The Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition

mastery

First proposed by Stuart and Hubert Dreyfus in 1980, this model suggests that people go through roughly five stages as they acquire new skills.

I first heard of this model from Dan North, who first made me aware of the Dreyfus model and some of its implications in the field of software development.

These can be seen as steps on the road to mastery.

Notice that, at lower levels, people learn and follow rules, while, at higher levels, people rely less on explicit rules and more on a tacit understanding of the subject area.

1. Novice

This stage is characterized by:

• rigid adherence to rules
• no discretional judgment
• no sense of responsibility for outcomes

2. Advanced Beginner

Learners at this stage exhibit the following characteristics:

• limited awareness of situational specifics
• treatment of all aspects of work as separate from one another, with each aspect given equal importance
• no sense of responsibility for outcomes

3. Competent

At this stage the following characteristics are seen:

• coping with crowdedness (multiple activities, multiple sources and types of information)
• starting to see relationships of actions to longer term goals
• conscious, deliberate planning
• starts to feel accountability for outcomes

4. Proficient

At this stage we see the following signs of development:

• holistic view of situation, rather than in terms of separate aspects
• sees what is most important in a situation
• uses maxims for guidance, but application of maxims may vary according to the situation
• feels responsible for results

5. Expert

At this stage of development, learners:

• are no longer reliant on rules, guidelines, maxims
• display an intuitive grasp of a situation, based on tacit knowledge
• have a vision of what is possible
• accept responsibility for results