Message
from Chief of Instructor Development, Paul Avery
This program was originally developed by Bill Hawe,
former Chief Instructor of NER/PCA. It has since been revised several
times by subsequent Track Committees, with the latest rewrite by current
Chief of Instructor Development, Paul
Avery.
Goals
Each of us can probably remember an instructor who really taught us a
lot. That experience will be cherished. It was both fun and satisfying.
The feeling of personal accomplishment was very motivating. Gaining "seat-time
teaching" is one way to become a better teacher, just as that instructor
who inspired us early in our driving careers. With that in mind, we established
the NER/PCA Instructor Development Program which includes both training
and mentoring.
The goal of the program is to provide prospective instructors with an
environment where they can learn to teach. In some endeavors, "on-the-job
training" is the best thing; however, in Driver Education (DE), it's
usually better to learn something about it before trying it out on someone
else (and his/her car) at the track. We established the mentoring part
of the program to achieve these goals:
- Verify that instructor candidates have achieved proficiency in advanced
driving;
- Provide a reduced-stress environment to learn the basics of instructing;
- Explain what is expected of instructors;
- Show the basics of "the line" we teach (both dry and wet) in DE
events;
- Practice teaching in a controlled setting;
- Learn various scenarios which can develop on-track and learn how
to spot them early and handle them appropriately;
- Learn about different types of students;
- Learn how different types of cars behave and how they feel when
doing it;
- Learn about different communications and teaching styles;
- Learn about yourself;
- Learn what will be expected on the Instructor Certification Test;
- Reduce student stress;
- Reduce instructor stress;
- Share experiences with other instructor candidates and instructors;
and
- Have fun!
Minimum Skills and Qualifications
NER/PCA is constantly seeking to expand its instructor corps. We look
for applicants with the following skills and qualifications:
- Good communications and teaching skills, being aware and alert,
positive, and empathetic.
- Knowledge of and practicing safe operating procedures and NER/PCA
rules both on track and in the pits and paddock.
- Technical knowledge about high-performance driving and cars, illustrated
by passing a verbal test.
- Safe, skillful, and competent advanced use of his or her vehicle
and its controls.
These guidelines apply to anyone who wishes to instruct with Northeast
Region, including those who've been instructing for many years with
other regions. The program is identical for all people with the exception
that the requirement of 4 NER events (about a year) of Advanced driving
with NER at our events is reduced to 1 for transfers, out-of-region
people, and all other non-NER candidates with equivalent experience.
This allows the Track Committee to test non-NER instructor candidates
at our events and have them begin instructing for us in short order.
The Track Committee may at its discretion impose additional NER event
time requirements on a candidate.
Instructor Development Process
In order to become an NER/PCA instructor, candidates must complete the
following:
- Application
Advanced drivers may apply to become NER/PCA instructors by contacting
either the Chief of Instructor Development or the Track Chair. A simple
application form provides your background for this process. All candidates
must complete this form to become NER/PCA instructors. The form is
in either MS Word or Adobe Acrobat form, with the Word document being
a considerably smaller file:
or 
To become an NER/PCA instructor, the candidate must meet the Minimum
Skills and Qualifications as presented above. However, candidates
who are approaching the minimum driving experience may
apply to become NER/PCA instructors and begin the development process
with the understanding that the minimum requirements will be met when
development is complete.
- Advanced Driving Test
To enter the program, all candidates must demonstrate their proficiency
in advanced driving. NER/PCA instructors must be able to demonstrate
smooth and safe driving habits consistent with NER/PCA rules. Each
candidate will drive his/her car in an advanced run group with a member
of the instructor development team as his/her passenger.
The goal of this checkout is to verify that the candidate can drive
comfortably at the brisk pace of an advanced group such as black or
red while being smooth, safe, aware, consistent, on-line, up to speed
with the group, and in communications with the instructor doing the
check-out. The goal is not to go out and get a car loose and show
that you can catch it; rather, it is to drive your normal session
— presumably an advanced session — and hit every apex every
lap. While driving at this level, the candidate will inevitably demonstrate
various advanced car-control techniques such as heel-and-toe, threshold
braking, etc.
- Verbal Test
In addition to advance driving skills, instructor candidates must
also have good working knowledge of technical aspects of driving and
the physics of car-control dynamics. Each candidate will be given
a verbal test by a member of the instructor development team. The
questions are divided into three categories:
- Line/track geometry;
- Vehicle dynamics; and
- Operation of vehicle controls.
The candidate must obtain a passing score in each category. The tester
will be looking for both a solid understanding of the topics and ability
to provide clear responses. The questions are not unlike those questions
a novice or intermediate driver will ask an instructor. Background
material for the verbal test can be found in a variety of publications
such as:
- Porsche High Performance Handbook
by Vic Elford
- Going Faster by Skip Barber Racing
School
- The
Physics of Racing Series by Brian Beckman (contains many of
the principles used in Driver Education)
- How to Make your Car Handle by Fred
Puh
- Bob Bondurant on High Performance Driving
by Bob Bondurant
- Auto Math Handbook by John Lawlor
- NER publications found at www.PorscheNet.com/driving.html:
- Instructor Mentoring Program
After completing the advanced driving and verbal tests, the candidate
will begin practice teaching under the NER/PCA instructor mentoring
program. Some advanced candidates (typically instructors from other
regions/programs) may chose to take the Instructor Certification Test
immediately without going through the mentoring program. It is r ecommended,
though, that candidates take advantage of the opportunity to practice
teaching beforehand. The Instructor Mentoring Program is required
for all in-region instructor candidates with no prior experience instructing
high-performance driving.
NER/PCA has developed the Instructor Mentoring Program with the objective
of providing a positive learning environment for prospective instructors
to development their awareness, communication and teaching skills.
The mentoring program consists primarily of practice teaching with
an experienced instructor acting the student's role. The mentor will
role-play one or more student scenarios, ranging from a first-time
novice who is just learning the ropes, to a more experience driver
with more complex habits requiring attention. The objective of the
role-playing is not just to test the candidate's ability to identify
poor driving but to share the knowledge of common student mistakes
and ways to communicate corrections.
The duration of the mentoring program will vary depending upon the
needs and progress of the candidate. However, mentoring generally
includes several sessions at more than one event/track. Mentoring
sessions are generally not run as a continuous, mock-teaching exercises;
rather, as on-track, interactive classrooms. Sessions may focus on
explaining how to be simple, consistent, and "repetitious" with driving
queues ("on the brake", "off the brake", "turn in", "apex", "on the
gas", "unwind the wheel", etc.). Or, they may focus on how just a
single corner is taught at a given track. Often the mentor (who is
driving) will "teach him/herself" to show the candidate how he/she
might handle a given scenario. Often the mentor will demonstrate things
novice drivers often do such as lifting in corners, coasting, riding
the clutch, failing to watch mirrors, exhibiting a death grip on the
steering wheel, etc.
Another important element of the mentoring program will be to work
on the often-overlooked time spent in the pit or paddock. Prior to
going on the track, the candidate will be encouraged to extract as
much information from the "student" as possible to ascertain their
experience level, expectations, car modifications, if any, tire types
and pressures, and general frame of mind. This non-driving time is
also useful for reviewing safety rules such as flags, passing procedures,
etc.
The mentor is the candidate's ally, whose mission is to share knowledge
and work with the candidate to become an effective instructor. Final
testing will be done by another member of the instructor development
team who has not served as the candidate's mentor.
- Instructor Certification Test
At some point the candidate is ready for the Instructor Certification
Test. Ideally, it will "become apparent" to all parties that the candidate
is ready for this test. The Instructor Certification Test is a "teaching
test." The candidate will be matched with a member of the instructor
development team who has not served as his/her mentor. The instructor
(tester) will drive and play the role of a student while the candidate
plays the role of the instructor. As time permits, the candidate should
strive to demonstrate all of the elements of successful instructing
development acquired during the mentoring program including introduction/background
gathering, DE rules, flags, and of course driving technique.
Following the test, the instructor will provide the candidate with
direct feedback on his/her assessment of the candidate's abilities
as an instructor. However, final confirmation of "passing" or recommendation
for further mentoring will come from the Chief of Instructor Development
or the Chief Driving Instructor.
- Other Regions' Programs
Instructor mentoring or instructor training programs across the PCA
Regions are highly variable. Some regions have well-established programs,
while others have none. The goals of most existing programs are similar
to ours. To become an instructor in another region, you may be asked
to complete their training program if you are not already an NER instructor.
In some cases, you may be asked to go through that program if you
are a brand-new instructor.
Zones such as Zone-1 and Zone-2 also run programs for zone instructor
certification. They prefer that you already are an instructor in your
home region before applying for zone instructor certification. In
cases where someone is not already an instructor in his/her home region,
the zone organizers will ask the Chief Instructor of the home region
whether the candidate should be tested or not. This scenario handles
the case where a candidate may be in the NER instructor mentoring
program and is about to take the NER Instructor Certification Test
(say at the next event) and will attend a zone event in the interim.
The NER Chief Driving Instructor would then tell the zone to go ahead
and test the candidate since he/she is going to be tested in NER imminently.
To apply, please download the form from the link on www.PorscheNet.com/driving.html.
|
