Taxonomies: background and evolutions
The development and use of educational objectives is known to have arisen as a way to
conceptualize instruction and training programs in the military, but was quickly adopted by
educational psychologists and educators (the Academy of Dental Therapeutics and
Stomatology2
). It was in 1956 that Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues published a taxonomy of
educational objectives or taxonomy of learner behaviors. The taxonomy influenced curriculum
development and enhanced the shift towards competency based instruction. While several
changes affected Bloom’s original taxonomy that was subsequently revised and updated,
nowadays we are witnessing the wide use of educational objectives throughout the life long
educational process, including continuing professional education activities. Before developing
our framework that argues for the benefits of implementing Bloom’s taxonomy within the
educational process at university level, we will develop a brief analysis of taxonomies of
educational objectives. A first step in this regard requires the clarification of term taxonomy.
A taxonomy of educational objectives comprises the systematized whole of objectives per
levels, fields and categories. Burja et al. (2006) point out that different levels and categories of
finalities of education do not represent separate entities, but form a structured whole, a
systematized ensemble within which each finality has a certain hierarchic positioning and reflects
a certain field of the project aimed through education. While there are many manners and criteria
to construct taxonomy, practice documents two main types of taxonomies (Burja et al., 2006):