Teaching in the Inner City

For those teachers who insist that content knowledge is the most important part of education, keep in mind Daggett’s Application Taxonomy.

Application Taxonomy

• Level 1 Knowledge of one discipline
• Level 2 Application of that knowledge within that discipline
• Level 3 Application of that knowledge across disciplines
• Level 4 Application of that knowledge to real-world, predictable problems
• Level 5 Application of that knowledge to real-world, unpredictable problems

To be successful in life, which level is most important and most difficult to learn? Mere content knowledge is level 1, an important foundation, but certainly not the goal of education. The goal of education is to prepare our students for level 5, application of knowledge to real-world, unpredictable problems.