Taxonomy of the Affective Domain and Developments in Axiology

Abstract

Taxonomy of educational objectives were divided into taxonomy of cognitive domain, affective domain and psychomotor domain by Benjamin Bloom and his associates (Bloom,et. al. 1956 ).However, only the taxonomy of cognitive domain, also known as the Bloom’s taxonomy, has gained popularity among educational administrations throughout the world (Gable,1986). Several Accreditation agencies require an educational program to align their curriculum to Bloom's taxonomy ( cognitive domain ) for ranking and grading of curriculum aspects of educational programs at school and university level. However, the graduate attributes outlined by Educational administrationsnot only make cognitive aspects as part of learning objectives, but also affective and psychomotor aspects, since cognition, affect and psychomotor development complete all aspects of a person’s growth process (Tyler, R. W., 1973). This paper is an attempt to identify issues with the current state of taxonomy of the affective domain and how developments in the field of axiology provides a promise for constructing better (usable) taxonomies of affective domain in defining affect based educational objectives for school and university curriculum.