It’s Benjamin Bloom, the man whose analysis of the increasing depths of learning gave us
“Bloom’s Taxonomy”.
Do you remember Blooms’ Taxonomy from your training? We all learned about it at some stage.
He wrote it a long time ago!
It is always represented as a triangle, with the lowest (or shallowest) level of learning being
‘memorisation’ or “knowing”, and moving up through comprehension, application, analysis and synthesis to creativity.
If you are familiar with Bloom’s Taxonomy, you might be objecting that his highest level was
“evaluation”, and you would be right. However, his pupil, Lorin Anderson, amended the taxonomy later with Bloom’s approval – and this is the amended version
© Curriculum Foundation 1

Creating
Synthesising
Analysing
Applying
Comprehending
Memorising
You can check this out in:
Bloom B (1956) “A Taxonomy of Educational Objectives”
Or at: http://www.ibe.unesco.org/publications/ThinkersPdf/bloome.pd
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When we look at Bloom’s levels, we can see how they fit with the ‘tree model.
Memorising and comprehending are the leaves.
Analysing, applying, synthesising and creating are all aspects of the competencies and form the roots.
By applying the competencies, we push learning to the higher levels
© Curriculum Foundation 2

Remembering
Comprehending
Applying
Analysing
© Curriculum Foundation
Synthesising
Creating
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When you think about the curriculum in this way several things fall into place:
• Each individual leaf does not seem quite so important. In fact, one leaf could fall off and the plant could keep on growing.
• In fact, if the plant has good roots, all the leaves could fall off and the plant could grow a whole new set.
• In fact, it could do this year after year – and wouldn’t this be called “life-long learning”?
• And isn’t life-long learning supported by good roots?
There’s more about the Tree Model in:
Male B (2012) ”The Primary Curriculum Design Handbook” Continuum
Press
And in
Male B & Waters M (2012) “The Secondary Curriculum Design Handbook”
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So the question is, What happens in the trunk to link the leaves to the roots?
The trunk is the ‘quality of pupils’ learning experiences’ – and this is the key to successful curriculum design.
In order to develop the competencies within the context of subject knowledge, we need to engage pupils in active approaches to learning in which they have opportunities to investigate, think critically and co-operate with others to solve problems. This cannot be achieved whilst learners are sitting passively listening to their teacher.
So the development of the competencies makes learning more active – and more engaging.
© Curriculum Foundation 5

© Curriculum Foundation 6

They are Ferrence Marton and Roger Saljo of Gothenburg University
In 2008, Marton and Saljo considered “Deep and Surface Approaches to
Learning” and saw three levels, which they likened to coffee moving through the cafetiere to make the final brew.
This is an interesting metaphor, because we often try to speed up the coffee process by trying to ram it down with the plunger – but when it is ready it will almost fall of its own accord. Then all you have to do is rest your finger on the plunger and it sinks gently. And you get much better coffee if you wait for it to have infused properly! This might conjure up an image of unfortunate students having learning rammed down their throats, when the teacher would be better advised to give them time to absorb their learning and to let it sink in. The ramming down their throats will not make good learning anyway.
© Curriculum Foundation 7

·
Memorising facts
·
Learning to pass exams
·
Learning detached from the real world
·
Questioning
·
Changing ways of thinking
·
Engaging with learning
• Searching for meaning
• Approaching learning from the real world
• An holistic approach to learning
When you look at these three levels, you see that we are moving through Bloom’s
Taxonomy (down, not up this time! Bloom saw things as getting higher, Marton and
Saljo as getting deeper). You also see that the deeper levels are very akin to the application of the competencies
© Curriculum Foundation 8

Earlier on, we asked who this was. Did you know?
It’s Emma Simms, now of Northampton University but formerly of Head of Innovation at the
Specialist Schools and Academies Trust.
In 2006 she authored the SSAT publication:
“Deep Learning – a new shape for schooling”
© Curriculum Foundation 9

Together with “Deep Learning 2” authored by David Hargreaves,
Sims puts forward a cycle of learning and argues that deep learning is brought about by the greater involvement of the learner in the process, so that they become active agents in their own learning.
This greater involvement comes about when pupils are asked to investigate things for themselves, to think about them, solve problems and work with others. This requires particular approaches to curriculum design and also to teaching. It requires the building in of the competencies.
© Curriculum Foundation 10

Much of this ‘deep learning’ approach comes from the 1988 work of this man we saw earlier. Did you recognise him?
It’s Noel Entwistle whose
1988 book “Styles of
Learning and Teaching” set out the notion of deep and surface learning.
Here is a the chart that sets out the differences.
© Curriculum Foundation 11

© Curriculum Foundation
There’s more about this at: http://www.tlrp.org/pub/acadpub/En twistle2000.pdf
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