Benjamin Bloom facts for kids

Benjamin Samuel Bloom (born February 21, 1913 – died September 13, 1999) was an American expert in educational psychology. This means he studied how people learn and how to make teaching better. He is famous for helping to create a way to classify learning goals, which is known as Bloom's taxonomy. He also developed the idea of mastery learning, which helps students truly understand a topic before moving on. Bloom's ideas have helped teachers and schools all over the world since the 1950s.

About Benjamin Bloom

Early Life and School

Benjamin Bloom was born in Lansford, Pennsylvania. His family had moved from Russia. He was one of five children. His father framed pictures, and his mother took care of the home. Benjamin was a very good student. He also enjoyed swimming and handball. He was the top student in his high school class.

After college, Bloom worked in research. He helped design tests for a big study called the Eight-Year Study. In 1939, he started his PhD program at the University of Chicago. He wanted to study with a famous educator named Ralph Tyler. Bloom earned his doctorate degree in 1942.

Working at the University of Chicago

From 1940 to 1959, Bloom worked for the University of Chicago. He was part of a group that wanted to make education better. They worked on how to teach and how to measure what students learned. In 1953, Bloom took over from Ralph Tyler as the University Examiner. By 1960, he moved to California to work at a research center.

Global Education Efforts

From the late 1950s to the late 1980s, Bloom worked on education around the world. He helped start the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). This group encourages studies about how students learn in different countries. Bloom and his friends collected information to improve education globally. In 1986, he was invited to teach in China. He was one of 25 scholars from the United States to visit.

Bloom's Big Ideas

Bloom's Taxonomy

In 1956, Benjamin Bloom helped create The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. This book organized learning goals into different levels. It was one of the first times anyone tried to sort out how people think and learn. This system is now called Bloom's Taxonomy. It helps teachers plan lessons and understand how students learn. Many educators still use it today.

Mastery Learning

Benjamin Bloom also studied how students learn best. He noticed that teachers often taught everyone the same way. He thought that if teachers changed their methods for each student, more kids would learn better. This idea led to Bloom's Mastery Learning.

Here is how Mastery Learning works:

• Teachers break down skills into small units, about one or two weeks long.
• At the end of each unit, students take a test.
• The test gives students feedback on what they learned.
• If a student doesn't understand something, they get extra help. This might be special assignments.
• Then, they take another test on the parts they struggled with. This helps make sure every student learns at their own speed.
• Students who master the unit quickly get extra activities. These activities help them learn even more. Students choose these activities themselves. They might play learning games or work on special projects.

Developing Talent

Bloom also studied how people become very good at something. He looked at how individuals develop amazing talents. He wanted to understand what makes someone truly great in their field.

He interviewed 70 people who were the best in their fields. These included mathematicians, Olympic swimmers, and concert pianists. He also talked to their parents and teachers. They wanted to find out what made these people so successful.

Three main things came up often:

• A strong desire to work hard.
• A competitive spirit.
• The ability to learn new techniques.

Bloom found that parents often believed their children were talented. This belief made parents create a helpful environment. They hired teachers, found chances for competitions, and encouraged their children. This support, along with the individual's own interest and hard work, helped them achieve great success.

See also

In Spanish: Benjamin Bloom para niños