Theory of Knowledge is an interesting subject to study within the IB. It is not like any other subject that is driven by a very rigid set of syllabus items and defined content. Rather, the emphasis is on getting you to think critically about the way we learn in the world and getting philosophical about what you are learning in your IB Diploma journey. This unique syllabus design often stumps a lot of students, who can't really "study" for TOK and don't understand what they are supposed to take away from each lesson. Often times, students don't really know what TOK is about, and what they are expected to even grasp in the TOK course, so writing their exhibition and essay becomes infinitely difficult without knowing the standard expected of them. Today, we will discuss how to systematically approach TOK and what you should be learning from each lesson, no matter how your teacher teaches the subject.
The Structure of TOK
While you might think that TOK is a whole lot of nothing, there is actually a very structured syllabus designed by the IB. We can broadly categorise this into three parts, and make links to the assessment items.
There is a common core to TOK that everyone should know throughout their whole two year TOK journey. I advise you familiarise yourself with these early on to make your TOK journey more enriching.
First, the 12 Key Concepts. These concepts could be thought of as points of entry towards dissecting knowledge questions - i.e. the questions we may ask about why or how knowledge is/came to be. Using these concepts will enable you to explore the rest of the content in TOK from a variety of perspectives, and draw links between various topics and examples. For example, the concept of power allows us to consider the influence of language towards the accessibility of knowledge. With English being the de facto world language, being able to understand English may in itself imbue power towards an individual who can now access the vast majority of the world's knowledge, while someone who doesn't, may only be able to access those that are translated.
Second, the knowledge framework. This is the structure which IB provides for you to understand the whole process of how knowledge is created, shared and acquired. In the various sections of the knowledge framework, you are able to pose questions about a specific part of the process in how knowledge came to be, or how knowledge is shared, and how knowledge is gained. The IB provides various questions to help prompt you in thinking about different parts of the framework. In the syllabus.
These core areas are all potential entry points for you to think about the main content you will be learning in TOK and forms your toolkit in writing about TOK. It is not dissimilar to the way you need to have good arithmetic skills to study Mathematics.
The first major topic you are introduced to are the themes within TOK. This should be learned in your first year of study, and will contribute directly to your first assessment - the exhibition. Everyone studies "Knowledge and the Knower" and your teacher can pick two additional themes such as "Knowledge and Technology" or "Knowledge and Language". These themes are designed to get you thinking about knowledge in particular broad domains, roughly relevant to the different tools and sectors that influence how we know and what we know. Most of these themes are very self-explanatory, but oddly, students have the most difficulty with the core theme.
Knowledge and the Knower is the theme which connects all of your study in TOK. It concerns how we (both individually, and as a collective community of knowers) produce, acquire, and disseminate knowledge. In this theme, you should primarily focus on how the community in which you belong influences the knowledge you have, and will want to get. Linking to our key concepts, you may wish to consider it from the point of view of culture. A most obvious example is how different communities are formed by language. If you are a Kiwi, you would most likely learn about the Maori language, whereas you may learn Japanese if you live in Japan. However, this also extends to other sorts of communities such as the scientific community, academic community, or indigenous community. In each different community, you may be exposed to different practices, different values, or different perspectives of the same general field of knowledge. This whole theme gets you to think about what communities you belong to, and how it shapes the way you gain and use knowledge for better or for worse. You can be part of many communities, and you may encounter conflicts between the way they approach knowledge in each community. A stereotypical "bad" example of a community is conspiracy theorists. They belong in a community which all have similar perspectives on things like the flatness of the earth, or the denial of climate change or that some people are lizards. However, contrast that with how the academic community approaches new discoveries in quantum physics, for example, and you can appreciate the difference in thinking. Seeing these differences, and similarities and appreciating their effect in the way we learn and share knowledge is the crux of the topic.
The second "topic" is your Areas of Knowledge (AOKs). You should start learning this after you have understood at least the core theme, and later on in your first year, or beginning your second year of DP study. These AOKs will directly contribute to your TOK Essay. The AOKs hone in more closely on the specific mechanisms behind knowledge of each subject area roughly correlating with the 6 groups of subjects you study within the IB Diploma.
In each Area of Knowledge, you can see some similarities in the way they handle each aspect of knowledge (how it is produced, shared, or acquired) using the knowledge framework and the key concepts. Some areas may be quite similar, for example between the Human and Natural Sciences, but some may be very different like Arts. The important takeaway from the study of AOKs is to understand what makes each AOK "tick". What motivates their existence, and how does that influence the "method" in which knowledge happens to be in each area of knowledge. If you want to learn more about Areas of Knowledge, check out this article.
What You Should Know
The good (but also difficult) thing about TOK is that there is nothing for you to rote learn. Everything you learn in TOK is merely different ways to think about the same general question - How we know what we know?
With the themes you learn about this from the perspective of individual and communities of knowers, or from other sectors like language or politics or religion or technology. In AOKs, you learn to analyse this question from the various fields of knowledge you may encounter. Don't lose sight of the bigger picture, which is trying to answer this overarching question.
The most useful thing you can do is to relate personal examples to the themes or the AOKs you are learning. This is essentially what both assessment items are about. The exhibition lets you relate objects in your life to the themes and understand how TOK surrounds you in an everyday setting. The essay is slightly more academic and lets you relate your study and wider exposure to various types of knowledge and facts to the fields they belong to. The IB places much importance on the ability to apply your own experience and awareness of what you are learning into the two big topics they want you to think about.
In fact, there is no need to sound overly philosophical or verbose with your TOK writing. A truly successful TOK student is able to articulate how the content in TOK relates to their everyday life. Having this at the back of your mind whenever you read anything on the internet, or study a new theory in Chemistry will benefit your TOK journey and make it much less tedious. This is how you come up with examples and tackle your TOK assessments effortlessly.
Comments