Educational learning objectives: Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom’s taxonomy is a set of three hierarchical models used to classify educational learning objectives into levels of complexity and specificity. The models organize learning objectives into three different domains: Cognitive, Affective, and Sensory/Psychomotor.  

Bloom’s taxonomy was developed to promote higher forms of thinking in education, such as analyzing and evaluating concepts, processes, procedures, and principles, rather than simply memorizing facts.

Learning objectives can be viewed in behavioral terms. As instructional designers collaborate with subject matter experts (SMEs) to develop courses, they can see what students are capable of as a direct result of the instruction they have received at each level.

Using the categorization, courses can be designed with appropriate content and instruction to lead learners up the pyramid of learning. Instructional designers can also design valid assessment tools (i.e., quizzes) to ensure each category is met and in turn, that each part of the course material is in line with the level’s objectives. However, oftentimes, especially in a corporate setting, several of the stages are interconnected and blend into each other.

Learners may not be aware of Bloom’s taxonomy, but to them, it serves to bridge the gap between what they know now, and what they need to learn in order to attain a higher level of knowledge—and perform better at their jobs.

The purpose of applying Bloom’s taxonomy is to create measurable goals—perfect for corporate learning and development. If applied successfully, the learner has acquired a new skill or level of domain expertise and instructional designers are able to effectively assess this learning on an ongoing basis as the course moves through each stage of the framework.

IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto

The School Library in Teaching and Learning for All

The school library provides information and ideas that are fundamental to functioning successfully in today's information and knowledge-based society. The school library equips students with life-long learning skills and develops the imagination, enabling them to live as responsible citizens.

The Mission of the School Library

The school library offers learning services, books and resources that enable all members of the school community to become critical thinkers and effective users of information in all formats and media. School Libraries link to the wider library and information network in accord with the principles in the UNESCO Public Library Manifesto.

The library staff support the use of books and other information sources, ranging from the fictional to the documentary, from print to electronic, both on-site and remote. The materials complement and enrich textbooks, teaching materials and methodologies.

It has been demonstrated that, when librarians and teachers work together, students achieve higher levels of literacy, reading, learning, problem-solving and information and communication technology skills.

School library services must be provided equally to all members of the school community, regardless of age, race, gender, religion, nationality, language, professional or social status. Specific services and materials must be provided for those who are unable to use mainstream library services and materials.

Access to services and collections should be based on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Freedoms, and should not be subject to any form of ideological, political or religious censorship, or to commercial pressures.

Funding legislation and networks

The school library is essential to every long-term strategy for literacy, education, information provision and economic, social and cultural development. As the responsibility of local, regional and national authorities, it must be supported by specific legislation and policies. School Libraries must have adequate and sustained funding for trained staff, materials, technologies and facilities. They must be free of charge.

The school library is an essential partner in the local, regional and national library and information network.

Where the school library shares facilities and/or resources with another type of library, such as a public library, the unique aims of the school library must be acknowledged and maintained.

Goals of the school library

The school library is integral to the educational process.

The following are essential to the development of literacy, information literacy, teaching, learning and culture and are core school library services:

• supporting and enhancing educational goals as outlined in the school's mission and curriculum;
• developing and sustaining in children the habit and enjoyment of reading and learning, and the use of libraries throughout their lives;
• offering opportunities for experiences in creating and using information for knowledge, understanding, imagination and enjoyment;
• supporting all students in learning and practising skills for evaluating and using information, regardless of form, format or medium, including sensitivity to the modes of communication within the community;
• providing access to local, regional, national and global resources and opportunities that expose learners to diverse ideas, experiences and opinions;
• organizing activities that encourage cultural and social awareness and sensitivity;
• working with students, teachers, administrators and parents to achieve the mission of the school;
• proclaiming the concept that intellectual freedom and access to information are essential to effective and responsible citizenship and participation in a democracy;
• promoting reading and the resources and services of the school library to the whole school community and beyond.

The school library fulfils these functions by developing policies and services, selecting and acquiring resources, providing physical and intellectual access to appropriate sources of information, providing instructional facilities, and employing trained staff.

Staff

The school librarian is the professionally qualified staff member responsible for planning and managing the school library, supported by as adequate staffing as possible, working together with all members of the school community, and liaising with the public library and others.

The role of school librarians will vary according to the budget and the curriculum and teaching methodology of the schools, within the national legal and financial framework. Within specific contexts, there are general areas of knowledge that are vital if school librarians are to develop and operate effective school library services: resource, library, and information management and teaching.

In an increasingly networked environment, school librarians must be competent in planning and teaching different information-handling skills to both teachers and students. Therefore they must continue their professional training and development.

Operation and Management

To ensure effective and accountable operations:

the policy on school library services must be formulated to define goals, priorities and services in relation to the school's curriculum;

the school library must be organized and maintained according to professional standards;

services must be accessible to all members of the school community and operate within the context of the local community;

co-operation with teachers, senior school management, administrators, parents, other librarians and information professionals, and community groups must be encouraged.

Implementing the Manifesto

Governments, through their ministries responsible for education, are urged to develop strategies, policies and plans which implement the principles of this Manifesto. Plans should include the dissemination of the Manifesto to initial and continuing training programmes for librarians and teachers.

*IFLA/UNESCO - School Library Manifesto 1999

*IFLA, School Library Manifesto 2021

IFLA/UNESCO Public Library Manifesto 1994

Freedom, prosperity and the development of society and of individuals are fundamental human values. They will only be attained through the ability of well-informed citizens to exercise their democratic rights and to play an active role in society. Constructive participation and the development of democracy depend on satisfactory education as well as on free and unlimited access to knowledge, thought, culture and information.

The public library, the local gateway to knowledge, provides a basic condition for lifelong learning, independent decision- making and cultural development of the individual and social groups.

This Manifesto proclaims UNESCO's belief in the public library as a living force for education, culture and information, and as an essential agent for the fostering of peace and spiritual welfare through the minds of men and women.

UNESCO therefore encourages national and local governments to support and actively engage in the development of public libraries.

The Public Library

The public library is the local centre of information, making all kinds of knowledge and information readily available to its users.

The services of the public library are provided on the basis of equality of access for all, regardless of age, race, sex, religion, nationality, language or social status. Specific services and materials must be provided for those users who cannot, for whatever reason, use the regular services and materials, for example linguistic minorities, people with disabilities or people in hospital or prison.

All age groups must find material relevant to their needs. Collections and services have to include all types of appropriate media and modern technologies as well as traditional materials. High quality and relevance to local needs and conditions are fundamental. Material must reflect current trends and the evolution of society, as well as the memory of human endeavour and imagination.

Collections and services should not be subject to any form of ideological, political or religious censorship, nor commercial pressures.

Missions of the Public Library

The following key missions which relate to information, literacy, education and culture should be at the core of public library services:

• creating and strengthening reading habits in children from an early age;
• supporting both individual and self conducted education as well as formal education at all levels;
• providing opportunities for personal creative development;
• stimulating the imagination and creativity of children and young people;
• promoting awareness of cultural heritage, appreciation of the arts, scientific achievements and innovations;
• providing access to cultural expressions of all performing arts;
• fostering inter-cultural dialogue and favouring cultural diversity;
• supporting the oral tradition;
• ensuring access for citizens to all sorts of community information;
• providing adequate information services to local enterprises, associations and interest groups;
• facilitating the development of information and computer literacy skills;
• supporting and participating in literacy activities and programmes for all age groups, and initiating such activities if necessary.

      Funding, legislation and networks

The public library shall in principle be free of charge.

The public library shall in principle be free of charge. The public library is the responsibility of local and national authorities. It must be supported by specific legislation and financed by national and local governments. It has to be an essential component of any long-term strategy for culture, information provision, literacy and education.

To ensure nationwide library coordination and cooperation, legislation and strategic plans must also define and promote a national library network based on agreed standards of service.

The public library network must be designed in relation to national, regional, research and special libraries as well as libraries in schools, colleges and universities.

Operation and management

A clear policy must be formulated, defining objectives, priorities and services in relation to the local community needs. The public library has to be organized effectively and professional standards of operation must be maintained.

Cooperation with relevant partners - for example, user groups and other professionals at local, regional, national as well as international level- has to be ensured.

Services have to be physically accessible to all members of the community. This requires well situated library buildings, good reading and study facilities, as well as relevant technologies and sufficient opening hours convenient to the users. It equally implies outreach services for those unable to visit the library.

The library services must be adapted to the different needs of communities in rural and urban areas.

The librarian is an active intermediary between users and resources. Professional and continuing education of the librarian is indispensable to ensure adequate services.

Outreach and user education programmes have to be provided to help users benefit from all the resources.

Implementing the Manifesto

Decision makers at national and local levels and the library community at large, around the world, are hereby urged to implement the principles expressed in this Manifesto.

The Manifesto is prepared in cooperation with the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA).

~ifla dot org

How to face changes in life: Who moved my Cheese?

Who moved my Cheese? Published in 1999 by Dr. Spencer Johnson. Emphasizing on change and the human psyche to respond to daily changes in life, this book indicate some key facts to follow if one has to grow in their life instead of getting stuck in a moment of repent or sorrow for whatever strange is currently happening and already happened in life.

Change is the only thing which is constant and it will going to happen in your life whether you like it or not. It’s better to be ready for that rather than getting an unexpected surprise in life /work.

The story is about four characters in this book, two mice and two little individuals who live in a maze and are searching for the cheese which they think satisfies them. Here Cheese is a similitude for the things which you need in your life and fulfills us like a monetary achievement, a relationship, opportunity, wellbeing, acknowledgment, and maze is where you are looking for these things. It may be in any way similar to Organization, people group in which you live or the relationship you have in your life.

Key lessons which can be inferred out of this story are given as follows:

• If you do not change, you can become extinct? : Keep updating yourself with the changes around you.

• What would you do if you were not afraid? : It is ok to be afraid but should not be afraid of taking risks in your life when it is necessary.

• Smell the cheese often, so you know when it is getting old? : Be alert and aware of your surroundings. Keep checking for any change in your cheese and prepare yourself accordingly.

• When you move beyond fear, you feel free : Let go of your fear, Stay Focused and positive then only you will be able to give your 100%.

• Imagining myself enjoying new cheese even before I find it leads me to it : Follow the Universal law of attraction. Keep thinking of what you want and you will get it.

• The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you find new cheese : Don’t hold on to things in your life. Let yourself flow like a river and draw new paths (New cheese) when change happens.

• It is safer to search in the maze, than remain in a cheese-less situation: Don't cry about what you have lost. See what is still there. Where there is a will there is a way.

• Old belief does not lead you to new cheese: Keep experimenting with different ways in order to get new cheese. New inputs will lead to new outputs.

• When you see that you can find and enjoy new cheese, you change course: Try to instill this belief in yourself that you can get your cheese and having it will make you happy.

• Noticing small changes early helps, you adapt to the bigger changes that are to come: Be observant in life.

• What you are afraid of is never as bad as what you imagine. The fear you let build up in your mind is worse than the situation that actually exists: Thinking about losing will never let you win. Conquer your fears.

• Move with the cheese: Life doesn't stop and neither should you.

x

Thanks!