Bloom’s Taxonomy cuts out the heart of education by cultivating bloated heads and shrivelled chests and leaving out man as maker and doer.
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Author: Jason Barney
Breaking Down the Bad of Bloom’s: The False Objectivity of Education as a Modern Social Science
In the first two posts of this series (which I am reviving after a 6 months long hiatus) I proposed replacing Bloom’s Taxonomy of educational objectives with Aristotle’s intellectual virtues. The major flaw in Bloom’s taxonomy, which is a hierarchical categorization of educational goals in the cognitive domain, is that it privileges the bare intellect over the heart, like so much of modern education. Even if Bloom and his university examiner colleagues proposed an affective and psychomotor domain as well, and had the modest goal of improving clarity and communication among teachers, curriculum planners and educational researchers, still they codified
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Why the History of Narration Matters, Part 4: Charlotte Mason’s Practice of Narration in Historical Perspective
In this series I have contended that the history of narration should bring Charlotte Mason educators and classical Christian educators together. That is because narration’s use as a pedagogical practice in the classical tradition illustrates vividly the connection between the two. When we know this history and turn to Charlotte Mason’s advocacy for the practice of narration as a central learning strategy, we see her not as a scientific modernist, intent on casting aside the liberal arts tradition of education, but as a renaissance-style educator. Mason was seeking to revive the best of ancient wisdom about education, even as she
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Why the History of Narration Matters, Part 3: Narration’s Rebirth
In my previous two articles I framed my discussion of the history of narration with the controversy between Charlotte Mason and classical Christian education advocates. I suggested that narration’s history may be a fact that puts to rest the false dichotomies of either side. While Charlotte Mason did claim discovery of certain principles related to the nature of mind, narration itself is one of the many things she owes to the tradition. As she said of her philosophy and methods, “Some of it is new, much of it is old.” (Toward a Philosophy of Education; Wilder, 2008; 29) As we
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Enjoying the Bible as Literature: 5 Strategies for Engaging Students in Reading the Canon
Guest article by Heidi Dean of Christian Schools International (See Jason’s article on CSI “7 Steps to Narrating the Bible”!) In biblical studies we seek to cultivate the habits of reverence, humility, submission to the text, and other qualities of faithful scholarship. But I propose another goal should rise to the top: enjoyment. The enjoyment that students have in reading a novel, or an eerie poem, or an adventure epic. When students are engaging with the Bible, we should hear laughter and gasps. We should see quizzical eyebrows and wide-eyed shock. I love to see students jumping out of their
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Narration Course for ClassicalU: A Rehearsal Sneak Peek
As I mentioned in a previous article on the history of narration, I’ve received an opportunity to film two courses at the beginning of December for Classical Academic Press’ ClassicalU: one on narration and another on Charlotte Mason’s philosophy for classical educators. Our working titles are A Classical Guide to Narration and Charlotte Mason: A Liberal Education for All. Knowing what I know about the importance of practice for developing skill, I decided to set my hand to the task of practicing my video lectures. Of course, just developing the material fully for these two courses has filled up the
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Why the History of Narration Matters, Part 2: Classical Roots
In my last article I shared the first piece of why the history of narration matters: it has the potential to break down the barrier between the Charlotte Mason community and classical educators. There are some notable exceptions who have tried to cross the aisle, but for the most part these two groups have kept to their own camps — some have even had cutting critiques of the other side to share. And of course, we may be each other’s best critics in a way that would be good for both of us. But for that to happen Masonites would
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Why The History of Narration Matters, Part 1: Charlotte Mason’s Discovery?
I’ve decided to put the series on Bloom’s Taxonomy vs. Aristotle’s Intellectual Virtues on hold for a couple months after contracting with Classical Academic Press to film two courses in December for ClassicalU: one on narration and another on Charlotte Mason’s philosophy for classical educators. So I’m returning to the topic of narration and Charlotte Mason to help me deliberately prepare. (By the way, if you have suggestions for what topics you’d like to see tackled or questions you’d like answered in either of these courses, email us at educationalrenaissanceblog@gmail.com!) It’s been some time since I’ve written explicitly on narration for
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Handwork: Fostering Excellence Through the Habit of Creating
Guest post by Joleen Steel, Classical Christian Educator and Director of Camping Stick Kids We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. Aristotle What do you find yourself repeatedly doing? In this digital world, it is easy to immerse ourselves in the repetition of scrolling through social media or clicking out words on a device in the hope of inspiring minds and garnering followers. Yet, the digital world falls short of satisfying our deepest longings for meaning and purpose. The best moments in life are not found on a screen, but in deep,
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Bloom’s Taxonomy and the Importance of Objectives: 3 Blessings of Bloom’s
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.“–so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation.“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.” Lewis Caroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 71-72 The case of Alice may be considered a good cipher for that of many modern educators. We have a vague awareness in all our modern ‘subjects’
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