LaFever

LaFever's 4-quadrant model based on the Medicine WheelIndigenizing Learning Outcomes

LaFever has elab­o­rat­ed on the cat­e­go­riza­tions devel­oped by Bloom and Fink to include a 4‑quadrant mod­el based on the Med­i­cine Wheel, that includes the spir­i­tu­al aspect of learn­ing. By includ­ing the addi­tion­al ‘spir­i­tu­al domain,’ LaFever pro­vides a mod­el for indi­g­e­niz­ing learn­ing out­comes and course design.

The Spiritual Domain Includes:

  • Hon­our­ing — refers to being con­scious and aware of our own thoughts and feel­ings, with­out judg­ing, and being open to new expe­ri­ences
  • Value/d — refers to rela­tion­ship build­ing that acknowl­edges the impor­tance and worth of qual­i­ties relat­ing to spir­i­tu­al well-being
  • Connect/ed — relates to devel­op­ing a sense of group belong­ing (e.g., in the class­room, com­mu­ni­ty etc.)
  • Empower/d — relates to an giv­ing and receiv­ing sup­port in an envi­ron­ment that fos­ters con­fi­dence and strength
  • Self actualize/d — becom­ing who we are meant to be

Pros of LaFever

  • spir­i­tu­al domain is added to a tax­on­o­my with which many peo­ple are already famil­iar (Bloom)
  • is more inclu­sive for indige­nous stu­dents and for diverse stu­dents in gen­er­al
  • invites us to reimag­ine how we teach and assess in ways that also sup­port men­tal health and well-being

Cons of LaFever

  • typ­i­cal col­lege modes of assess­ment do not lend them­selves well to assess­ing the spir­i­tu­al domain of learn­ing
  • more chal­leng­ing for non-indige­nous instruc­tors to apply appro­pri­ate­ly and with­out inad­ver­tent­ly rein­forc­ing colo­nial approach­es
  • requires rein­ter­pret­ing the roles of both the teacher and stu­dents (which may be eas­i­er in some areas than oth­ers)

Sample Verbs & Progression for Creating Outcome Statements

Honouring

  • con­sid­er
  • medi­ate on
  • be aware
  • seek
  • allow
  • lis­ten
  • observe

Value/d

  • empathize
  • hon­our
  • acknowl­edge
  • bal­ance
  • exem­pli­fy

Connect/ed

  • con­sult
  • work with
  • sup­port
  • coop­er­ate
  • par­tic­i­pate
  • devel­op

Empower/ed

  • gain
  • speak out about
  • advo­cate
  • act on
  • defend
  • influ­ence

Self-Actualize/d

  • become
  • self-define
  • sus­tain
  • pos­sess
  • dream
Tip As a way of think­ing about the more spir­i­tu­al aspects of learn­ing, explore this info­graph­ic “Human­iz­ing your Online Class (PDF).
Handouts Icon

Hand­outs:

  • Switch­ing from Bloom to the Med­i­cine Wheel — Com­plete Arti­cle By LaFever —  PDF Ver­sion