:(

It’s going to be a sad, sad day on Graduation Day. :’( I am going to miss everyone I’ve met in IB and everyone I have made friends with.

What the hell is TOK?

I thought I might post something that might actually be useful for some people.

I remember when I first heard the word “Theory of Knowledge” as a Pre-IB1 student.

TOK stands for “Theory of Knowledge” and is an IB course consisting of epistemological discourse which centres on the nature of inquiry in different branches of knowledge. At least, that is the fancy way to describe it. Strip that definition of its hifalutin language, replace it with (what I hope to be terms that are easier to understand) and you will be met with the following breakdown:

The Nature of Inquiry in “Theory of Knowledge”

• Why people become professionals of a branch of knowledge like Natural Science, Social Science, etc.
• What people study (e.g. Quantum Mechanics)
• How things are studied (e.g. the scientific method, historical method, etc.)
• How “progress” is made (e.g. vitalism in biology to evolution)
• What assumptions are made in different fields, which are subdivisions of branches of knowledge, and how these assumptions relate to the branch of knowledge as a whole
• How the above relate to the acquisition of knowledge (which itself is studied)

Assignments in Theory of Knowledge

My assignments consist mainly of reading assigned texts and writing notes from these texts. This is intended to expose us to the course material and to act as padding for our grades as well.

Then there are the multiple TOK papers we are expected to write as a form of practise for the May exams. If you think history and literature papers are vague, wait till you get to TOK papers. There are really no guidelines set as to how to write a TOK paper, which is actually quite an opportunity for some of us to show off our writing skills, but it can also be problematic because we really have no idea what to expect. Where areas in the literature or history course you are first exposed to models of essay-writing that have a more or less clear-cut structure (Topic Sentence, Evidence, Analysis in each paragraph), in TOK that is not necessarily the case. In fact, I’m still not completely sure how I am supposed to approach a TOK paper.

Theory of Knowledge Tests

In TOK, at least in the manner in which it is taught at IB Student’s School, there are no multiple choice questions on our tests. We normally have two parts to our tests: 1) Tests you on how much you’ve memorised information from texts, 2) Explanations of what the authors of the texts mean by *insert quote from TOK author here*. Now, this may not seem very difficult at first glance, but when you are exposed to a multitude of information, it is difficult to remember everything they ask you on a TOK test.

Some time from now, I am sure we will be expected to crank out an entire TOK-style essay within a pre-determined time limit.

Frustrations in General

Gah.

Please. I want OUT of this monstrosity they call IB as soon as possible. Perhaps I am simply embittered by the years of rigidity I have endured under the IB, rigidity which is contradictory to my own free disposition. Or perhaps I really am just going crazy. If you disagree with my opinions, note that this blog was created for the very purpose of ranting about IB.

Reasons why I am frustrated

Creativity is nonexistent in IB. Instructors claim to foster creativity, but there is no creativity involved in what is essentially regurgitation. I’ve re-read some of my past essays, and those that received good marks tended to correspond with my class notes as to what the IB Teacher has lectured us on. It’s as if we’re graded on how well we word our teacher’s arguments, not on the extent to which we have produced original thought (whatever that’s supposed to mean, anyways).

In the rare event that we are given space to be “creative”, the guidelines set are so vague as to render us unsuccessful in the production of whatever project we are expected to be “creative” on. The teachers, met with mediocre and largely unsuccessful student productions, then go on to scold us on our failures and proceed in their attempts to indoctrinate us further with unwritten rules.

Indoctrination.Students are strictly limited to using linear outlines to prepare for essay exams and such in their first few years of pre-IB, only to be told in their final IB year that they should be using other ways to prepare for essay exams and for writing papers. Why does this not happen sooner? If the IB claims to be accepting of diverse learning styles, then why is it so difficult to allow us some free rein in the organisation of papers and the preparation for essay exams? Not all of us are comfortable with the traditional outline in preparing for IB exams. For some a graphic organiser may be sufficient

Then of course there is the hypocrisy I have had the misfortune of encountering in IB. (Or maybe “favouritism” is the more appropriate terminology here). We are encouraged to question assertions in the texts we read, in the subjects we learn, in what we learn in general, yet only to the Favourites (those students who seem ever so perfect) is this opportunity to question reserved. I am not of course referring to comments made in class which can come across as disrespectful/disdainful towards the teacher and their subject (example: “What’s the point of this class? You’re stupid..This class is stupid…”; although certainly that has come up in TOK), but to the comments made by some students that question accepted assumptions in the given subject. Why should “lesser” students be shut out? I thought there were no “stupid questions”…

Parting Notes

There is a chance that I will re-read this tomorrow and refute everything I have written, but for now, I will keep the raw anger/frustration/depression I feel as to my misadventures in IB on this blog.

Frustrations with IB Literature

My inability to write well-structured, well-worded essays is frustrating me to no end. I see the meaning of a literary text, I see how the elements all culminate in their functions to convey the meaning, but that momentary clarity slips away along with my sanity once I actually begin writing the commentary. I chase air, it seems, but air is an elusive thing; it always escapes and at the end nothing is left in my hands but emptiness.

There are words on the paper, but they hold no value. There seems to be a semblance of paragraphs, but it is a feeble structure ready to collapse at any given moment because the foundation never really was so galvanised. Unwavering Literature Teacher reads it, and she disapproves. And I, too, disapprove of my failure.

-An extremely frustrated IB Student

Extended Essay…

WOO. Officially turned in Final Draft. Though that was actually a few weeks ago, I felt I ought to celebrate.