Understanding how we learn: The Dreyfus model

Have you ever watched a grower at work and realised they just know what’s going on? No checklist, no book, just a confident read of the paddock, the crop, and the season. Meanwhile, we’re standing next to them, mentally running through anything that might be useful that came up at uni, and wondering what on earth would be the next step. Same paddock but completely different experiences. So what’s going on? And what does this mean for how we design learning and support for the people we work with? In this episode we’re exploring the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition which we think has some answers for us.

The Dreyfus model was developed in 1980 by two brothers, Stuart and Hubert Dreyfus, through their research at the University of California, Berkeley. Their research was originally conducted for the United States Air Force. Later, they elaborated this model in their book Mind Over Machine (1986). The idea is simple. As people acquire a new skill, they pass through five stages of development, from novice through to expert, with each stage representing a different way of engaging with a task. A sixth stage, mastery, was added later to capture some individuals who operate by pushing their field forward.

What makes the model interesting, and different from just using a beginner to advanced spectrum, is what it says about how thinking changes at each stage. We don’t just get faster or more accurate. The way we think about the task and our approach is different. So let’s go through and explore each stage. 

Stage one is the novice. This is a learner who has little or no experience and relies almost entirely on rules or step-by-step instructions. They’re not trying to read context or understand the bigger picture, they’re trying to follow a process. Think of a new extension officer running a workshop using a runsheet they’ve been given, or a farmer trialling a new tool by working through the manual. Our performance in this stage tends to be slow, conscious, and takes effort. 

Stage two is the advanced beginner. This is where the learner has accumulated some experience and starts to notice that context matters. They can handle simpler tasks without close supervision and begin to recognise cues. However, they still tend to see tasks as a sequence of steps in a process, rather than a whole.

Stage 3 is competence. This is where the learner has enough knowledge to understand they still don’t know some things! They can work independently, make reasonable decisions, and take responsibility for outcomes, but they’re doing so with deliberate analysis. They’re consciously breaking problems into parts, evaluating options, and choosing a course of action. This is hard cognitive work. It’s often where we tend to stop, because competent behaviour is useful and there’s work to go further. This is where standard operating procedures and structured planning sits.

Stage 4 is proficiency. This is where learners begin to see the whole picture rather than bit by bit. It’s at this stage that intuition starts to emerge. Learners can sense that something is off before they can fully articulate why. A proficient extension facilitator might notice a shift in the energy of a group before any participant has said a word, and adjust their process accordingly. The deliberation of the competent stage gives way to something less defined. Although in this stage we’re more likely to consciously reason through our decisions once we’ve perceived a problem or the need for a change, there’s a bit more going on!

Stage five is expert. In this stage the rules have largely disappeared. The expert learner draws on experience and responds to situations instinctively. To use a cooking analogy, the expert cook “can see immediately a range of dishes that are possible to create” (Rousse & Dreyfuss, 2021) from the ingredients in front of them. In an agricultural context, this is the agronomist who walks a paddock and simply knows what’s happening, integrating dozens of subtle signals without consciously going through a mental checklist. Their decision-making is characterised by a deep understanding of both the detail and the broader context.

Stage six is mastery. This stage is for those who don’t just operate at the edge of existing expertise, but seek to expand the scope of their intuition and, in some cases, introduce new ways of doing things that transform their field of expertise.

So why does any of this matter for us as enablers of change? We think there’s three insights here. First, it explains why one-size-fits-all training often doesn’t hit the mark. Novices need clear structure and rules. Advanced beginners need situational examples. Competent practitioners benefit from problem-solving challenges and being given autonomy. But if we run a workshop full of experts through a tightly scripted, rule-based session, we’re not just wasting their time, we’re missing the point of what they need. Matching the learning design to where participants are is more effective.

Second, it helps us think through the competence trap. We’ve been there and seen others there, stuck at the competent stage and working hard, but not quite making the leap to proficient. The Dreyfus model suggests this isn’t a character flaw. The transition from competent to proficient requires accumulated experience and reflective experience. Structured reflection, peer learning, and Communities of Practice become important here. Just doing more of the same won’t get you moving out of the competent stage. It’s only when you make meaning from what you’re doing that you can move into proficiency.

The third reason it matters is that it helps us understand the farmers we work with better. When an experienced farmer pushes back on the advice of a less experienced adviser, it’s not stubbornness. It might be that the farmer’s intuitive sense of their own context is actually revealing more than the rule-based approach the advisor is bringing. At the same time, when a farmer is new to a practice, giving them a complex, context-dependent answer when they just need a starting rule is unhelpful, even if it’s technically accurate.

We think there’s a few practical things we can do to get this thinking into our extension work. Before designing a workshop or extension activity, let’s ask ourselves where our audience are on this spectrum? Is the content and the delivery mode appropriate for that stage? For groups you work with regularly, think about whether we’re creating enough opportunity for the reflective experience that moves people from competent to proficient. And if we’re doing professional development for our own team, consider whether we’re treating our experienced people like novices by over-structuring things, or leaving our new people confused by assuming they can already read context the way our experts can.

One thing to note is that the model describes a general progression, but it’s not a rigid linear process. People can be at different stages for the various aspects of the same topic. Think about running a farm. A grazier might be highly expert at reading their livestock but a novice at using a new digital tool for record-keeping. 

The Dreyfus model is one of those frameworks that is a really useful addition to the enablers of change toolbox! It helps explain why good mentoring matters, why reflective practice is so important, and why expert knowledge can be so hard to transfer because when something has become intuitive, it’s actually really difficult to slow down and make it explicit again!

We’d love to hear what you think. Do you recognise these different stages for your skill development?  What about the people you work with? Have you found particular strategies helpful for supporting the transition from competent to proficient? Please add a comment below and let’s keep the conversation going.

Thanks folks for reading this Enablers of change episode. Remember to subscribe to our newsletter if you’d like to know when new episodes are available. And if you liked what you read, please tell your friends so they too can join the conversation!

Resources

Dreyfus, S. E., & Dreyfus, H. L. (1980). A five-stage model of the mental activities involved in directed skill acquisition. Operations Research Center, University of California, Berkeley.

Dreyfus, H. L., & Dreyfus, S. E. (1986). Mind over machine: The power of human intuition and expertise in the era of the computer. Free Press.

Rousse, B. S., & Dreyfus, S. E. (2021). Revisiting the six stages of skill acquisition. In J. Fleckenstein, J. Schmitt, & J. Möller (Eds.), Teaching and learning for adult skill acquisition: Applying the Dreyfus and Dreyfus model in different fields. Information Age Publishing.