From Curiosity to Creation: Faith Formation with Bloom’s Taxonomy

At the heart of our curriculum and resource development process is a commitment to helping participants grow in knowledge, wisdom, compassion, curiosity, and creativity. To do this, we rely on a powerful and proven framework called Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy, which guides how we structure learning experiences across every age and stage of development.

But what is Bloom’s Taxonomy, and why is it so central to what we do? Let’s explore.

What Is Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy?

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a widely respected educational framework used to describe how people move through different levels of learning. Originally developed by educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom and later revised to reflect a more dynamic model of thinking, the taxonomy lays out six levels of cognitive development:

1. Remembering: recalling facts and basic concepts
2. Understanding: explaining ideas or concepts
3. Applying: using knowledge in new situations
4. Analyzing: drawing connections and distinguishing between parts
5. Evaluating: justifying a decision or viewpoint
6. Creating: generating new ideas, products, or ways of understanding

Rather than stopping at remembering facts, this model supports a whole arc of learning that helps participants grow into creative thinkers and builders of new knowledge.

Why This Framework Works for Faith Formation

We don’t just want participants to know what they believe; we want them to understand why. We want them to wrestle with the hard questions and express their faith in deeply personal and beautifully collaborative ways.

Bloom’s Taxonomy supports this by offering a natural and developmentally appropriate pathway from curiosity to creativity:

• It begins with knowing—the facts, stories, and teachings that form the foundation of our faith.
• Then we move toward understanding—what do these stories mean? What is being taught?
• We invite participants to apply—how does this story or teaching change how I live or treat others?
• We encourage analysis—what is being said here? What is the message beneath the message?
• We foster evaluation—do I agree? What resonates? What’s hard to understand?
• Finally, we move toward creation—how can I express this in my own way? What might God be inviting me to make, say, or do?

Why This Matters in Faith Formation

Faith isn’t static or something you just receive—it’s something you live into, wrestle with, and grow in. Faith grows best when we engage our whole selves: mind, heart, and spirit.

That’s why we strongly believe in a framework that empowers people to explore beliefs thoughtfully and courageously, not tell people what to think. 

We believe God and the Bible can handle all of our questions. In fact, we believe curiosity is part of how we are made in the image of God. When we wonder, ask, explore, and even doubt, we engage in a holy process. Faith deepens when it is questioned and examined.

Using Bloom’s Taxonomy helps participants grow the critical thinking skills they need to explore faith and life with integrity. It invites conversation, reflection, disagreement, and discovery while honoring the full humanity of the learner and allowing space for mystery and growth.

Curiosity as a Spiritual Gift

We are curious beings. Children ask questions from the time they can talk, and we never really stop wondering. Bloom’s Taxonomy doesn’t treat curiosity as a distraction from learning—it treats it as the engine of learning.

By giving structure to how we move from basic understanding to deep engagement, Bloom’s Taxonomy helps us cultivate knowledge and wisdom. And in faith development, that distinction is everything.

When we explore scripture or the world around us through this lens, we aren’t just gaining information—we’re being shaped as people who can think critically, love deeply, and respond creatively to the needs of our communities and our world.

What This Looks Like in Our Curriculum

From our youngest participants to our intergenerational and thematic programs, we intentionally craft every lesson to follow the arc of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

We start with a story or concept, then guide participants to reflect, discuss, apply, and ultimately create something new—an artwork, a question, a ritual, a justice-centered project, a new interpretation.

Each level builds on the one before it, offering meaningful steps toward growth. Whether exploring a parable, learning about earth care, or practicing compassion, we want every participant to move beyond “just knowing” toward “faith in action” each time.

Growing Thinkers, Makers, and Faithful Questioners

In a world full of answers,
We believe in the power of good questions.
We believe curiosity is sacred.
We believe learning is not just for school but for life and faith.

Our job is not to fill participants with information but to equip them with the tools to explore, discern, challenge, and create. That’s why we use Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Because we don’t want to just teach lessons. We want to grow thinkers, seekers, makers, and faithful questioners. And we trust that this journey will lead us all—participants and leaders alike—closer to the heart of God.