Maslow’s Hierarchy, named after Abraham Maslow, describes five levels of human needs. These five levels can be shown in a pyramid format consisting from the bottom to the top of: physiological, safety, love/belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization. Self-actualization, being at top of the pyramid, is the ultimate goal for a human being to reach during their life time. What is meant by this is that a person has reached their full potential for personal growth. These tiers of human needs are fairly self-explanatory, however they can apply to different people in different ways. For example, safety for one person might mean freedom from fear, while safety for another may mean quite literally protection from the elements, while for another stability and order. The model increases in complexity as one moves up each tier. Regardless of how it may apply to the lives of different people, Maslow’s Hierarchy appears to stand the test of time as it is relevant in all cultures, societies, and time periods.
Bloom’s Taxonomy, created and named after Benjamin Bloom, also refers to a theory that can be broken down into a pyramidal structure however, this theory refers to the educational learning objectives. In Bloom’s Taxonomy, from the bottom to the top of the pyramid, the following stages are listed: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. In breaking these stages down each stage can be defined in the following way:
-Knowledge: the ability to recall information
-Comprehension: the ability to understand information
-Application: the ability to use knowledge in certain situations
-Analysis: the ability to recognize trends and examine information
-Synthesis: the ability to combine concepts to create new ideas
-Evaluation: the ability to compare, assess, solve, and judge information
Bloom’s Taxonomy is a vital model to be considered by teachers when creating educational materials for their students. While fairly recently this model has had slight adjustments made to it, in its essence it remains the same despite the fact that education itself (in its ways of educating students) is constantly changing.
Sources:
The Techie Teacher 