IB Theory of
Knowledge (ToK)
What does this course look like?
How can it benefit all students?
The IB Diploma Student
The IB Learner Profile
The IB learner profile is the IB mission
into a set of learning outcomes for the
21st century. (Source)
As IB learners we strive to be:
• Inquirers
• Open-Minded
• Knowledgeable
• Caring
• Thinkers
• Risk Takers
• Communicators
• Balanced
• Principled
• Reflective
FOCUS
The Profile of
an IB Learner
NOT
GENIUS
What does an IB student look like when
leaving high school?
Universitybound
Highly
motivated
Problemsolver
All-around
student
Committed
to learning
Reflective
learner
Seeks
educational
challenges
Centennial High School’s IB
Theory of Knowledge Course
IB Theory of Knowledge
Course
2-year course by
semester (one
semester each
year)
11th & 12th grade
Calls for students
to reflect on the
nature of
knowledge
Discussion and
project-based
course
Students play a
role in
determining
curriculum
Paper and
Presentation at
end of 2nd year
Topics in IB Theory of Knowledge (Example)
Year 1 (11th grade)
Topic breakdown
Big Questions
Each big question is navigable via several different Ways of Knowing and Areas of Knowing, but we pick
one of these to act as our principal WOK and/or AOK. This means that students build up a deep
understanding of this, whilst considering it alongside other aspects of the course.
Big Question 1
Our first big question in TOK explores the way we gather ‘immediate’ knowledge of the world, via sense
perception and memory. We’ll look at the work of Beau Lotto, and how his visual illusions reveal the way
we look at the world, the ideas of Donald Hoffman, and why he says the senses work like a computer
operating system, and the insights that Elizabeth Loftus has given us about memory, which she says shares
a lot in common with a Wikipedia page.
Can we trust our immediate knowledge of the world?
Big Question #2
What is knowledge for, and how can we assess its
value?
Big Question #3
How do ways of knowing and areas of knowledge
interlink?
Big Question #4
How does shared and personal knowledge shape our
understanding of the world?
Our second big question in TOK considers what we ‘do’ with knowledge, focusing on the natural sciences
and indigenous knowledge systems. We’ll look at the ideas of Neil deGrasse Tyson, and how he thinks
science is vital to the functioning of society, and what Wade Davies tell us about way indigenous societies
have a completely different approach to knowledge, in terms of how it is acquired, and the value given to it.
Our third big question in TOK considers the way different forms and methods of knowledge overlap and
influence each other. We’ll look at the ideas of Antonio Damasio and what he says about how reason
depends on emotion, and we’ll also think about whether we can apply ideas from the arts in order to
understand ethics, drawing on the thoughts of Kathryn Bigelow, Barbara Kingsolver, and Christopher Nolan.
Our fourth big question in TOK explores how we learn about the world via both shared and personal
knowledge sources, and what the relationship is between these two forms of knowledge. We will consider
the ideas of Noam Chomsky on the way we acquire language, and assess the ideas of Paul Bloom on the
way empathy should not be the basis of our ethical decision-making.
Year 2 (12th grade)
Big Question #5
How is our understanding of the
world affected by the way it is
presented?
Big Question #6
Is our understanding of the world
determined by our perspective?
Big Question #7
How and why does knowledge
develop over time?
Big Question #8
What makes someone an expert
knower?
Topic breakdown
Our fifth big question in TOK explores how our understanding of the world is shaped by the way
information about it is presented, concentrating on human sciences and reason. We’ll look at the
contrasting approaches of Katherine Maher, of Wikipedia, and Mark Zuckerberg, of Facebook, in
providing us with a lens through which to view the world.
Our sixth big question explores whether everything we see is determined by our personal and societal
perspectives, putting this into the context of history and memory. We’ll weigh up what Steven Pinker
and John Gray have to say on whether we are currently living in the most peaceful age of humanity’s
existence, and consider what Daniel Kahneman says about the difference between our experiencing
and remembering self.
Our penultimate question in TOK explores how knowledge changes over time, and the reasons for that,
focusing on the natural sciences and language. We’ll consider the ideas of Thomas Kuhn on how
scientific knowledge moves forward via paradigm shifts, and whether John McWhorter or Susan
Greenfield is right in terms of the way technology is affecting the way we communicate.
Our last question in TOK considers what it takes to become an authority on something, focusing on the
arts and ethics. We’ll look at the ideas of Jonathan Jones on what is, and what isn’t great art, and think
about Sam Harris’s assertion, on whether ethics - just like any other area of knowledge - can be the
preserve of expert knowers.
Centennial’s IB DP Contact Info:
• Mrs. Lee/IB Coordinator: LeeTB@fultonschools.org
• Mr. Wroblewski/ToK Teacher: wroblewskiz@fultonschools.org
• CHS IB Website: https://www.fultonschools.org/domain/1412
Contact Mrs. Lee
if interested in
becoming an IB
TOK student!
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