Classical Education and Bloom's Taxonomy
If you are around education long enough, you are definitely going to encounter Bloom’s Taxonomy. It is a model that organizes learning into increasing levels of complexity. Some modern versions opt for the verbs: remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. Teachers are encouraged to push students up the pyramid to the higher-level tasks. These are seen as the highest form of understanding and greatest proof of learning. Classical education does not disagree with the structure or concept of Bloom’s taxonomy; in fact, Classical education uses it better than progressive education.
In most modern teacher’s colleges and classrooms, the lower levels of the pyramid are villianized as dull, boring, useless, and inferior. Teachers are encouraged to abandon those “lower-level” skills and instead require students to complete more creative and complex tasks. Plain memory work and recitation are treated like a waste of time.
The truth is, the skills listed at the bottom of Bloom’s taxonomy are imperative. They cannot be abandoned; they are the foundation that makes the more difficult objectives possible. A student must first know before he can evaluate. He must remember before he can apply. Trying to skip the necessary memorization and factual learning does not avoid boredom, it creates frustration. It cuts students off at the knees. They cannot complete the higher-level assignments because they have nothing to work with.
In contrast, Classical education recognizes the incredible value of building a strong foundation. Classical education is patient and willing to work hard on the knowledge and understanding stage of learning in order to better equip students for the more difficult synthesis and evaluation. We do this through memorization and recitation. In addition, students are explicitly taught how to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate. This happens in the study of logic and Latin, and is a key feature of the Rhetoric (high school) grades.
Though “critical thinking skills” are much touted in progressive education, classically educated students have a markedly better ability to actually think critically. Classical education uses proven and time-tested methods that follow the natural progression of learning.
This is the education we want for our own children, and we invite you to join us!
Contact us to schedule a parent meeting or apply today.
Liberty Classical School is a full-time, private Christian Classical school in Lincoln, NE. We exist to educate children that they may know and love the truth. We partner with parents to establish men and women who glorify God as loyal servants. We equip our students to be formidable adversaries of falsity and all other enemies of God. We believe that the primary end for education is not merely survival, but glory—glory in the truth and Glory to God—the Father, the Spirit and the Son—on Earth as it is in Heaven. Amen.