THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE

Lina GHAMRA, DP Coordinator ENS MBZ Campus Abu Dhabi UAE Sep. 2013

Where does your knowledge come from?

- Family, Parents - Language (mother tongue) - Age - Culture - Social life - Music, Art, Sport - Experiences - ETC.

What is TOK?
The theory of knowledge course encourages students to think about the nature of knowledge, to reflect on the process of learning in all subjects they study as part of their DP course, and to make connections across them. Its a course about critical thinking and inquiring into the process of knowing, rather than learning a specific body of knowledge. It examines how we know what we claim to know. It does this by

encouraging students to analyze knowledge claims (based on reallife situations = RLS) and explore knowledge questions.

TOK in the IB DP
The TOK course is central to the educational philosophy of the international Baccalaureate Program. It challenges students to reflect critically on diverse ways of knowing and areas of knowledge and to consider the role knowledge plays in a global society. As a thoughtful and purposeful inquiry into different ways of knowing, and into different kinds of knowledge, the TOK program is composed almost entirely of questions. The most central of these questions is: How do I, or how do we, know that a given assertion is true, or a given judgment is wellgrounded?

How do we know?
How have we come to know all that we do at this point in our lives? Regardless of where on the planet we live, we gain knowledge in similar ways.

What are the ways of knowing?

There are many ways of knowing, but the TOK identifies eight: - Sense perception

- Reason
- Imagination - Emotion - Faith - Intuition - Language - Memory. Students will explore all these ways of knowing, but could focus on four in depth to complete the course.

TASK 1: FOUR WAYS OF KNOWING

Guess how do you know its raining!

By language? By perception? By emotion? By reason?

By language
Your father says: Its starting to rain. Would you please bring in the bicycles and the garden chairs? Language is involved from the most of the knowledge you have gained from others or from books or from the cultural knowledge.

By perception
You hear a rumble and as you step outdoors to bring your bicycle under shelter you see a bright flash against the dark sky. Suddenly you feel wet splashes against your skin. In that case, you recognize sensations. Often we know through sense perception; by referring to information gained by using our five senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste.

By emotion
The lightning and thunder perceived through our senses, may provoke fear and an instant search for shelter. We can understand that something is wrong with a friend even though he hasnt said a word. Emotion can be a way of knowing that is private and deeply personal.

By reasoning
- When the rain starts, why do you go outdoors to bring in the furniture and bicycles? From past experiences, you have generalized that objects left out in the rain get wet.
Reasoning comes so naturally to us that we may rarely stop to think about how we arrive at our conclusions.

Task 2: Identifying the ways of knowing.

Lina is a diploma student. Here is the list of things which she claims she knows. Try to identify the ways of knowing associated. 1. She knows that if a stone is put in a jar filled with water, quantity of water equal to the weight of the stone will overflow. 2. She knows that two parallel lines never meet. 3. She knows that the oldest civilization is Mesopotamian. 4. She knows that India gained independence in the year 1947. 5. She knows how to speak French. 6. She knows one banana and two bananas make three bananas. 7. She knows her sister is her sibling.

WHERE DO I COME IN AS A TEACHER?

Knowledge has many branches called areas of knowing. TOK distinguishes eight areas of knowledge: mathematics, the natural sciences, the human sciences, the arts, history, ethics, religious knowledge systems and indigenous knowledge systems. Students must explore a range of areas of knowledge and its suggested that studying six is appropriate.

THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE explains how we know and what we know.

NOTE: This diagram is an extract from the old subject guide. 4 ways of knowing were added to the TOK new curriculum: imagination, memory, intuition and faith. 2 areas of knowledge were added to the TOK new curriculum: religious knowledge systems and indigenous knowledge systems.

NEW TOK DIAGRAM

TOK presentation structure outline
Other real-life situation

Real-life situation
Other real-life situation

Knowledge question (recognized)

extraction
progression Knowledge question(s) (developed)

AOKs
Mathematics
Nature of mathematics, mathematics and the world, mathematics and knowledge claims, mathematics and the knower

Nature of the sciences, methods of gaining knowledge, knowledge claims, science and values, science and technology , metaphor and reality

Natural sciences

Nature of human sciences, methods of gaining knowledge, knowledge claims, human sciences and values

Human sciences

Nature of History, methods of gaining knowledge, history and knowledge claims, history and values

History

Nature of the arts, methods, arts and knowledge claims, arts and values, arts and knowledge perspectives, personal and shared knowledge

The Arts

Nature of ethics, ethics: methods of gaining knowledge and knowledge claims, ethics and knowledge perspectives, ethics and politics, ethics and areas of knowledge

Ethics

Religious knowledge systems

Indigenous knowledge systems

STOSKOPFF, Sebastien , Summer of the five senses, 1633. Oil on Canvas, Strasbourg Museum (France)

WOK focus: Sense perception

Our senses include hearing, taste, touch,smell and sight. We have receptors to respond to our hunger, pain... But many times, we do not realize all the sounds around us. For example, close your eyes for a minute and listen to the sounds around you. Which sounds had you not been aware of, prior to this exercise?

The Big Question To what extent do our senses give us truth?

Lets focus on the sight!

Look at the dot and move forward and back!

Are these still?

Is this shape shrinking?

Is it moving?

Look at the dot for 30 seconds, then look at the blue background.

Do our eyes tell us the truth or a version of the truth?

Its our brain that sees...

We know enough to see the problem and we know certain theories but we cannot explain everything!

The reflective process is the key to TOK

Key words related to the ways of knowing

MEMORY - PRACTICE - FAITH - INSTINCT - BELIEF CONSCIENCE - DESCRIPTION ACQUAINTANCE INTUITION CERTAINTY CULTURE EVIDENCE EXPLANATION TRUTH VALUE INTERPRETATION ILLUSION

SUMMARY
The Subject of TOK is the nature of knowledge and experience, and its impact on the life of the individual, groups and society. The Content of TOK is a series of questions about areas of knowledge, ways of knowing

The Process of TOK is deep reflection or critical thinking about knowledge questions, public discussions, group dialogue, and articulating views in written text.
The Goal of TOK is to understand what it means to know or believe something, and what responsible action flows from such knowledge.

Task 3:
Identify something you have been told, which you believed at the time but which you now recognise is false. How did you find out the truth? Think of some things about which you are absolutely certain. Is anyone else certain about them, too? What is the difference between I am certain that.. and It is certain that?

Task 4: Make a list of 5 things you would like to know!

Begin with the most important and state the value of each!

Compare in groups and try to agree on an equivalent list for the human race.
- What should human race strive to know? - Are there any forms of knowledge for which the human race should not strive?

Task 5: Imagine you are an IB DP student. How does Theory of Knowledge relate to your education and what you already know?
Write a paragraph of about 220 words on the standard school subjects (Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Languages) and comment on what sorts of truths these subjects convey. Place the subjects on scales of either reliability or importance. Talk TOK!

Connecting to TOK in DP Unit Planning:

Purpose of our TOK for subject teachers workshop (Sep. 13th & 14th)
Real life / Contemporary Situations: Draw links between Connect to Compare and contrast with Develop discussion around Inquire into Consider different sides of the issue/ differing uses of argument and evidence/ viewpoints

Subject Matter/ Content of the Unit Methodology of the Subject eg,

o scientific method o creative process o research & evidence o social inquiry

Life experiences (yours, historical figure, author) Local, national, or regional discussion and current affairs of interest to you, a student, the class, and related to the Unit Global or international problems, dilemmas, crises that matter Aspects of particular interest within areas of knowledge you are studying / keeping current with / pursuing interest in Related News or news coverage of events: political, scientific, technological, geographic, religious, literary, artistic. TOK Questions (Knowledge Issues)

Lets incorporate TOK into our lessons!

Think about a TOK question in your subject area that you would like to incorporate in your DP unit in the future once ENS is authorized to implement the DP! Place it in the TOK folder that youll create. Teach the lesson sometime during the course. Its advisable to align it with when students will be focused on your area in TOK class. Include a short note based on the result of your experience teaching the lesson. Think about the assessments used for TOK: presentations and essays.

QUESTIONS?

Thank you!

Merci!