Why do you think the TOK course is at the core of the IB diploma program and how do you think it impacts the life of the students?

International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge

Theory of knowledge is what it means, theories about knowledge. It provides a general picture of how and why people should think or scrutinize about the world around us. This course is useful, not only because it helps you receive your IB diploma, but it can also help you think beyond what you see; it challenges the students to look beyond the superficial, since usually there are more to things than what is on the surface. As theory of knowledge students are challenged to wonder about the things above their perceptions, they start to ask questions in hopes to acquiring more in depth knowledge. As more knowledge is acquired, more judgment is needed. Students must balance their open-mindedness and the skepticism they have towards the acquired knowledge. Since in all six groups of the IB diploma program knowledge is acquired, it is important that students know what should be believed and shouldn’t; thus it is important for the theory of knowledge course to be the core of the IB diploma program.

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As you may have noticed from the IB diploma diagram above, the theory of knowledge course is placed in the course of the IB diploma program and the other subjects. A question that arises is perhaps why is it placed in the core of the diploma program? If we look closer you can also see that the creativity, action and service program and the extended essay program is also in the core of diploma. A similar trait that these programs have is that they not only provide knowledge background for the IB diploma candidates but it also builds up experiences that can be applied to life in the future. Theory of knowledge provides knowledge about the devices people use to think; we also learn about their strengths, weakness and limitations and to apply the knowledge in solving real life situations. In the creativity, action and service program, we learn how to evaluate our own strengths and weaknesses by doing hands-on activities, whether it is volunteering to teach English at a local public school or learning to do something new. The extended essay gives the candidates adequate experience and knowledge on how to write a full research paper, which will not only help them in university when they have to write research papers but also when writing reports in a job as well. I come to a conclusion that the theory of knowledge course is one of the three core programs of the IB diploma because it helps students to apply the knowledge they have learnt from the six subjects of the IB diploma. It helps students to gain experience in using the knowledge they have learnt from their chosen subjects and also to gain knowledge itself.

The experience gained from the theory of knowledge course benefit IB students for the rest of their lives, since the theory of knowledge course teaches critical thinking, IB diploma students will likely have a stronger critical thinking skills and a head start in developing those skills than those who do not take the program. Your processing abilities will be a head of everyone else whom have not take the course, which gives you the advantage in the competition of the “real-world”.

We as humans never stop learning; we learn new things from the moment we were born until the moment we die. However, not everything we learn will be true, since knowledge may have different intentions for their existence. We need to rely on our judgment to be able to keep away from those misleading information, since they can cause severe harm to us and the ones we love. The theory of knowledge course provides us with skills to judge, which will help us to live a life that is true; without these skills we can get lost on our way down the path to our goals.

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Works cited

TOK guide