Welcome+to+TOK

A warm welcome to all the IBDP students at Oaktree International School to the TOK Class....

=**What is TOK? **=

1. Is it one of the subjects? 2. Is it a combination of subjects? 3. Do we have to sit for an exam? 4. On what parameters are we assessed? 5. How do we study this? 6.Why is it needed? 7. What if I do not want to do TOK? 8. How will the study of TOK help me later? 9. How will a TOK class take place? 10. Will TOK be limited to only the TOK Class?

=A small activity to start with.... =

You have already lived in this world with so many of your own experiences.

You believe many things about yourself, the way the world works, and the

values that guide your own life. Have you asked yourself, why you hold

these beliefs, and why others hold different ones?


 * 1) Split into groups of 4 to 5
 * 2) Discuss among your group any one thing that every individual believes in and why?
 * 3) Is there any particular thing that the group on the whole believes in? If yes then why?
 * 4) Do you think that culture has a role to play in the development ot these beliefs?
 * 5) Do you think what you believe in today is going to or can ever change and why?

= Welcome to the TOK Journey... =

Welcome to a process, which begins today. I hope it will be one that will intrigue you, and give you a chance to reflect on how belief and knowledge come together not only for you, but also for others in the class as well.

Bring to the class a mind, which is alive to questions and open to possible answers. We shall examine and evaluate pieces written by others, reflect on uncertainties and differing points of view, while at the same time appreciating that knowledge is indeed an achievement.

The centre of the course is you, the student. I am a facilitator, who will stimulate your thinking and guide you on this journey. I invite you to think critically about how you know anything at all. Do you sense it? Is it because others tell you? Have you a logical reason? Do you feel this? Or do you know this in your consciousness, but don’t know how?

I will ask you to work as a group and assess what knowledge can be, and how we can approach finding truth and recognizing deception. I will ask you to examine major areas of knowledge such as the natural and human sciences, mathematics, art, history and ethics. We shall try and understand these as a class, compare them to develop a more holistic picture of knowing and consider the responsibilities that knowledge will bring to the world.

I, along with other teachers, shall also give you the support to demonstrate your ToK skills most effectively for assessment through your presentation and essay for the IB Diploma.

I do hope that questioning and thinking critically with appreciation of variability and complexity will carry you through ToK, the IB and beyond!

Welcome to my ToK Class!

=**What words/phrases will I be hearing quite often in a TOK class?** =

1. AOK or Areas of Knowledge 2.WOK or Ways of Knowing 3.Knowledge Issues 4.Knowledge Claims 5. Critical thinking 6.Truth 7. Reality 8.Intution 9.Justification 10.Belief =<span style="color: #ff0006; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 160%;">Objectives of studying TOK.. =

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Having followed the TOK course, students should be able to:

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">1. analyse critically knowledge claims, their underlying assumptions and their implications

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">2. generate questions, explanations, conjectures, hypotheses, alternative ideas and possible solutions

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">in response to knowledge issues concerning areas of knowledge, ways of knowing and students’

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">own experience as learners

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">3. demonstrate an understanding of different perspectives on knowledge issues

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">4. draw links and make effective comparisons between different approaches to knowledge issues that derive from areas of knowledge, ways of knowing, theoretical positions and cultural values

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">5. demonstrate an ability to give a personal, self-aware response to a knowledge issue

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">6. formulate and communicate ideas clearly with due regard for accuracy and academic honesty

=<span style="color: #ff0006; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 160%;">TOK and Internationalism.. =

In many ways TOK is ideally placed to foster internationalism, in close harmony with the aims of the

IB learner profile.

The TOK aims embody many of the attributes needed by a citizen of the world:


 * 1)  self-awareness;
 * 2)  a reflective, critical approach;
 * 3)  interest in other people’s points of view;
 * 4)  and a sense of responsibility.

Global controversies often rest on significant knowledge issues that can provide useful starting points

for TOK explorations, depending on students’ interests and awareness.

TOK activity, in turn, can contribute significantly to the understanding of these large questions.

=<span style="color: #ff0006; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 160%;">What is a TOK essay? What is a TOK presentation? = = = = = = = = = =<span style="color: #ff0006; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 160%;">The Diploma Matrix... = = =

=<span style="color: #ff0006; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 160%;">A visual beginning.. =


 * Let us begin the walk together by having a look at the wonderful video which is a TED Talk by Beau Lotto on optical Illusions. What do you actually see....Is our Brain trained to see what it is seeing? **

media type="custom" key="20681262"


 * To end with an activity: Discuss in the same groups and reflect on what you just saw. Would this presentation change the way you see the world around you?**