The TOK course provides students with an opportunity to explore and reflect on the nature of knowledge and the process of knowing. It is a core element of the DP to which schools are required to devote at least 100 hours of class time.
In TOK, students reflect on the knowledge, beliefs and opinions that they have built up from their years of academic studies and their lives outside the classroom. The course is intended to be challenging and thought-provoking—as well as empowering—for students.
The course centres on the exploration of knowledge questions, which are a key tool for both teachers and students. These are contestable questions about knowledge itself, such as: "What counts as good evidence for a claim?”, "Are some types of knowledge less open to interpretation than others?”, or "What constraints should there be on the pursuit of knowledge?”. While these questions may initially seem slightly intimidating, they become much more accessible when considered with reference to specific examples within the TOK course.
The TOK curriculum is made up of three deeply interconnected parts.
To help teachers and students explore these three parts of the TOK curriculum, guidance and suggested knowledge questions are provided. These suggested knowledge questions are organized into a framework of four elements: scope, perspectives, methods and tools, and ethics. This "knowledge framework" encourages a deep exploration of each theme and AOK. Having these common elements run throughout the different parts of the curriculum also helps to unify the course and helps students to make effective connections and comparisons across the different themes and areas of knowledge.
There are two assessment tasks in the TOK course.
The TOK course can be structured in a variety of ways and can start from a variety of different entry points. Teachers are encouraged to exercise flexibility, creativity and innovation in the design and delivery of their TOK course, and to provide a diverse range of examples that meet the specific needs and interests of their own students. Further guidance and examples relating to the teaching, learning and assessment of TOK can be found in the Theory of knowledge teacher support material.
One Page Summary of "TOK at a Glance" (pdf)
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 following 12 concepts have particular prominence within, and thread throughout, the TOK course: evidence, certainty, truth, interpretation, power, justification, explanation, objectivity, perspective, culture, values and responsibility. Exploration of the relationship between knowledge and these concepts can help students to deepen their understanding, as well as facilitating the transfer of their learning to new and different contexts.
The TOK course embraces the exploration of tensions, limitations and challenges relating to knowledge and knowing. However, it is also intended that TOK discussions will encourage students to appreciate and be inspired by the richness of human knowledge—and to consider the positive value of different kinds of knowledge. Consideration should be given to the benefits of this kind of reflection on knowledge and knowing; for example, in terms of its potential to help us think more subtly, to be more aware of our assumptions, or to overcome prejudice and promote intercultural understanding.
Knowledge is the raw material of the TOK course. Throughout the TOK course, there should be ongoing conversations about the nature, scope and limits of knowledge. However, a detailed technical philosophical investigation into the nature of knowledge is not appropriate in a TOK course. For example, there is no expectation that TOK students will be familiar with specific philosophers or philosophical texts. However, it is useful for students to have a rough working idea of what is meant by "knowledge” at the outset of the course—this can then become more refined throughout the discussions.
There are various ways of thinking about knowledge, but one useful way to help students think about knowledge in TOK can be through the metaphor of knowledge as a map. Since a map is a simplified representation of the world, items that are not relevant to the purpose of the map are left out. For example, we would not expect to find detailed street names on a map of a city metro system. This metaphor can help students to see the importance of considering the context in which knowledge has been sought and constructed.
A metaphor such as this can support rich discussions about knowledge and accuracy, about how knowledge grows and changes, and about the difference between producing and using knowledge. It can also prompt interesting wider reflections on the cultural assumptions behind our understanding of what maps are or should be, or the way that the cartographer’s perspective is reflected in a map. Maps and knowledge are produced by, and in turn produce, a particular perspective.
The term "international-mindedness” is used by the IB to refer to a way of thinking, being and acting characterized by an openness to the world and a recognition of our deep interconnectedness to others.
The TOK course places a great deal of emphasis on elements that are central to the development of international- mindedness. For example, it encourages students to consider the diversity and richness of different perspectives, as well as exploring the interdependent influence of knowledge and culture.
The course encourages students to be curious about, and to think deeply and carefully about, complicated issues. It encourages students to avoid shallow and polarized thinking, and to avoid making quick judgments. It highlights that sometimes there really are no simple answers, and "that tensions between conflicting points of view have to be lived with, argued about and frequently left unresolved” (Walker 2004: 135).
Through their explorations in TOK, students are encouraged to discover and articulate their own views on knowledge. They are encouraged to share their ideas with others, and to listen to and learn from what others think. Through this process of dialogue and discussion, their own understanding is enriched and deepened as they become more engaged with different beliefs, values and experiences, as well as with alternative ways of answering questions.
TOK also challenges students to be intellectual risk-takers and to question what they hold to be true. In this way, it encourages intellectual humility and encourages students to gain and apply their knowledge with greater awareness and responsibility. Reflecting on how we may be wrong and how the world may seem to someone else helps students to become more aware of the assumptions and values that influence our thoughts and actions. In this way, the course helps students to reflect on their growing understanding of themselves and of the world around them.
The aims of the TOK course are:
Having completed the TOK course, students should be able to: