Exploring Perspectives and Knowledge, A Dive into Theory of Knowledge
By: Valentinus Jovan Harjanto (12 St. Fabian)
Can perspective play a role in how we understand knowledge? To what extent can we rely on our senses to find knowledge? How can we determine the validity and reliability of knowledge claims? That is what we intend to explore here in Theory of Knowledge, also known as, TOK.
TOK is a mandatory class in the IB curriculum that talks about how we know the things we know and the nature of the knowledge that we know. Do we really know what we know? If so, how do we know what we know? And are the things we know really what they seem to be on the surface?
Here in Stella Maris School Gading Serpong, in accordance to the IB curriculum, we are delighted to be able to participate in our Theory of Knowledge classes, which are currently being taught by Mr Jonassah and Mr Budi. We have five periods of TOK every week, each period lasting for 40 minutes, where we not only discuss topics that force us to think critically, but also learn how to properly answer our upcoming challenging assessments in Grade 12.
During class, we would usually be discussing topics or questions that really force everyone to think deeply and consider other perspectives. Listening to everyone voice their opinions during discussions provides a great insight on the question that you may or may not have even thought about. Having experienced this directly during class, it has helped me in my critical thinking skills as well as my ability to see something in different viewpoints.
One of the best features of a TOK class is that during discussions, there are really no right or wrong answers since the questions are open to perspectives. Your answer is accepted as long as you are able to justify why that answer fits with what the question is asking for. That is why it is recommended to keep an open mind and consider what others have to think on the targeted topic. This is one of the best parts of TOK, since, knowing there’s no wrong answers, it provides an incentive so that you can speak your mind freely without thinking about being insulted on or making a mistake.
One of the ideas that TOK wants their students to realize is that TOK can be found anywhere in our day-to-day lives. We can see TOK when we look at the news, we can see TOK when we study, This idea is further sharpened by TOK from an assessment called the “TOK exhibition”, where we have to choose any 3 objects that we have seen and answer a prompt based on the objects we chose
Participating in TOK classes has been a fun and eye-opening experience for me and the lessons that I obtained from these classes and assessments will definitely be useful for me in the future, as I write my reflections and my university thesis later on. Overall, I am glad IB and Stella Maris School Gading Serpong has TOK classes in their curriculum.
