by guest blogger Clare Krojzl (left). Within the IB curriculum, Theory of Knowledge occupies pride of place at the centre of the Diploma hexagram, as the special arena in which we discuss the sources, nature and purposes of knowledge itself. In real life, however, in some schools where it is taught, the picture is a rather different one.
Some Problems in Teaching TOK
Reading the Australian Literary Review the other day I came across a lovely introduction to a review of the work by French philosopher, Bruno Latour. I’ll probably say a little more about this arguments later. For now, I enjoyed Stephen Muecke’s introduction. He asks us to think about the following scenario:
“Imagine a New Guinea highlander being taken on a tour of a physics lab in Sydney. His hosts are careful to avoid indulging in condescension towards this man who has never seen such a facility before. Imagine the visitor saying, after gazing at some machine, “They tell me that in your culture you have things called atoms right?” The scientists laugh heartily, quite unselfconsciously. “Atoms are everywhere,” they assure him, “in every object, every living thing, in the whole world.” They explain a bit more using one of those artefacts with large coloured spheres stuck together.”
What do you expect the response to be? One of disbelief or awe, and then enlightenment after further discussion. Or denial that this is reality?
As my students continue to progress in the development of their presentations I tested out the clarification provided by the Chief Examiner in the 2008 Subject Guide – the visualization of the relationship between Real Life Situations and Knowledge Issues.
I drew up my own blank version and asked each group to fill it in to ‘see’ what they are thinking – I managed to get in some great feedback through this process as it enabled me to help evaluate their thinking and define the process further for them.
It has been suggested by the opposition Conservative party in the UK, that if they are voted into power in the upcoming elections, pupils will learn poetry by heart and be taught to recite the kings and queens of England. Michael Gove, who would become the Children’s secretary said, “I’m an unashamed traditionalist when it comes to the curriculum. Most parents would rather their children had a traditional education, with children sitting in rows, learning the kings and queens of England, the great works of literature, proper mental arithmetic, algebra by the age of 11, and modern foreign languages. That’s the best training of the mind and that’s how children will be able to compete.”
The TOK course, a flagship element in the Diploma Programme, encourages critical thinking about knowledge itself, to try to help young people make sense of what they encounter. Its core content includes questions like: What counts as knowledge? How does it grow? What are its limits? Who owns knowledge? What is the value of knowledge? What are the implications of having, or not having, knowledge?
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