Bloom’s Taxonomy and Dan Pink
I was asked once by a colleague to relate Dan Pink’s Right-Brain aptitudes to Bloom’s taxonomy. To be honest I have always preferred to apply Bloom’s Taxonomy through the verbs that are usually associated with his work. My colleague and I threw out as many verbs as we could remember, and I wrote them on a whiteboard, categorizing them within the six AWNM aptitudes.
Our list was very basic, but we launched a great discussion about higher level thinking skills and Daniel Pink’s Right-Brain skills.
I would like to offer a version of that discussion here. I took some time to recreate my previous conversation and wrote down a number of verbs from Bloom’s Taxonomy. There were many verbs that could fit within multiple aptitudes, and my categorization is just one person’s opinion. (The Chart)
But as I struggled to find the “perfect” category for each of Bloom’s verbs, I reflected on a statement by Dan Pink that I read in an interview with him. To summarize, Dan Pink stated that it is essential to develop all of the aptitudes in an effort to stimulate the full creativity offered by our “Right-Brain” skills. Furthermore, the six aptitudes are interconnected and enhance each other. So even if I may have placed the verb “discover” in the aptitude of Play, that does not mean that discovery would only stimulate the aptitude of Play. Instead, those skills necessary for discovery would most likely stimulate multiple aptitudes.
I am interested to hear your thoughts. This exercise was originally meant to stimulate conversation, and I would love to recreate that experience. When you have used Bloom’s Taxonomy in your classroom, which of the six essential aptitudes did your students develop? How did your students do? Do you agree with my classification of Bloom’s verbs?
(Disclaimer: There are many interpretations of the “proper” verbs to be used for implementing Bloom’s Taxonomy. These are just the verbs that have appealed to me personally.)
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