course, you can't discuss every word you use, every time. Often,even TOK-related terms can be used in a consistent, commonlyaccepted way, when their exact meaning is not critical to thediscussions. However, you must be careful with the terms thatare central to your argument. We have already used quite a fewof them, such as belief, culture, experience, intuition, truth,values. They are often found in essay titles, and can be essentialto your development of the presentation. Beware of relying ondictionary definitions for their meaning. Dictionaries merelypoint towards the meaning, for those who are unfamiliarwiththe word. TOK-related terms, though, are contestable: theirmeaning is subject to much disagreement, and so is not obvious,A dictionary cannot capture them.

So, do not loosely use TOK-related terms that are central to youressay or presentation. Make clear what you take the term tomean, justify your decision and stick to it. Don't slide betweendifferent accounts of them (for example, from truth as "whatmatches the world", to truth as "what everyone believes"). Whenyou do consider other possible meanings of them, mark thisclearly by using phrases such as "on the other hand" or "analternative view is ... ".

Be prepared

• Be careful with key TOK terms. Define them carefully anduse them consistently. Don't just throw them in without anexplanation,

• Show your awareness of different views of what they mean.

• Beware of sliding between different, incompatible,meanings.

• In most cases, avoid dictionary definitions. If you have agood case for using one, do it with care.

Knowledge issuesFinally, we turn our attention to the phrase knowledge issues.Despite not appearing on the TOK diagram, it is a key term,which you need to understand in order to be able to do well inthe assessment tasks. It appears in three of the four assessmentcriteria for both the presentation and the essay. So, what doesTOK mean by "knowledge issues"?

Knowledge issues arise from knowledge claims. We all makeknowledge claims, every time we claim to know something.There are many different types: for example, they may bespecific or general, concrete or abstract, explicit or implicit.

To use some specific claims as examples, people may explicitlysay "Bangkok is in Thailand" or "I know how to cook cassava soit is not poisonous". Or they may just act on implicit (unspoken)

knowledge, by applying for a Thai visa when they book theBangkok flight, or by cooking the family a cassava meal.

To use more general examples, knowledge claims can be widelyaccepted, such as "A force of attraction exists between any twomaterial objects", or very contentious, such as "Modern art ismore meaningful than Renaissance representative art".

Most of us regularly search out new knowledge claims, bethey to answer questions personal ("What career would suitmy strengths and interests?") or public ("What policies wouldbest balance the need for jobs with the demands of theenvironment?"), Much of your schooling is about increasing thenumber of knowledge claims you can make and act on.

However, in TOK, unlike in your other Diploma Programmesubjects, your aim is not primarily to discover or learn newknowledge claims (though you will learn some). Rather, TOK isessentially concerned with examining the knowledge claimsthat you or others make, to answer queries about the statusof those claims. Any issues that arise when we do this areknowledge issues.

Be prepared

• A knowledge issue is an inquiry that arises from wonderingabout the status of one of our knowledge claims. It oftenarises from a question that could start with "How can weknow ... ?"

When you are trying to write about the knowledge issue thatis going to form the centre of your essay or presentation, thesenior TOK examiners have given you some advice. They saythat a good knowledge issue for assessment purposes will be anopen-ended question that is explicitly about knowledge itself,and is written to raise the relationships between that knowledgeand other TOK terms.

Any knowledge claim may give rise to many knowledge issues. Inthe following table, we give some examples of knowledge claimsand, for each, an example of a knowledge issue that can arisefrom it.

Many (but not all) knowledge issues can be reworded to start"How can we know ... ?" This can be a good test of whether yourissue is a knowledge issue or not.

Of course, it is one thing to identify a knowledge issue, andanother to deal with it: advice on the latter is the subject ofmuch of the rest of this book.

Wikipedia says that Bangkok is in Thailand.

My mother says that she can show me how to cook cassava so itis not poisonous.

A force of attraction exists between any two material objects.

Modern art is more meaningful than Renaissancerepresentative art.

My eyes tell me that this stick bends when it goes into thewater.

There can be no knowledge without emotion ... until we havefelt the force of the knowledge, it is not ou rs.

Shakespeare tells us that Richard III was a cruel, ruthless man.

People in country X jail homosexuals; people in country Y allowthem to marry.

Being educated means learning to see through the cliches ofmy society.

My homeopath says the contents of this bottle will cure me, butmy doctor saysthey will do nothing at all.

The choice of the phrase "all men are created equal" instead of"all humans ... " set back women's rights 200 years.

I saw a video last night that proves that global warming is aswindle.

You should be able to:

o understand the aims and purpose of TOK

How can I use reason to know whether information from aninternet source is accurate and reliable?

When should I believe folk knowledge that has not beenscientifically tested?

Why should we believe a general scientific law when we havenot tested every instance?

What are the criteria we can use to distinguish moremeaningful art from less meaningful?

How can we know when our senses are giving us accurateinformation about the world?

What impact do our emotional states have on our gathering ofknowledge, and on the knowledge we gather?

In what ways does literature tell the truth: about historicalevents, or about the way human beings are?

Does the fact that different societies have opposing moral viewsmean that there is no absolute moral truth?

In what ways do common beliefs in a society help and hinderus in finding the truth?

How reliable are scientific methods when used to testapparently incompatible claims about how the world works?

To what extent does the choice of words to express ideassubconsciously alter our understanding of them?

What emotional techniques do documentary makers use toshape our judgments about experts' claims to knowledge?

o recognize the main elements of the TOK course: knower(s), ways of knowing, areas of knowledge, TOK

terms and concepts

o identify and write down knowledge issues.

13

Knowledge issuesIf you have ever had a cast on your leg or ann, you mightremember noticing many other people in the same situation,something it is unlikely you would have done under "normal"circumstances. As a result of any number of personalcircumstances-from having a broken leg to recently having dyedyour hair blue----ordinary people and things that might havepreviously been quite invisible to you can be transformed intosubjects you register or become particularly interested in.

Some students of TOK have claimed, especially towards the end ofthe course, that the TOK perspective that they have acquired makesvisible to them what in the past would have been invisible, in asimilar way. W~want to help you to achieve this state: Although theterm "knowledge issues" has been used many times throughout this)og}:.,owing to its centrality in the assessment of your TOK work,t(:t few pages offer further support to improve your1I1:c.ustandingof "knowledge issues" and some exercises you Canndertake to become an expert at pinpointing them with increasingase and precision.

I your IE courses you have probably come across some course-ntent and assessment tasks framed in.terms of "issues". IBonomics treats "international issues". Geography tacklesevelopmental issues" and language B recommends that oral-sentations cover "social, cultural, or global issues". For example,geography students learn about trade, aid, and indebtedness and

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r about environrnentalquality. These developmental issues have to be" ? treated from not one but two perspectives: that of "richer countries"

and that of "poorer countries".

As their name indicates, knowledge issues are a specific kind of issue.The main characteristic that knowledge issues share with all otherissues is that they elicit discussion or even debate. Many issues mayattract a curious mind and invite exploration and argument. .Know/edge issues direct that questioning approach toward knowledgeitself.

Knowledge issues have .been part of your experience of TOKthrough this book from the very first pages. Do you recall youropening profile of yourself as a knower, and the map of the worldyou drew? The main knowledge issue there was the way thatdifferent personal characteristics and experiences affect what peopleknow-a fundamental knowledge issue which has returned againand again as we considered our ways of knowing and areas ofknowledge. Every time you asked yourself whether an argumentwas valid or not, or whether someones justification for making aclaim was sound-as you did in previous chapters-you also raisedknowledge issues, in this case about what constitutes a goodargument and about what may be better and worse reasons forbelieving.

Knowledge issues may be easy to identify within this book and your,'TOK discussions, in retrospect. You can readily look back onexercises and discussions about whether the particular language youspeak affects what you know, when evidence is enough evidence fora sound inductive conclusion rather than a hasty generalization or astereotype, whether photographs pass perfectly the correspondencetest for truth, what the difference is between persuasion andpropaganda, what the role is of assumptions in everydayinterpretation and in areas of knowledge, what sources may be morereliable than others and why, what counts as a good explanation,how metaphors may affect how we think and what we believe,whether knowledge has to be useful to be of value, and so on. Goback to the first paragraph in this section starting with MIf you haveever had a cast on your leg... ", What knowledge issue do you noticein this paragraph?

Still, for TOK assessment-and for your future as a critical thinker-you will want to be able to pick out knowledge issues not justwithin this book but also in the world around you. You are wellprepared to do so, but will probably benefit from some practice. As astart, read the following example of an imaginary situation in yourown town and see how it is rich with knowledge issues.

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Situation A: Overthe lastweek or so you have been followingthe storyof a crime committednot far fromwhere you live.Tonight'snews

iverage indudes short interviewswiththe ChiefInspectorof Police,theMayor, a priest.and the victim.

First, consider what you know about the situation already by askingwhichever of the panoramic brainstorming questions apply to this

1 • Course assessment. Knowledge issues

situation. Consider what you might want to check again in thenewspaper or on the Internet. Then start to pick out the issues-the

~ledge issues. Possible results are exemplified below.'0 f .

Finding the knowledge issues

T What was the crime reported on the news?A woman was grabbed from behind. A gun wasjammed into her back, and a man's voice growledthreateningly, "Your money!" When she pulledout her wallet, he snatched it and fled.

2 Who was the victim? Who was the robber?The woman was Mrs Thomas, who was walkinghome from the bus stop. The robber's identity isnot yet known, but police are following dues. MrsThomas said that the man "sounded like a Spick".

3 who on the news was giving information?The reporter, the Mayor, the Police Inspector, apriest, Mrs Thomas.

/

4 Where did it happen?The robbery took place on Gerald Street, sixblocks from Main. Mrs Thomas lives on the nextblock.

5 When did it happen?] 0:00 pm

Knowledge issue of selection of information: Whatmakes this particular event newsworthy whileother events go unreported? More generally: whatfactors of selection and emphasis influence theknowledge of current events that the public cangain from the media?

Knowledge issues of evidence, language as an indicatorof bias, stereotypes: What evidence is there that theattacker was Hispanic? What evidence is therethat such an identification could be the result ofprejudice or locaJ stereotyping? More generally:What is the effect on knowledge of stereotyping?

Knowledge issues of perception and sources: Who is thebestsource of information and understanding ofan event? How do personal characteristics affectwhat each of the intervlewees selects to reportand to interpret as the cause? What is the bestmethod for someone seeking the truth amiddifferent perspectives?

Knowledge issue of explanation and interpretation ofcause: What kinds of cause are given in the news?Human motivation? Ongoing background causes?Immediate trigger causes? H-owfar "out" and"back" is it useful to trace causes for theexplanation of a specific event, the robbery? (Whywas the new port built? Why did the boss givepriority to the client's needs rather than hisemployee'sz) To what extent do decisions onsolutions to the problem depend on the analysis ofthe cause?

Knowledge issue of ethics, responsibility: Does thecrime give any particular responsibility to MrsThomas, her neighbours, the priest, the PoliceInspector, or the Mayor? If so, what and why?Does knowledge of a problem give anyresponsibility for finding a solution?

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7 • Course assessment ~ Knowledge issues

6 Why did it happen?Neighbours say that they have been asking thetown council to install better streetlights, but havebeen ignored.

The Police Inspector says that theft has increasedwith a recent increase in drug trafficking, eversince the new port was opened in a nearby city.

The Mayor says that the problem is insufficientpublic funding for the police force. /

Mrs Thomas says that the man was violent andevil- She also says that she would [lot have beenout there on the dark street at night if it weren'tfor her boss, who required her to do overtime toget a report ready for a demanding client-

The priest says that many of his parishioners havebecome anxious recently about their personalsecurity e~en in their own homes, and deploresviolenf~:'and the easy availability of guns.

7 What was the effect?The police have the crime under investigation,interviewing witnesses who saw a man loiteringearlier in the area. The Hispanic community hasprotested that crime in this town is always blamedon them. Mrs Thomas and her neighbours haveagain formally requested better street lighting.

Knowledqe issue of ethics, gun control: In what ways isthe topic of gun control an ethical issue? How canit be treated appropriately in argument? Shouldthe issue be assessed in terms of principles (rightto carry a gun, right to personal safety, rights ofindividual vs. rights of community) Or in terms ofconsequences? Is there another way of evaluatingsituations and choices ethically?

Knowledge issue of .. : Your turn to add!

Now, using the crime story as a model, choose either situation B orC from below and in small groups check any further informationnecessary for understanding the situation. Then formulate as manyknowledge issues about it as you can.

Hint: If you have difficulty getting started, flip through the sectionheadings and questions of the previous chapters, noticing TOKconcepts (classification, authority, sources, sense perception,influence of technology on justification, truth ... ).

Situation B: You always follow the Tour de Francebicyde race, marvelling at the cyclists who face thisgruelling test of speed, strength,and nerves. Thewinner in 2006 tested positive for doping.

S~tion C: You heard on the news in August 2006that there are now eight planets in the solar system,not nine-as you learned in school, and as your parentsandgrandparents leamed in school. Members of theInternational Astronomical Union voted to removePluto's planetary status.

Tips for recognizing and formulating knowledgeissues for TOKKnowledge issues are embedded in everyday situations, as in A, B,and C above. .

Knowledge issues are present in all your subjects at school.~very knowledge claim made in every academic course you take isW ptentially a source of knowledge issues. Your subject teachers will

sometimes point out to your class explicit connections with TOR.But do not wait for the teacher to do your job. It is really up to youto think about how the areas of knowledge or the subjects you arestudying connect to knowledge issues, and how what you arediscussing and thinking about in TOKrelates to your other subjects.What knowledge issues could you raise about the facts, theories, orideas you learnt about in school today (or any day)?

When you wish to practise identifying knowledge issues, do thefollowing exercise. Review the examples below and, with aclassmate, formulate a few knowledge issues that you can see couldemerge from them. Alternatively, you could do this same exercisestarting from things you really have learnt or have been asked to doin your subject classes.

.:.

In biology, you watched a video about Crick and Watson'sdiscovery of the "double helix".In computer science you were given the task of writing code thatwill facilitate the IE Diploma Programme coordinator's job: toorganize and manipulate data regarding students' groups 3, 5,and 6 options. .In mathematics, you worked during a whole hour using thesymbol 00 for infinity. You remember reading RabindranathTagore's poem HOn the seashore and your teacher insisting that

;it was about infinity.Your economics (or psychology) teacher told your class that fordecades students were given a particular textbook to study from.II had sold over four million copies, 15 editions were publishedand the text was translated into 41 languages. Your class wasn'tgiven this text this year. According to your teacher, it has falleninto disrepute.

Lurking in your lB subjects are some good presentation topics andexamples for TOK essays: more about both later on in this chapter.

••

•

Knowledge issues are present in moments of your everyday life.These everyday situations also suggest knowledge issues. Either usethese to practise or try the alternative activity that follows.e As you walk down a hallway at school, you hear someone

remark: "There have always been rich and poor in every society.It is the way of the world."

e A friend of yours is extremely thin. She exercises for hours everyday, usually declines any food offered her, or sometimes eats aJot and quietly finds a toilet. You have tried to encourage her toeat, but she seems convinced that she is overweight.

••• Two friends are discussing whether it is fair or not that TOK andthe extended essay each contribute only 1.5 points to the IB~jploma. Personally, you think it's unfair that CAS receives no,Joint recognition at all.

(h Some students in your class want to organize a school event toraise consciousness about brand name clothing sweatshops

7 • Course assessment • Knowledge issues

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1 -CoUrse assessment ~ Knowledge issues

around the world. They asked you to participate in the steeringcommittee to decide what kind of event would be most effective.

o A friend phones you with the information that your best friend'sfiancee, someone you have never trusted, has been seen dancingextremely dose to another man on Saturday night and mighteven have gone home with him, and suggests that you warnyour friend that she is unfaithful,

Activit:----------------y------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------,~ Everymember of yourTOKgroup should take a few minutes in dass to recall! a situationof the kindgiven above and then brieflydescribe it on a piece ofi paper, Put allthe pieces of paper in a hat or bag and have every member of

dass select one. Everyoneshould then find knowledgeissues impficitinsomeone else's situation,Then pair up and improveon each other'sidentificationsof the knowledge issues,

Knowledge issues are present in local and international events andin the media which report them,Complex topics such as AIDS or global warming are rich withknowledge issues, as you have seen in the treatment of worldhunger in Chapter 6_So is media .coverage of any internationalconflict, as you have seen repeatedly throughout this book. Spottingknowledge issues in the news is an important part of your TOKeducation. Be warned, though, that if you want to use a complextopic as material for a TOK presentation or for examples in yourTOK essay, you must narrow the topic to something of manageablesize. It is to practical advice that we turn next.

The more you can develop your skill at identifying knowledge issues,the better you will do on all TOK assessment. That is a promise.

Developing your voice and perspectiveAnother important feature of TOK learning concerns a skill that isnatural to all of us as human beings. Each one of us has a unique,distinguishable voice, with its particular register, timbre, and tone.TOK learning stimulates the development of your own personalvoice and perspective on knowledge issues, Your TOK work will beassessed for the extent to which your voice is sharp and clear andconscious of itself as one amongst many others.

You can help yourself develop a personal voice and perspective in ahost of ways, from more simple ones like sharing your opinions andideas with your classmates, and listening to theirs, to refining yourideas in the light of class discussions, readings, and experiences.

Do not assume that merely using "I believe (or think, or conclude )that..; W when writing your TOK essay will guarantee you a highmark on Criterion B: Knower's Perspective. Uyou are comfortabledoing so you should feel free to write in the first person rr). But itis not necessary to do so. It is perfectly possible to convey your voiceand perspective writing in the third person rhe, she, in, that is,using a more formal style. Similarly, do not think that in order to geta high mark, you must share with your audience any personalinformation about yourself. If you feel comfortable using a personal

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7 • Course assessment • Knowledge issues

example that serves to illustrate or highlight an important point inr"'Nl>ur essay, then include it. Throwing in a story or two about, pursell, however, is not sufficient. Assessors.will be looking for

relevant examples, not just personal ones.

Fix in your mind the qualities that describe Knower's Perspective inthe context of the TOK essay and presentation (boxes below). Takenote of what assessors will be looking for as marks or symbols of thisskill-having your own distinctive knower's perspective.

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To surnmarize, shape your essay and your presentation to show apersonal, reflective exploration of knowledge issues. Choose yourexamples from your IE Diploma Programme subjects and from topicsthat really do concern you, from your own life experience and fromthe experiences of others in your community. Consider perspectivesyou have heard in your own class as well as those you have read orheard from other sources.

In this book, people's voices accompanied by their photos have beenincluded in an effort to bring to life many other perspectives.Remember that the quality of your work will improve by takingother experiences and views seriously, and by showing that you aresensitive to the fact that yours is just one voice amongst many, oneperspective amongst many others. We invite you to add your ownvoice to the many you have read about in this book and that

':)U n d you wherever you live.

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/.. -. International Baccalaureate.. . . Baccalaureat International

. Bachillerato Internacional

Diploma Programme

Theory of knowledgeUnderstanding knowledge issues

Understanding knowledge issuesThis document is designed to clarify the term "knowledge issues". This term is central to the theoryof knowledge (TOK) course and its assessment. Students who can effectively identify and addressknowledge issues will be at a significant advantage in assessment tasks.

Knowledge issues are issues about knowledge. They can apply to any aspect of knowledge andmay refer to the acquisition, production, shaping, classification, status, and acceptance or rejectionof knowledge. Knowledge issues range from the extremely general ("Can a fact exist without acontext?", "What constitutes good evidence?") to the specific ("How can we distinguish betweenvalid and invalid deductive arguments?", "What should the role of emotion be in the justification ofethical decisions?"). Both extremes are appropriate focuses for TOK discussions and both can andshould be explored in a TOK course. However, not all knowledge issues are equally appropriatefor assessment purposes.

Knowledge issues that are most likely to support high levels of achievement are:

Knowledge issues for assessment purposesStudents are required to address knowledge issues in both their essays and their presentations. Inboth cases it is helpful for students to be able to explore and analyse knowledge issues that willdemonstrate their understanding. Given the vast range of knowledge issues that could beaddressed, it is appropriate to offer guidance as to what types of knowledge issue are most likelyto support high levels of achievement in both essays and presentations.

open-ended questions that admit more than one possible answer

explicitly about knowledge in itself and not subject-specific claims

couched in terms of TOK vocabulary and concepts: the areas of knowledge, the ways ofknowing and the concepts in the linking questions-belief, certainty, culture, evidence,experience, explanation, interpretation, intuition, justification, truth, values

precise in terms of the relationships between these concepts

.-.l...

Note that these conditions are not formal requirements and that marks should always be awardedaccording to the criteria in the Theory of knowledge guide (March 2006). Experience suggests,however, that knowledge issues that satisfy these conditions are more likely to support successunder the assessment criteria. It is important to clarify that although (for presentation purposes),"poor" knowledge issues may be relevant and so may attract credit under criterion A, they areunlikely to support the focused exploration and development required for the award of high marksunder other criteria. The development of a "good" knowledge issue is, therefore, advisable forassessment purposes.

Suggested use of tablesThe tables below demonstrate a progression of knowledge issues. The tables could be discussedwith students at an appropriate point, well into the TOK course, perhaps after students haveexplored several areas of knowledge and/or ways of knowing so that they fully grasp the ideas.

The five examples listed A-E below could be cut up into 25 cards and students could be asked tocategorize the cards by topic and level of sophistication. After discussion, students could be askedto develop their own level descriptors. Examples F-I could then be shown and students asked tocome up with suggestions to fill in the blanks. Students could also be asked to create progressionsof their own.

10 International Baccalaureate Organization 2009

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An open-ended questionExplicitly about knowledge What is it about a To what extent can the

What, if anything, doCouched in terms of TOK scientific explanation human sciences use How can reason be optical illusions tell us What role shouldvocabulary and concepts' that makes it mathematical used to justify religious about sense perception intuition play in justifying

Precise in terms of convincing or techniques to make belief? and truth? capital punishment?relationships between these unconvincing? accurate predictions?

concepts

May be:How can we decide if How can we use How can we know ifan open-ended question acupuncture works or models to predict crime Are religious beliefs What can we leam capital punishment is

explicitly about knowledge not? waves? reasonable? from optical illusions? right or wrong?

May be:Does acupuncture Will predictions on How do religious

Why do optical illusions Capital punishment:a closed question work? teenage smoking turn people come to their happen? why should or shouldn'timplicitly about knowledge out to be correct? beliefs? we adopt it?

May be:a statement or a descriptionof a situation

Stopping teenagers The execution ofa closed question Traditional medicine smoking

Physics and God Optical illusions Saddam Husseina subject-specific topic orquestion rather than aboutknowledge in itself

This could be the real-life situationfor the presentation or an example My uncle went to an A new government Article on science and

An optical illusion A book: The Executionin the essay: acupuncturist policy religion of Saddam Hussein

1 Forthese purposes, these are taken to be the areasof knowledge,the ways of knowingand the concepts in the linking questions-belief. certainty.culture. evidence.experience. explanation.interpretation. intuition, justification. truth and values.

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2009

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An open-ended question

Explicitly about knowledge

Couched in terms of TOKvocabulary and concepts"

Precise in terms ofrelationships between theseconcepts

.. Your own knowledgeissue.

Your own highlyfocused knowledgeissue

May be:

an open-ended question

explicitly about knowledge

Should we believeparanormal claims?

May be:

a closed question

implicitly about knowledge

Does the paranormalexist?

Why is Utilitarianismappealing?

Is swine flu likely to killmillions?

May be:

a statement or a descriptionof a situation

a closed question

a subject-specific topic orquestion rather than aboutknowledge in itself

What is the sixthsense? Utilitarianism What do we mean by

an "epidemic"? The credit crisis

This could be the real-life situationfor the presentation or an examplein the essay:

A film onhaunting

A patriotic postersaying "Buy British-

it's good for everyone"

A news report on swineflu

An interview withbankers who have just

lost their jobsYour own topic

2 For these purposes, these are taken to be the areas of knowledge, the ways of knowing and the concepts in the linking questions-belief, certainty, culture, evidence, experience, explanation,interpretation, intuition, justification, truth and values.

to International Baccalaureate Organization 2009

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