Conscious Competence

Grandad, please explain the idea of conscious competence.

Sure. The term is used in a simple model of the learning process. The model suggests that we go through four stages of learning. It is best understood

with the use of a physical example, say

.

STAGE ONE: UNCONSCIOUS INCOMPETENCE.

We don’t know how to ride a cycle or even how to start learning to do so.

STAGE TWO: CONSCIOUS INCOMPETENCE.

We still don’t know how to ride but now we have an idea of what we need to

do to be able to learn.

STAGE THREE: CONSCIOUS COMPETENCE.

WE can now cycle, but have to think about it as we perform.

STAGE FOUR: UNCONSCIOUS COMPETENCE.

We are skilled enough and experienced enough to do it without thinking.

We just get on the bike and ride it……….with our mind elsewhere.

(A Fifth Stage, META to the first four, is where a teacher uses her understanding of the four stages to do the demonstrations necessary to help the learner through the process. I think also that this fifth position can provide the safety and security needed for overall awareness.

Think of the situation, a trancelike state, on the motorway where you discover that your attention has not been on the road in front of you but somewhere else.

Chris