Competence Model of Learning

Levels of Learning

Technically, the term is “Four Stages of Competence” and was originally established in the 70s. The idea is that some learners are not aware of how little or much they know. They go through the four (or five) stages listed below, depending on how much they know about a given topic or skill.

In the end, the learner will be able to use the knowledge or skill without having to think about what they’re doing. It is important to keep these stages in mind when developing a coaching service or, for example, an eLearning product because different learners will be at different stages.

Unconscious Incompetence

In this stage, the learner may not have an experienced skill or knowledge set yet. They do not see any reason to have it because they don’t consider it a need. You don’t know what you don’t know. For example, as a very young child you do not yet realize the usefulness of riding a bike.

It is important to work on how to best present your offerings to those in this stage. They may or may not realize the benefits of your services yet, but the objective is to reveal that there are benefits.  If you introduce potential clients to the benefits of your offerings, they may realize that they can gain value from those services and reach stage two; conscious incompetence.

Conscious Incompetence

By the second stage the learner is aware of the skills that they lack and can understand that there is a deficit. Ignorance is no longer bliss. Ideally, this is who should be interested in the majority of your services.  In this stage, the person wants to learn because they are aware of their lack of knowledge and it makes them uneasy. In the example of riding a bike, they can imagine the benefits they can get and want to learn how to ride a bike.

Conscious Competence

The conscious competence stage takes place when a person has acquired some skill but has not yet mastered it to the point where it comes naturally. Imagine you have learned the steps to riding the bike, but you still need to go through the steps when getting on the bike, or you need training wheels. This is when the learner usually needs instructions and experience.

At this point the learner uses their experiences to gain capability in the skills and become an engaged learner who wants to reach the fourth stage.

Unconscious Competence 

You know the phrase, “It’s like riding a bike. You never forget how to do it.” The fourth stage of learning encompasses just that: you know it so well you don’t even realize you are doing it. The skill is so embedded that the learner doesn’t even need to process what they are doing. Issues can arise when you combine unconscious competence learners with unconscious incompetence learners because neither of them can articulate the skill.

Stage 5 Learner 

Some theorists believe there is a fifth stage as well — “conscious competence of unconscious competence.” In this stage the learner is able to relate to learners in stages 1-4 enough to teach them. A stage five learner has reached a point where they can reflect on how they reached their level of mastery. This means that they can empathize with learners in other stages.

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