Theory of Knowledge
What is Theory of Knowledge?
The revolution in digital technology has given us access to more information and more competing perspectives than ever before. This has had an immeasurable impact on the world. Theory of Knowledge prepares students to navigate this new landscape successfully.
As a compulsory part of the IB Diploma, the course asks students to think critically about knowledge itself. Students have spent their lives, in school and out, acquiring a great deal of knowledge in a vast array of areas; they are now asked to step back from what they have learned and reflect upon it. Amongst many questions fundamental to the course, we ask:
- What counts as knowledge?
- How does it grow?
- What are its limits?
- Who owns knowledge?
Students and staff are challenged to discuss the value, limitations and implications of the knowledge we have, as well as the responsibilities that accompany knowledge and our search for it.
The course centres around the student as a ‘knower’. They are asked to consider how we form knowledge and how the ‘Ways of Knowing’, Emotion, Language, Reason and Sensory Perception mediate our understanding of the world.
Theory of Knowledge also focuses on the academic disciplines that students are familiar with from their IB studies. In each ‘Area of Knowledge’ students are asked to consider the different methods used by experts to create new knowledge. This leads to comparisons between the 6 disciplines considered – Human Sciences, Natural Sciences, Mathematics, The Arts, History and Ethics. What constitutes ‘knowledge’ in each? Are the divisions drawn between these subjects really valid?
How will Students be Assessed?
Throughout the course students will be assessed on their contributions to activities and discussions, and the recording of their reflections within their ToK Journal. Their final grade will be determined by two pieces of work:
The ToK Presentation (33%), completed at the beginning of Year 13, requires students to apply the skills they have learned to a real life issue. Examples of titles have included:
- How can we decide whether the impact of Genetically Modified foods will be positive?
- Who should decide, and on what grounds, what knowledge should be protected by patents?
- Is it possible for the IBO to accurately assess students appreciation of the Arts?
In the spring term of Year 13 students complete an essay of 1200-1600 words on one of ten titles supplied by the IBO. This forms 67% of their final grade.
- In areas of knowledge such as the arts and the sciences, do we learn more from work that follows or that breaks with accepted conventions? (May 2008)
- Are reason and emotion equally necessary in justifying moral decisions? (May 2008)
- Is it an oversimplification to claim that some Ways of Knowing give us facts while others provide interpretations? (May 2007)
- When mathematicians, historians and scientists say that they have explained something, are they using the word explain in the same way? (May 2007)
By the end of the course, students should have an understanding of how knowledge is created, evaluated, critically examined and renewed – more than ever an essential skill for all ‘knowers’ the world today.
updated 29th September, 2011
