Apprenticeship, with its five basic elements, is a method as old as human culture.

The pedagogy my father used to help me learn to ride my bike -- the apprenticeship method -- is as old as human culture and as current as modern cognitive science. When teaching their children to ride a bike, most parents naturally adopt this method.

Apprenticeship's basic elements:

• First, there is a mentor who has already mastered the skill and who can provide demonstrations of what successful, expert performance looks like. Actually, in the case of bike riding, there are experts everywhere who provide models for emulation and motivation to the young would-be rider -- an older sibling, a classmate, or a friend. The mentor's role is often to draw the learner's attention selectively to important facets of the skill that might not be apparent in progress. "Watch how I lean as I turn," "Watch how I use the pedals."
• Second, there is opportunity for guided practice. Learning any skill, whether it is playing the piano, driving a car, doing needlepoint, or playing chess, requires practice -- repeated opportunities to increase fluency of performance. No one can learn to ride a bike by reading instructions about riding a bike, or even by watching someone else do it. Skills are developed through active, meaningful practice in the skill itself. Every bike rider in the world practiced a good deal.
• Third, there are often scaffolds to support early performance. In learning to ride a bike, one of two scaffolds is usually used: training wheels or a mentor who is willing to run alongside holding the bike upright. There are countless other scaffolds to support the early rider -- the incline in the driveway is often a scaffold for the act of pedaling, for example.
• Fourth, the scaffolds are faded or gradually released, so that performance is more and more independent. In my father's case, he held the bike rigidly upright with both hands for my first run. In time, he let go of one hand, then (and I remember this clearly because I did the same with my daughter) let go of everything but one finger with which he psychologically held me firm against the dangers of the uneven driveway. Last, he ran alongside with no fingers. This gradual release of support had one very important effect -- from the beginning I was performing the full act of riding the bike. I was not just pedaling, or just steering, but clearly had the feel of the act of riding, well supported at that.
• Fifth, there are opportunities for demonstration of the newly practiced skill. I couldn't wait for my sister to come home from camp and see me riding all by myself.