17/07/2026
For years Instructors viewed the Core Competencies as the foundation of teaching. Theyโre essential skills for every ADI and new driver to possess, but they were never intended to be a teaching model. They help us manage risk and respond to whatโs happening in the moment. We help the pupil to develop their ability to understand risk as a result. However developing people is much broader than that.
The K.U.G. Competencies are simply a developmental approach to learning. One built around adult learning, self-awareness and understanding. An approach that aims to take ADI development, and more importantly pupil development, beyond fault identification and towards creating safer drivers.
Known
Every learner arrives with existing knowledge, experiences and beliefs. They already understand something about roads, other people, risk, emotions and decision making. The starting point for learning is to discover what they already know.
When we begin with the known, we arenโt starting from scratch. Weโre building on existing understanding, helping learners make connections between what they already know and what theyโre about to discover. Thatโs how adults learn most effectively.
Unknown
The unknown is everything the learner hasnโt yet understood or experienced. It might be a missing skill, an incomplete understanding or an aspect of themselves theyโve never reflected upon before.
Our role is to help learners discover those unknowns through experience, questioning and reflection. As awareness develops, learners become more capable of evaluating themselves, adapting to different situations and making better decisions without relying on the instructor.
Gap
Learning takes place between the known and the unknown. Thatโs where development happens.
Some gaps are filled through explanation, others through demonstration and many through coaching. The aim isnโt simply to provide answers, but to help learners understand the reasons behind them and apply that understanding in different situations. As those gaps become smaller, learners develop not only greater competence, but greater confidence in their own ability to think, evaluate and make safe decisions independently.
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