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Theory of Knowledge
ToK Co-ordinator: Mr Michael Fitzpatrick
P: +61 3 9816 1432 E: michael.fitzpatrick@carey.com.au
Course Description and Aims
The TOK course plays a special role in the DP by providing an opportunity for students to reflect on the nature, scope and limitations of knowledge and the process of knowing. In this way, the main focus of TOK is not on students acquiring new knowledge but on helping students to reflect on, and put into perspective, what they already know.
TOK underpins and helps to unite the subjects that students encounter in the rest of their DP studies. It engages students in explicit reflection on how knowledge is arrived at in different disciplines and areas of knowledge, on what these areas have in common and the differences between them. It is intended that through this holistic approach, discussions in one area will help to enrich and deepen discussions in other areas.
The course is an opportunity for teachers and students to engage in interesting conversations that cross the boundaries of individual disciplines and that help students to reflect on the knowledge they have acquired from both their academic studies and their lives outside the classroom. Students are encouraged to examine the evidence for claims and to consider, for example, how we distinguish fact from opinion, or how we evaluate the credibility of claims that we are exposed to in the media. They explore different methods and tools of inquiry and try to establish what it is about them that makes them effective, as well as considering their limitations.
The aims of the TOK course are to:
- to encourage students to reflect on the central question, “How do we know that?”, and to recognise the value of asking that question;
- to expose students to ambiguity, uncertainty and questions with multiple plausible answers;
- to equip students to effectively navigate and make sense of the world, and help prepare them to encounter novel and complex situations;
- to encourage students to be more aware of their own perspectives and to reflect critically on their own beliefs and assumptions;
- to engage students with multiple perspectives, foster open-mindedness and develop intercultural understanding;
- to encourage students to make connections between academic disciplines by exploring underlying concepts and by identifying similarities and differences in the methods of inquiry used in different areas of knowledge;
- to prompt students to consider the importance of values, responsibilities and ethical concerns relating to the production, acquisition, application and communication of knowledge.
Curriculum Model Overview
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Core Theme – Knowledge and the Knower
This theme provides an opportunity for students to reflect on themselves as knowers and thinkers, and on the different communities of knowers to which we belong.
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Optional Themes
This element provides an opportunity to take a more in-depth look at two themes of particular interest to teachers and students. The given themes all have a significant impact on the world today and play a key role in shaping people’s perspectives and identities. Teachers select two optional themes from a choice of five:
- knowledge and technology
- knowledge and language
- knowledge and politics
- knowledge and religion
- and knowledge and indigenous societies.
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Areas of knowledge
The areas of knowledge are specific branches of knowledge, each of which can be seen to have a distinct nature and sometimes use different methods of gaining knowledge. Students explore and compare five compulsory areas of knowledge:
- History
- The human sciences
- The natural sciences
- Mathematics
- And the arts.
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Assessment at a Glance
| Type of Assessment |
Format of Assessment |
Weighting
Final Grade (%) |
| External |
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Essay:
In response to a prescribed title.
Externally marked. |
One essay on a title chosen from a list of six prescribed titles.
One planning and progress document for each student.
During the second year of the Diploma.
Maximum 1600 words
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67 |
| Internal |
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TOK Exhibition:
Assesses the ability of the student to show how TOK manifests in the world around us.
Teacher marked and externally moderated.
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An exhibition of three objects, digital or real, associated with one of the themes and connected to one of the 35 Knowledge Questions provided in the study guide, e.g. In the context of the ‘Knowledge and language’ theme, “To what extent is certainty attainable?”
At the end of the first year of the Diploma.
Maximum 950 words.
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33 |
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