as a question.
• Firing several questions at once, so the learner does not know which to answer.
• “Why” questions when emotions are high, which can feel like an accusation.
• Filling the silence. The learner needs time to think, and silence is where the thinking happens.

A useful swap: instead of “Why didn’t you check your mirrors?”, try “What did you notice before you moved off?”

On your next lesson

Three small things to try this week.

1. Plan one T-GROW. Pick one learner and plan a short T-GROW conversation around a Level 3 topic, such as the journeys they will make after passing.
2. Count to five. After asking a question, wait at least five seconds before saying anything else.
3. Swap one question. Catch one leading question in your next lesson and replace it with an open one.

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Go deeper

In the book: Coaching for Driver Development, Chapter 8 (Essential Coaching Skills for ADIs) and Chapter 15 (GROW and T-GROW for Lesson Structure).

Live sessions: Module 3, Essential Coaching Skills in the Car, and Module 4, Emotional Intelligence and Lesson Management. Module 3 covers the five essential coaching skills and powerful questions. Module 4 covers GROW and T-GROW for structuring coaching conversations.

I deliver the five Coaching for Driver Development modules live on Zoom, one module a week. You can book any module on its own or join the complete series. Contact me at grahamhooperadi@hotmail.com or visit grahamhooper.blog.

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Previous: Part 10: Column 3: Self-Evaluation
Tomorrow: Part 12: RUE: The Client-Centred Bridge
Read the full series

Sources

• EU HERMES Project (2010). High impact approach for Enhancing Road safety through More Effective communication Skills. Final report and executive summary.
• Whitmore, J. (2009). Coaching for Performance (4th ed.). London: Nicholas Brealey.
• Hatakka, M., Keskinen, E., Gregersen, N.P., Glad, A. and Hernetkoski, K. (2002). From control of the vehicle to personal self-control: broadening the perspectives to driver education. Transportation Research Part F, 5(3), 201–215.
• Hooper, G.J. (2025). Coaching for Driver Development: A Complete Framework for the ADI Coach. GJH Consultancy.