We want to look at Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning, or Bloom’s hierarchy of learning, and relate it to Christianity, our educational system, and national development.
In Bloom’s hierarchy of learning, the first level is remembering. To remember is simply to receive knowledge and reproduce it—you bring it back as it was given. That is where we have been for years. That is how many of us went to school, producing people with only theoretical knowledge.
The next level is understanding. Take politics, for example. Democracy is defined as government of the people, by the people, for the people. The ultimate aim is the people, and the mechanism is also the people. If people cast votes and those votes do not count, then you are not running a democratic system—you are running a deceptive system.
Understanding is crucial. The Bible speaks about seeds that fell by the wayside; they were taken away because there was no understanding. Many people lack understanding of what they are doing, why they are doing it, and who they are doing it with. Even in spiritual matters, many quote scriptures without understanding them.
I once encountered a situation where someone needed help. Instead of just praying, I realised the issue required understanding and mental transformation. In another case, a family kept falling sick. When I visited them, I saw that wastewater from a toilet was flowing in front of their house. I told them to relocate, and the sickness stopped. That was understanding.
The next level is application. This is putting what you know into practice. It is not enough to know—you must act. When you understand something, you apply it intentionally in real life.
After application comes analysis. This is where you break down what you have learned into parts, examine it, and understand each component deeply.
Then comes evaluation. At this stage, you step back and assess what you have learned and applied. You look at it objectively. I reached a point where I evaluated my life—my work, my environment, and whether what I was doing would take me to where I needed to be. That led me to make major decisions and changes.
The final stage is creation. This is the highest level—producing something new from what you have learned. Many people have learned formulas, theories, and concepts, but what have they created with them? That is the real question.
We have knowledge, but we are not creating. That is the gap. When knowledge is properly understood, applied, analysed, and evaluated, it should lead to creation—solutions, innovations, and development.
That is what we need in our society—the ability to move beyond memorisation into creation. When we do that, we will build a nation and an economy that truly works.
God bless you.
