How to Coach Yourself and Others Essential Knowledge For Coaching | Page 230

So that's the whole story. Or is it? Is there any connection
between the "Don't know that you know" stage and the "Don't
know that you don't know" stage? Possibly (but not always).


There may occasionally be a cycle: if you don't know
what you do know, you probably don't know what you
don't know, either. This may be the case for people who
are stuck at a survival learning level. They have learned
to get by with what they know, to the extent that they
do not give themselves credit for it, or are even
unaware of knowing it, as we have discussed. However,
they can't take it any further because it is out of
awareness, so they are unaware of how they could
move on from mere competence or proficiency to real
expertise.



For such people, because they do not know what they
know, they may be unsure of their knowledge, and may
be threatened by the prospect of moving on, which
leads to a degree of resistance to new learning.

The Bottom Line
Clearly we have to get people to realise what they don't know, if
necessary. But fascinating though it is, the inarticulate expertise
of not knowing that you know is a dead end from the learning
and teaching point of view. The only open position, with
potential for development, is that of knowing what you know.
Sources:
http://www.trainer.org.uk/members/theory/
process/stages_of_learning.htm
http://www.neurosemantics.com/Articles/
Unconscious.htm
http://www.nlp.org/glossary.html#U
Dubin, P (1962) 'Human Relations in Administration',
Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice-Hall
1108