If you’ve worked in education or training, Bloom’s Taxonomy may mean something to you. It’s a tool for structuring learning, for example learning about disaster preparedness, via a set of simple steps. Depending on which terminology you choose to use, these steps can be named in order as: remembering; understanding; applying; analysing; synthesising; and evaluating. As a presentation by Gerry Fitzgerald at DEP Expo 2012 mentioned, it can serve as a way of inculcating disaster preparedness in an organisation, although its use also has a more general significance.
As a tool in general, this taxonomy could be applied to learning just about anything. Conversely, it’s a reminder that areas like disaster preparedness, business continuity and resilience, while being disciplines in their own right, can also benefit from standard, generally applicable tools and techniques. It’s therefore also a warning too against NIH or the “Not Invented Here” syndrome. Here’s a practical example of how it might be used, step by step, to get people in your organisation on-board.
- Remembering. Being able to state what disaster preparedness is, including any important terms or facts.
- Understanding. Demonstrating comprehension of underlying principles, comparing disaster preparedness with disaster recovery, for example.
- Applying. Using the principles to define a practical approach, for example disaster preparedness in the context of a manufacturing company or a medical centre.
- Analysing. Breaking down the approach into elements and relationships, for instance to lay out different options for given disaster preparedness objectives.
- Synthesising. Putting the information together in different ways, for example to improve an existing disaster preparedness plan with a new version.
- Evaluating. Assessing the inherent quality of a disaster preparedness plan by using the knowledge, understanding and exercises in the previous steps.