On the Normative Aspects of Adult Education Taxonomies

Abstract

This paper explicates the normative nature of taxonomies in adult education and explores the practical implications of this property. Such taxonomies are argued to be unavoidably in- fused with recommendations of what ought, or ought not, to be done or be the case, with respect to the realities that they classify. Any use of a descriptive taxonomy may be expected to have a normatively conservative effect, independent of user intentions, on that part of the future which is structured through its application. Alternative possible futures which are incongruent with the principles underlying the classified reality will be excluded from consideration. Accordingly, when developing or using a taxonomy we must be clear and informed about its normative features.