IB Theory of Knowledge

BMS IB Core Week

July 2014

What is TOK?“The course does not declare. It invites.”

DefinitionMetacognitionKey conceptsWays of knowingAreas of knowing

What is TOK?This course introduces you to theories about the nature and limitations of knowledge (basic epistemology) and provides practice in determining meaning and validity of knowledge (critical thinking)

It is claimed to be a “flagship element” of the Diploma Programme, and is the one course that all diploma candidates are required to take

TOK requires 100 hours of instruction, the completion of an externally assessed essay of 1,200-1,600 words (from a choice of ten titles prescribed by the IB), and an internally assessed presentation on the candidate's chosen topic.

Metacognition“knowing about knowing”

•the awareness that you have of your learning processes, and

•the degree of control you are able to achieve in your learning thanks to this awareness.

Key conceptsknowledge issuesperspectivescritical thinking

knowledge claimsassumptionsjustificationimplications

Knowledge issues“In TOK discussions explore knowledge as a source of questions or topics for exploration that rise to the surface when a spirit of inquiry is applied to the process of knowledge itself”:

• its creation• justifications• complexities• uncertainties• implications• value

Perspectives

Making you aware of the fact that you don’t “just know”, but that you know from a particular perspective

It opens the way to recognising that others may have absorbed different cultural, ideological or personal assumptions.

Exchange of ideas in a spirit of inquiry can contribute greatly to the understanding envisaged in the IB’s mission statement that “other

people, with their differences, can also be right”.

Critical thinking

knowledge claims assumptionsjustificationimplications

Taking ideas seriously involves looking at them closely to understand why a person or a group is putting them forward and what their grounds are for

accepting them, no matter who it may be

knowledge claims= assertion that something is the case.

factual claimclaim of values

claim of religious belief...

assumptions

= the unarticulated givens, web of interconnected and mutually reinforcing beliefs

cultural and ideological assumptionsown temperaments

own family experiencerelative wealth or poverty

geographical spot on the planet...

justification

=grounds for accepting a knowledge claim

ReasoningEvidenceMemory

Expert testimonyFaith

...

implications

If you accept a particular claim, what further claims are you likely to accept, and

how are you likely to act on their basis? What we accept carries many implications in the looser sense- for our attitudes, our

sense of responsibility, our actions.

Ways of knowing

Sense perception

Language

Reason

Emotion

Imagination

Faith

Intuition

Memory

=traits which knowers can possess and through which they obtain and

manipulate knowledge

Areas of knowledgeMathematics

Natural sciences

Human sciences

History

The arts

Ethics

Religious Knowledge Systems

Indigenous Knowledge Systems

see examples

Religious Knowledge Systems

How do we decide between the competing claims of different religious knowledge systems? Can there ever be a basis for religious knowledge that is independent of the culture that produces it? Is atheism as much a matter of faith as religious belief?

Indigenous Knowledge Systems

In what ways are sense perception and memory crucial in constructing knowledge in indigenous knowledge systems? How do beliefs about the physical and metaphysical world influence the pursuit of knowledge in indigenous knowledge systems? How do indigenous people use the concept of respect to relate to their view of the world?

Assessment outlinePart 1 External assessment (67% of the final mark) Essay on a prescribed title (1,200-1,600 words)

Part 2 Internal assessment (33% of the final mark) The presentation (10 mins per student)

Where the essay demands a high-level overview of knowledge questions, the class presentation demands

a close-up of a knowledge in a real-life situation

EssayEthical judgments limit the methods available in the production of knowledge in both the arts and the natural sciences. Discuss.

“Knowledge is nothing more than the systematic organisation of facts.” Discuss this statement in relation to two areas of knowledge.

“The historian’s task is to understand the past; the human scientist, by contrast, is looking to change the future.” To what extent is this true in these areas of knowledge?

“A skeptic is one who is willing to question any knowledge claim, asking for clarity in definition, consistency in logic and adequacy of evidence” (adapted from Paul Kurtz, 1994). Evaluate this approach in two areas of knowledge.

show thinking skills in the discussion of a prescribed title that may be primary conceptual in nature

Presentation

What evidence is there about how dinosaurs looked and behaved?

Demonstrations in China against the issue of a new history textbook in Japan

What makes a work of art?

Global warming

demonstrate an understanding of knowledge at work in the world

The diploma point matrix

Points awarded for the externally assessed component, part 1, the essay on a prescribed title (40 points), and for the internally assessed component, part 2, the presentation (20 points), are combined to give a total out of 60. The grade boundaries are then applied, to determine the band (A to E) to which the student’s performance in TOK belongs.

The band descriptors are:

1. Work of an excellent standard

2. Work of a good standard

3. Work of a satisfactory standard

4. Work of a mediocre standard

5. Work of an elementary standard

The band descriptor is used both to determine the contribution of TOK to the overall diploma score and to provide the basis for reporting to schools on each student’s TOK performance.

What values does TOK give you?

help to make sense of what you encounter

discover and express your views on knowledge questions

share ideas with others and listen and learn from what others think

shape, enrich and deepen your thinking and understanding of knowledge as a human construction

In the course, the aim is to help you become effective critical thinkers, with the greater goal being to develop IB learners:

“internationally minded people who, recognising their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a

better and more peaceful world.”

IB Learner ProfileInquirers

Knowledgeable

Thinkers

Communicators

Principled

Open-minded

Caring

Risk-takers

Balanced

Reflective

InquirersTOK students seek to find out how

knowledge is constructed using various ways of knowing and by considering what

constitutes knowledge in various areas of knowledge. It is a fundamental premise of TOK that personal knowledge should not

result from simple acceptance of knowledge claims without sufficient inquiry and

evidence.

ThinkersTOK students examine thinking in order to understand what constitutes good thinking

and also to recognize potential flaws in thought processes. Students also think about

what thinking is required in a variety of situations, as well as how thinking relates to

emotional processing and intuition.

Open-mindedTOK students need to be open-minded about

knowledge claims they encounter. They will learn not to simply accept claims at face value, but to consider the factual accuracy of any proposition and the potential emotional, social or cognitive bias of any person making a proposition. At the

same time, they must learn to balance skepticism with belief, and recognize that in many situations

there is a need to make decisions without possessing absolute certainty.

Risk-takersTOK students must be willing to risk questioning what they hold to be true. This means that they must be willing to risk being wrong. When we are willing to accept being wrong then we make progress towards correcting existing misconceptions and increasing our knowledge and understanding of the world. The word “judgment” is central in TOK, and students should be prepared to take the risks involved in making judgments in matters where the evidence does not definitively favour one view or another, while at the same time acknowledging the provisional nature of these judgments.

ReflectiveTOK students learn to reflect on the degree

to which their own and other people’s motivations, beliefs, thought processes and

emotional reactions influence what they know and what they are capable of knowing.

Sources

Dombrowski, Mackenzie, Clarke. 2010. IB Research Paper. Perspectives on a curious subject: What is IB Theory of Knowledge all about?

Theory of knowledge guide. (First examinations 2015)