Intro.

to TOK:
Crash Course for Teachers
 Objectives

● To discuss TOK as an epistemology for encouraging

students to think critically, reflect about self, and
promote tolerance
● To promote TOK-style reflective questions to find
cross-curricular links
 What is TOK?

● Required course for IBDP

● Supports IB Learner Profile & Wells ESLRs
● Asks students to reflect on the nature of knowledge
○ How do we know what we know?
● Thoughtful & purposeful inquiry into different ways of
knowing & kinds of knowledge
● Composed almost entirely of questions
● Opportunities for critical thinking skill development
CRITICAL THINKING
SHARED VS. PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE
AOKs
WOKs
 Real Life Situations (RLS)

● Play a fundamental role in exploring TOK and illustrating ideas

● Event in one’s life or a global event,
○ ie. an interesting reflection on something you have learned in 1 of
your classes, or an interesting news story
 Knowledge Questions

● Refers to acquisition, production, shaping,

classification, status, acceptance or rejection of
knowledge
● Ranges from extremely general to specific
○ Can a fact exist without context?
○ What should the role of emotion
be in the justification of ethical
decisions in scientific research?
Developing a Knowledge Question

● To what extent are religious

freedoms limited by the concern
for safety?

● How does the media influence our

personal knowledge and
perceptions of religious knowledge
systems?
BROADENING OUR PERSPECTIVES
 Claims/Counterclaims

● What knowledge claims are you making about

this event?
○ Ie. What do you claim to know about it as
the truth?
● Counter-claim: How could someone disagree
with your claim or try to disprove it? What
alternate ways could someone consider your
claim?
○ These alternate views are different
perspectives. They do not try to disprove
your claim.
 ASSESSMENT

● TOK Essay
○ Students choose 1 out of 6 prescribed titles (Knowledge
Questions); 1600 words

● TOK Presentation
○ Students choose their own topic and knowledge question;
Min. 10 mins.
 TOK

How can we help our

students see the
interconnectedness of
ALL subjects?
 LINKS ACROSS THE CURRICULUM

Regardless of the
subjects taught at Wells,
Areas of Knowledge can
be linked by questions that
stimulate critical thinking
about how learners view
the “knowledge” they have
acquired from specific
classes.
 TOK ACTIVITY STATIONS

1. Forming Knowledge Questions (KQs)

2. Student Presentation Exemplar
3. Decoding the 2017 Questions
BRAINSTORM

Come up with 2 knowledge

questions for your AOK. Write it
on a post-it and stick it on the
mind map or bulletin board.
 SUMMARY

● TOK is an epistemology that promotes

understanding of the influences of knowledge
(WOKs), which allows students to use critical
thinking to apply their knowledge to various
scholastic areas (AOKs).
● Understanding knowledge issues encourages
students to think about themselves as learners
or “knowers”.
● In using knowledge-based inquiry, all subjects
can be linked back to the theme of “students
as knowers”.
 Post-It Feedback

● What did you learn?

● What worked for you? What didn't work for you?
● What questions do you have?
● Is there anything else you want us to know about your
experience today?
TAKE-HOME SLIDES!
 TOK

How can I….

● Get involved in TOK?
● Help reinforce concepts?
● Make interdisciplinary
connections?
 TOK

1. Become familiar with the TOK course

○ Sit in a TOK class
○ Chat with a TOK teacher
○ Have a philosophical discussion with any
of the IBDP students

You might find that you are already using TOK

thinking and language in your course!
 TOK

2. Use TOK Lingo in your classroom!

● Knowledge question
● Real-life situation
● Shared vs. personal knowledge
● Ways of knowing
 TOK Knowledge Questions

● Math: Is math invented or discovered?

● Natural Sciences: How can it be that scientific knowledge changes
over time?
● Human Sciences: To what extent are the methods of the human
sciences “scientific”?
● History: Is it possible for historical writing to be free from perspective?
● The Arts: Is the aesthetic value of an artwork purely a subjective
matter?
● Ethics: Why be moral?
● Religious knowledge systems: Is faith irrational?
 TOK

3. Look
for TOK
lesson
plans in
your
subject
area
 TOK

4. Collaboration opportunities:
○ Guest TOK teacher in your subject class, OR
○ Vice versa: Subject experts coming to teach a
TOK class
 TOK

5. Interdisciplinary TOK field trip

KNOWLEDGE
QUESTIONS
 Perception

● Do the senses deceive?

● Does our faith in our five senses create
misunderstandings and provide incorrect
information?
● How reliable are our senses?
● How does this problem influence how students
learn about the Areas of Knowledge?
 Emotion

● Can emotion help us or be an obstacle in attaining knowledge?

● How does emotion influence what we learn in the Areas of Knowledge?
 Reason

● How do we use logic to arrive at our conclusions?

● How important is critical thinking in today’s world?
LANGUAGE

● We use language to express

ourselves, understand the world, and
allow others to understand us.
● If people speak more than one
language, is what they know different
in each language? Does each
language provide a different
framework for reality?
● What are the limitations of language
and vocabulary?
 MATH

● What role do statistics play in history?

● How important is beauty in
mathematics?
● How useful are mathematical models
in human sciences?
● What are some links between math,
physics, and economics?
NATURAL SCIENCES

● How do human sciences

differ from natural sciences?
● Should scientists know
about the history of their
subjects?
● What role does imagination
play in the sciences?
HUMAN SCIENCES

● What is the relationship and

differences between natural sciences
and human sciences?
● To what extent can we quantitatively
measure human phenomena?
● How does history differ from other
social sciences?
● Do we learn more about human nature
from psychology or literature?
 TOK Resources

● Here are some ways we can collaborate as teachers:

○ Building Collaboration in TOK
● Here are some ideas for linking TOK in your own
subject discipline (TOK links found in all subject
guides): TOK in groups 1 - 6
● TOK Knowledge Questions (in various disciplines)
● TOK Interdisciplinary Collaboration Ideas