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The stages of learning can be summarised as follows and shown as a skill hierarchy in the illustration on the right:
  1. Unconsciously unskilled (Unconscious incompetence) – we don\’t know that we don\’t have this skill, or that we need to learn it.
  2. Consciously unskilled(Conscious incompetence) – we know that we don\’t have this skill.\r\n
  3. Consciously skilled (Conscious competence)- we know that we have this skill.
  4. Unconsciously skilled (Unconscious competence) – we\r\ndon\’t know that we have this skill, but we don\’t focus on it because it\’s so\r\neasy.
These stages are defined and described in the following pages of this lesson.

‘, 1),
(30, 18, 29, 31, 20, 0, 1, 1, 1578194993, 1638792289, ‘Stage 1: Unconscious incompetence’, ‘

People with low competence  find it hard to judge how unskilled they are. At this\r\nlevel, you are blissfully ignorant: you have a complete lack of knowledge and\r\nskills in a specific area, and you\’re unaware of this. Your confidence\r\ntherefore far exceeds your abilities.

The coach’s\r\nrole

At this stage of learning the coach needs to answer the following questions:
  • What\r\ndoes learner need to know?\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
  • How\r\nmuch do they need to know (at this stage)?\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
  • What\r\nis important for them to know?\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
  • What\r\nsteps can they be taught to develop this knowledge?

This is the task an aikido teacher has at the commencement of a beginners course, where the class members have no previous experience of aikido or of any related activities.

Teaching strategies

To address the needs of students at this stage, the following strategies can be adopted:
  • Small\r\n“bite-size” pieces. Break the technique/exercise down into simpler components that progressively build to the required result. It is important in this instance to reinforce learning by repeating previous components each time a new one is added. For instance, if there are three components, A, B and C, the learning sequence should be:
    • Repeat A several times
    • Add B and repeat AB several times
    • Add C and repeat ABC until the sequence is fully established and being performed at a suitable level
  • Correction\r\nby coach. This needs to be carefully approached; it is tempting for an instructor to over-correct a student, showing too many details and expecting a standard that is beyond the student at this stage. The coach should be satisfied by the student showing a reasonable grasp of the activity, even if it is apparent that there are areas that need considerable improvement.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
  • Reinforcement\r\nat subsequent sessions.Just as a technique can be taught in a repetitive, progressive manner, a series of activities can be treated in the same way. For instance, at the beginning of each class the topics taught in the previous classes can be revisited, the time allocated to each of these being reduced as the number of exercises/techniques covered increases.