TOK (112 total posts)

The Patterning Instinct

January 25, 2019
Now and again a book comes out which seems to put its finger on a central issue regarding the nature of human knowledge and its consequences. Such a book, for me, is The Patterning Instinct by Jeremy Lent (May 2017, Prometheus Books). The book’s subtitle, a cultural...

Of Learned Ignorance

December 24, 2018
One of the most common responses I have encountered from teachers new to TOK is sheer panic.  The main reason for this seems to be twofold.  One, because TOK applies to every Area of Knowledge (AOK), teachers become anxious about dealing with spheres of knowledge...

The Causation Conundrum – Knowing Why.

November 26, 2018
The Greek philosopher Aristotle stated that one cannot claim to have proper knowledge of anything until one has grasped the cause of it. Whether something exists, happens or changes it is assumed that it is as the result of some cause external or internal to it. The...

Being Knowledgeable

November 9, 2018
One of the ten attributes of the ideal learner in the IB Learner Profile is to be knowledgeable. Maybe of all of them this is the one which seems most clearly to connect to TOK, although many would argue that all attributes have a special connection with TOK or even...

The Right to Know?

September 24, 2018
It is often said that knowledge is power and there is no doubt that in many cases those in possession of a particular piece of knowledge will have the advantage, for good or ill, over those who do not. Governments and rulers of all ilk and political leanings, as well...

Indigenous Knowledge for Sale

March 12, 2018
One of the most common ways in which the value of something is assessed is how much someone is prepared to pay for it. This is sometimes described as the Price-Value Bias, the more we pay for something the more we assume it’s actual value or worth. Indigenous peoples...