Page 33 - Class Portfolio 2019

UNIT I
PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION

8) Delusions
These are strong beliefs in things opposite to reality.

The Four Stages of Learning

Let’s take a closer look at each of the four stages of learning.

When you know what’s ahead of you, you can avoid getting hijacked by discouragement.
Instead, you muster the will to move forward and follow through.

Stage 1: Unconscious Incompetence
First is the stage of unconscious incompetence where we don’t know the degree of our
incompetence.

You don’t know how awkward it’s going to feel playing the guitar until you pick one up and try to
strum a chord.

Stage 2: Conscious Incompetence

The next stage is conscious incompetence. Our minds are now aware of the fact that we are at
the beginning of a long learning curve.

It is this stage that brings up feelings of weakness and inadequacy, feelings that our egos would
like to avoid.

This stage of learning requires commitment, a personal decision to follow through.
While you may have experienced a burst of excitement and enthusiasm when you began stage
1, that initial energy tends to dissipate in stage 2.

And this is where many of us bail out of the development process. This step requires self-
compassion, discipline (the cultivation of will), and hard work.

Stage 3: Conscious Competence

If you’ve committed yourself to consistent practice with devotion, patience, and friendliness
toward yourself, you manage your way through the many plateaus and extended periods of hard
work (practice) that occur in the learning process.

To reach this stage, you must first welcome or at least work through the uncomfortable feelings
that accompany conscious incompetence.
Now, however, you have observed your progress. Your confidence has grown. You feel
somewhat competent in your ability.

Remembering where you once were, you can marvel at your improvements. You still need to
focus intently on the object of learning (perhaps a new skill), but your development is undeniable.

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