SHOSYS ACADEMY 1 LESSON: THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE

SHOSYS ACADEMY 1 LESSON: THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE

Kelvin Sholar

1 Introduction To The Series Of Lessons And Tests

This blog series incorporates an easy music appreciation curriculum for adult beginners who are remote learning, or are self-taught. Lessons are posted on Mondays while Tests are posted on Saturdays. For more in depth and private guidance, I offer personal instruction by Zoom (Personal Meeting ID 8522954569) – for 1 dollar a minute. Time schedules range from a minimum of 30 minutes to a maximum of 60 minutes. Email me at [email protected] to set up personal instruction. I accept payments and cash gifts by Cash App ($KelvinSholar), Zelle ([email protected]) or Paypal (paypal.me/kelvinsholar).

2 The Tree Of Knowledge

The tree of knowledge is a hierarchical structure that will be used to classify learning goals in all of the following lessons and tests. The subject of musical knowledge, (at the root of the tree), basically concerns tests and behaviors that center on remembering physical phenomena, psychological concepts and musical forms which were previously learned (Bloom pg. 62). Neither comprehension nor application is a prerequisite for remembering what is learned; however, remembering what is learned is required for comprehension and application.

There are three main branches of the tree of knowledge: Specifics, Ways and Universals. In Specifics, musicians learn about sound and other individual elements of musical information which have value in and of themselves. This includes the basic terminology of musical science, and basic historical facts. In this series of lessons and tests, specifics of musical terminology and facts are considered relative to Western culture. Within Ways, musicians learn the processes by which specific musical products are organized. Within Universals, musicians learn formal structures, theories and generalizations which apply to classified facts and events in music. Musicians also learn processes and interrelations which organize large numbers of musical specifics into a whole body of knowledge.

At the top of the tree of knowledge are nine leaves. They are (supposedly) arranged in a hierarchy – from the most simple, specific and concrete knowledge, through knowledge of ways, to the most complex, general and abstract knowledge (Bloom pg. 62).

According to Benjamin Bloom in “Taxonomy Of Educational Objectives“, all classes of knowledge are numbered in a way that is similar to the Dewey Decimal Classification for libraries. Bloom’s classification uses a single digit for main classes, while fractional decimals allow for linear expansion when more detail (or further divisions) is needed for sub-classes of knowledge. For example, the first and simplest class (i.e. the root of Knowledge) is numbered 1.00, while the last and most complex sub-class (i.e. the leaf Knowledge Of Theories And Structures) is numbered 1.32.

3 Bibliography

Bloom, B. S.; Engelhart, M. D.; Furst, E. J.; Hill, W. H.; Krathwohl, D. R. Taxonomy Of Educational Objectives: The Classification Of Educational Goals. Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Company, 1956