What is Bloom’s Taxonomy?

Blooms taxonomy has been around for awhile. It’s just a big list of action verbs that are quite useful for talking about learning or framing up learning outcomes. There are various models floating around the web if you do a google search.

If you’ve ever had to look at NZQA unit standards or qualification documents, this is the same kind of language that they use.

What is the Poutama Version of Blooms Taxonomy?

What I did is is a mashup of Bloom’s taxonomy together with the Poutama – a particularly useful model of how learning happens taken from Māori education.

If you want, it’s not hard to make a connection from Vygotsky’s model of proximal development to the poutama model. Ignore this, though, if it’s sounds like gobbledygook.

You can hear more about the Poutama model and story here

How can I use Bloom’s Taxonomy for writing learning outcomes?

The idea is that each step on the Poutama for Bloom’s Taxonomy contains a list of words that you can use to help you write learning outcomes.

In my case, I use it to teach people how to write learning outcomes for things like:

• embedded literacy and numeracy learning
• digital badges and micro-credentials
• task lists for project management purposes

What do I need to know?

In terms of a teaching application, the basic idea is that learners need to move from the lower domains to the higher ones. This is not necessarily a research-driven framework, but it’s very helpful.

What does the Poutama Version of Bloom’s Taxonomy look like?

Here’s the current version that I use:

Where can I get a copy?

Hit the link below to download a PDF version on a white background that you can print or share.