The Learning Pathway

Djarts Voice Coaching ~ www.djarts.com.au

© Dr Daniel K. Robinson – 2015 of 5

TheLearningPathway

By Dr Daniel K. Robinson (2015)

I can s ll remember my first guitar lesson. We were a bunch of eager eight year olds gathered around

our teacher awkwardly trying to sit the cumbersome shape of a ¾ size guitar on our laps. So much

excitement, so much joy. Each week I looked forward to our group guitar lessons, so much so that my

parents decided that I might benefit from weekly one-on-one tui on. And my musical development did

benefit. My childhood guitar lessons were the

commencement of my lifelong love for music. They

taught me about music making, performance and the

journey of the learning pathway.

Some of you who know my work well may be surprised

to learn that I play guitar. That’s because, despite it

being my founda onal instrument, I do not consider

myself a guitarist. Far from it, actually. You see when I

was in my early teens I also discovered that I could sing.

It was my high school music teacher, Ian Champion (we

called him ‘Champs’), who iden fied that I had a voice;

a voice that apparently surpassed my guitar

playing…and so I stepped out from behind the guitar

and became a singer first and foremost. Before I

con nue my reflec on, allow me to say that I recognise

being a ‘singer first and foremost,’ for the most part, has worked out well for me, but I do hold a small

regret that my level of guitar playing froze during the mid-eigh es and has not really progressed since.

As I reflect on my early-mid teens (with the great benefit of mature hindsight) I can now observe that

my development as a guitarist had reached a level of competency which allowed me to accompany my

vocals adequately; with the ac ve word being ‘adequately.’ I was receiving all the applause a fourteen

year old boy could ever want…why would I need to develop any further? With slight embarrassment I

have to admit I thought I had arrived.

The long las ng consequence of my delusional ‘arrival’ is a skill-level on the guitar that, to-this-day, is

s ll only at best ‘adequate’ for rhythmic accompaniment. As I’ve said many mes to friends and family,

I describe my guitar playing as ‘competent hacking!’ I know too many excellent guitarist to ever venture

the no on that I could or should be considered among their ranks.

In many ways my developmental pathway as a person who plays the guitar (adequately) is somewhat

akin to Dorothy’s journey along the yellow brick road in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.



They now came upon more and more of the big scarlet flowers un l they found themselves in the midst

of a great meadow carpeted with nothing but poppies. Now in the magical Land of Oz, it is well known

that when there are many of these flowers together their odor is so powerful that anyone who breathes

it falls asleep, and if the sleeper is not carried away from the scent of the blossoms, he sleeps on and on

forever. But Dorothy did not know this, nor could she get away from the bright red flowers that were

everywhere about; so presently her eyes grew heavy and she felt she must sit down to rest and to even

sleep. (Baum, 1900)

Ahh. The blissful comfort of sleep. Like Dorothy I lost my will to go on; but unlike Dorothy I did not have

anyone to carry me (and my guitar) forward, away from the sense-dulling aroma of the poppies. I

reached a level of competence that I became sa sfied with and accordingly didn’t con nue the journey

of learning (for guitar).

Four Stages of Competence Having experienced the developmental arrest of the poppies first hand, as a singing teacher I ac vely

observe my students for the signs of competency seizure. Let’s step aside from our poppy metaphor for

the moment and align our discussion with something a li le more ‘scien fic.’

Educa onal psychologists talk about the learning pathway as having four stages of competency:

When an adult student steps into my teaching studio for the first me they are, for the most part, taking

the step from the first stage of competency (Unconscious Incompetence) into the second stage of

competency (Conscious Incompetence). They have recognised that they lack the necessary skills to sing

with the level of competency that they deem appropriate to whatever goals they have in mind.

•Recognition of Skill Deficit

•Willingness to acquire new skills

•Skill has been acquired

•Requires mindful rendition

•Blissfully ignorant

•May deny necessity of skill

•Skill is 'second nature'

•Skill can be performed similtaneous to another skill rendition

4. Unconscious Competence

1. Unconscious Incompetence

2. Conscious Incompetence

3. Conscious Competence

Figure 1: Four Stages of Competence



The desire to improve their singing competency leads them to seek the acquisi on of new skills via the

guidance of a singing teacher. In making this necessary step from stage 1 to stage 2 the learner

unwi ngly takes the step from blissful ignorance into acknowledged incompetence. Remember,

Dorothy’s journey commences when she ‘wakes’ to find herself in the colourful and exci ng land of Oz.

Li le does she know that her new surroundings have hidden secrets that can only be revealed if she

chooses to step onto the yellow brick road and commence what can only be described as a challenging

journey. Dorothy’s decision to tackle the yellow brick road, come what may, is not dissimilar to stepping

into cognizant inep tude. In fact I think the second stage (Conscious Incompetence), although absolutely

necessary, is the most difficult stage for the adult learner. Why? Well, no one likes to be deemed

‘incompetent,’ and yet that is exactly what the second stage is…furthermore you are painfully aware of

your incompetence!

As frustra ng as the second stage is, it is the third stage that has the largest collec on of poppies. When

the adult learner acquires a certain level of skill (Conscious Competence), such as the beginner level of

singing technique, the learner may, albeit understandably, decide that the journey has been completed;

much like I did with my guitar playing. I could play all the necessary chords, hold tempo and make

music…what more could there possibly be? Well it turns out…much more! O en when we survey our

learning pathway from our current loca on all we can see is what is immediately around us. We might

be conscious of how far we have come, but s ll ignorant to how far we have yet to go.

It is during the third stage that I observe many adult students of singing discon nue their tui on. In one

respect they have achieved their ini al goal: when they open their mouths to sing they now know what

they are going to get. Great. But remember, consistently singing in tune is not all there is to

singing…there is much more! And yet, sadly, this is

what I observe many adult learners se le for. O en

the individual is capable of far more if only they

con nue their journey.

Don’t get me wrong. You must take moments to

celebrate developmental achievements. Also, at

mes, the learner requires short rests along the

journey so that they can recommence the arduous

challenges ahead.

The onwards and upwards of learning to sing is like

every other acquisi on of skill: cyclical. As you will

have no ced in Figure 1 (p. 2), the stages of

competence never really reach an end point. They

are a closed loop. With voice there is so much to learn you can literally spend your life me acquiring and

mindfully rendering all the skills necessary for singing. Add to this the developmental stages of the

human voice as it ages and you have a wonderfully rich journey of learning that can keep the pupil

occupied un l they complete life’s journey.



The Fi h Stage. Some educa onal scholars have expanded the four stages of

competency to include a fi h transcendent level of competence.

O en referred to as enlightened competence the inclusion of a fi h

stage recognises that one’s learning is never really complete. For

example certain tasks are secure and operate at the fourth stage of

unconscious competence while other aspects of skill acquisi on may

be in any of the other three stages at any one moment in me. Most

of us recognise the fi h stage when we see it. It’s observed in people

we deem to be experts in their field. They have spent so long on the

learning pathway that they have amassed a collec on of skills,

pertaining to their area of interest, which enable them to transcend

their own leaning consciousness; unlocking areas of learning

previously unknown to both themselves and those immediately

around them.

At the risk of muddying the waters with a third metaphor, the expert climber who scales an unconquered

rock face, thus finding a pathway for others, is an excellent example of enlightened competence. No one

has ever ascended the obstacle before, and it is only the expert climber, who by virtue of their collec on

of unconscious competent skills, is able to fashion a previously unknown pathway.1

Learning Pathway Companions Let’s close this discussion of learning pathways by

talking about the company we keep. Returning to our

handy Wizard of Oz metaphor, it’s important to note

that Dorothy was not alone when she arrived at the field

of poppies. So when Dorothy and Toto fell into a deep

slumber the Tin Man and Scarecrow (immune to the

poppies because they were not made of flesh) were able

to carry them away to safer pastures.

Learning rarely takes place inside a bubble. More o en

than not a person’s desire to learn is influenced (for good or ill) by those around them; family, friends

and work colleagues. Allow me to pose this ques on for your ongoing reflec on:

Does the company that YOU keep add or subtract to YOUR learning pathway?

1 These transcendent learners can make excellent teachers also. Because they so fully understand the skill they are teaching they are able to guide fellow learners along learning pathways “in a manner that is effec ve and expedient” (Mata, 2004).



An honest answer to this ques on could be the difference between successful learning outcomes and

an aborted journey with unrealised goals. When I sat down in my field of poppies while learning the

guitar I did not have the necessary encouragement to remain engaged with the instrument. I’m careful

to not lay blame for this on anyone…it was what it was. However, things may have been different had

someone said, “Sure you should do the singing thing…but don’t neglect the guitar thing; you’ve s ll got

a long road of development ahead of you!”

It is my great hope that my wri ng this ar cle offers you the opportunity to ac vely reflect on your

learning pathway. Perhaps you are a beginner singing student, and things have started to get

frustra ngly overwhelming when you consider how much there is to learn. Maybe like me with my guitar

you’ve reached a certain level of competence and you’re about to sit down for a ‘short rest.’ Or maybe

you’re contempla ng the journey having not yet taken the first step. Regardless of where you are along

the learning pathway, I want to encourage you to keep going. You know this already…you never actually

arrive. My hope for you however is that you achieve that wonderful state of enlightened competence

and in doing so accompany others on their journey of learning; helping them realise their personal goals

and dreams.

As for me and my guitar…I chose to pick up my old ba le axe about two years ago and reengage with all

the wonders of playing an instrument. Time permi ng, I can foresee guitar lessons in my future; lessons

that will take me on to the next level of learning and hopefully, the next stage of competence.

WhoisDrDanielK. Robinson?Danielisafreelanceartistandeducator.In2011DanielcompletedhisDoctorofMusicalArts degree at the Queensland Conservatorium Grif ith University. He has served asNational Vice President (2009–11) andNational Secretary for the Australian NationalAssociation of Teachers of Singing (2006–11). Daniel is the principal Singing VoiceSpecialist for Djarts (www.djarts.com.au) and presents workshops to singers acrossAustraliaandabroad.Overthepasttwodecades,whilemaintaininghisownperformancecareer,Danielhasinstructedthousandsofvoices.ThisvastexperienceenablesDanieltoeffortlesslyworkwithvoicesofallskilllevels:beginnerstoprofessionals.

References Baum, L. F. (1900). The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Chicago, IL: George M. Hill Company.

Mata, L. A. (2004). Conscious competence learning model: Four stages of learning theory - unconscious incompetence to unconscious competence matrix - and other theories and models for learning and change. Retrieved 8 April, 2015, from http://www.businessballs.com/consciouscompetencelearningmodel.htm

The Learning Pathway

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