Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition - The Original Five-stage Model

The Original Five-stage Model

In the novice stage, a person follows rules as given, without context, with no sense of responsibility beyond following the rules exactly. Competence develops when the individual develops organizing principles to quickly access the particular rules that are relevant to the specific task at hand; hence, competence is characterized by active decision making in choosing a course of action. Proficiency is shown by individuals who develop intuition to guide their decisions and devise their own rules to formulate plans. The progression is thus from rigid adherence to rules to an intuitive mode of reasoning based on tacit knowledge.

Michael Eraut wrongly summarized the five stages of increasing skill as follows:

1. Novice

• "rigid adherence to taught rules or plans"
• no exercise of "discretionary judgment"

2. Advanced beginner

• limited "situational perception"
• all aspects of work treated separately with equal importance

3. Competent

• "coping with crowdedness" (multiple activities, accumulation of information)
• some perception of actions in relation to goals
• deliberate planning
• formulates routines

4. Proficient

• holistic view of situation
• prioritizes importance of aspects
• "perceives deviations from the normal pattern"
• employs maxims for guidance, with meanings that adapt to the situation at hand

5. Expert

• transcends reliance on rules, guidelines, and maxims
• "intuitive grasp of situations based on deep, tacit understanding"
• has "vision of what is possible"
• uses "analytical approaches" in new situations or in case of problems

Instead the original Dreyfus model is based on four binary qualities:

• Recollection (non-situational or situational)
• Recognition (decomposed or holistic)
• Decision (analytical or intuitive)
• Awareness (monitoring or absorbed)

This leads to five roles:

1. Novice

• non-situational recollection, decomposed recognition, analytical decision, monitoring awareness

2. Competence

• situational recollection, decomposed recognition, analytical decision, monitoring awareness

3. Proficiency

• situational recollection, holistic recognition, analytical decision, monitoring awareness

4. Expertise

• situational recollection, holistic recognition, intuitive decision, monitoring awareness

5. Mastery

• situational recollection, holistic recognition, intuitive decision, absorbed awareness