What is Bloom’s Taxonomy?
There is something called Bloom’s Taxonomy in the education and training world. A very smart fella named Benjamin Bloom created a taxonomy of measurable verbs, (MEASURABLE ACTION) to help us describe and classify observable learning behaviors. These are specifically knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviors, and abilities. The theory is based upon the idea that there are levels of observable actions that indicate something is happening in the brain (cognitive activity/learning). Let me explain … it is called a taxonomy because that is the word that describes the science of classification. The words that make up the word taxonomy are … guess what? Yep … they are Greek! Taxis, which means order, and nomos, which means law form the word “taxonomy” or “order of the law”. This is saying that there is a hierarchy of order or a hierarchy of actions that must happen before other actions, and behaviors that must happen before other behaviors. In the education world, Bloom’s Taxonomy shows us the proper sequence of actions (verbs) that must occur to achieve levels of learning up to the point of being able to create new works. The order of the learning taxonomy occurs as follows: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create.
Have you ever tried to apply something you didn’t understand? Have you ever evaluated or analyzed a situation and made a decision on how to handle it? Has that decision, later in life, come back to cause you a problem when you found out you didn’t have all the information you needed? Much of this occurs because we do not know what we do not know. This is the gap in modern discipleship! We get into situations where we are trying to apply, analyze, evaluate, and possibly create without ever getting the fullness of what we need to remember and understand in the first place! Jesus did not teach in this manner and I do not believe He expects us to follow a different path than Him as we become disciples and make disciples.
Take a look at the video link by clicking the picture or the Bloom’s Taxonomy links throughout this article. As you watch the video, consider it from a discipleship perspective. Consider the verbs attached to the levels of learning illustrated in the pyramid and think about where there may be gaps in your discipleship training. Can you see the pattern? Remember, Understand, Apply… this is a consistent theme throughout the teachings of Jesus and He modeled every bit of the application of His Word in front of the Disciples.
This graphic, released under a Creative Commons attribution license, provides a quick overview of Bloom's taxonomy of the kinds of cognitive processes often asked of students in educational settings. The graphic reflects the 2001 revision of the original Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. For more on Bloom's taxonomy, see the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching guide on the subject: cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/.
