Skill is one of the most common words in the English language. Parents, educators, policymakers, and employers want to ensure that children and youth develop the skills they need to succeed in school and in life. Reading skills. Math skills. Hard skills. Soft skills. Durable skills.
But what is a skill?
For more than four decades, developmental psychologist Kurt Fischer and his research colleagues investigated this very question. Together, they developed detailed descriptions of how simple actions evolve into complex skills—and why our ability to use these skills naturally ebbs and flows depending on context and support.
Built upon the pioneering work of renowned child psychologist Jean Piaget, their framework—known as Dynamic Skill Theory—offers a modern, rigorous lens to understand the growth of complex skills.1 Today, Dynamic Skill Theory is a cornerstone of the Science of Learning and Development.2
The Bottom Line: Skill is the capacity to think and act in an organized way in a specific context.3 Context has multiple possible dimensions, such as physical environment, emotional state, social support, subject, and the specific demands of a task. Because skill and context are tightly welded together:
There are no abstract, context-free skills.
When we change the context, we change the skill.
Skill mastery comes from developing proficiency in a skill in a variety of contexts.
Want to dive deeper into the research behind the development of complex skills? Check out our series on the Principles of Skill Building, where we unpack key insights from Dynamic Skill Theory.
Works Cited
Cantor, P., Osher, D., Berg, J., Steyer, L., & Rose, T. (2019). Malleability, plasticity, and individuality: How children learn and develop in context. Applied Developmental Science, 23(4), 307–337.
Fischer, K. W., & Bidell, T. R. (2006). Dynamic development of action and thought. In R. M. Lerner & W. Damon (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development (6th ed., pp. 313–399). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Immordino-Yang, M. H., & Fischer, K. W. (2010). Neuroscience bases of learning. In V. G. Aukrust (Ed.), International encyclopedia of education (3rd Edition, pp. 310–316). Elsevier.
Mascolo, M. F. (2020). Dynamic skill theory: An integrative model of psychological development. In M. F. Mascolo & T. R. Bidell (Eds.), Handbook of integrative developmental science (pp. 91–135). Routledge.
Fischer and Bidell, 2006; Mascolo, 2020.
Cantor et al., 2019
Immordino-Yang and Fischer, 2010
