The ToK Course

Theory of Knowledge is an interdisciplinary course, which asks us to develop critical thinking about knowledge processes and knowledge products.  On this site you will see thoughts and questions about how knowledge is acquired, produced, classified, shaped, valued, and evaluated. Using the metaphor of ‘mental maps,’ ToK asks us to view knowledge through different perspectives so that we might ask questions about how we come to claim that ‘we know.’ What is your theory of knowledge?

As a centrepiece of the IB Diploma Programme, TOK is an integral and valuable learning experience for all Diploma Programme students. The aims of the TOK course are for students to:

  • make connections between a critical approach to the construction of knowledge, the academic disciplines and the wider world
  • develop an awareness of how individuals and communities construct knowledge and how this is critically examined
  • develop an interest in the diversity and richness of cultural perspectives and an awareness of personal and ideological assumptions
  • critically reflect on their own beliefs and assumptions, leading to more thoughtful, responsible and purposeful lives
  • understand that knowledge brings responsibility which leads to commitment and action.

Further to these, it is expected that by the end of the TOK course, students will be able to:

  • identify and analyse the various kinds of justifications used to support knowledge claims
  • formulate, evaluate and attempt to answer knowledge questions
  • examine how academic disciplines/areas of knowledge generate and shape knowledge
  • understand the roles played by ways of knowing in the construction of shared and personal knowledge
  • explore links between knowledge claims, knowledge questions, ways of knowing and areas of knowledge
  • demonstrate an awareness and understanding of different perspectives and be able to relate these to one’s own perspective
  • explore real-life/contemporary issues from a TOK perspective.

5 thoughts on “The ToK Course

  1. So, this is my big Aha! I’ve been talking about ‘theories of knowledge’ as a general label to discuss theories in history, science, literature, art, ethics, math, and human sciences. It seems like it was the label I needed to connect the course title to the content we are learning. And it makes sense to call, for example, Marxist Literary Criticism a theory of knowledge, or to call the cyclical view of history as a theory of knowledge. They are! I can’t believe it has taken me so long to connect the dots in a way that can really help my students to think about the links. The idea just descended on me like a hot meteorite. I was unexpected. Thank you epiphany.

  2. Is it possible to think without knowing?

    How do we deal with “supernatural” events (metaphysical claims) that cannot be explained through “logical” reasoning? (I’m not sure I’m phrasing it the way I’m trying to ask.)

    How reliable is reasoning as a way of knowing?

Leave a Reply