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Welcome to the September edition of the theoryofknowledge.net free newsletter.

 

Welcome to the September edition of the TOK newsletter. We've been developing quite a few new ideas and resources for TOK, and you can access some of them for free.

 

Our first video made in conjunction with Cambridge University Press has been released, and can be seen on YouTube. It introduces knowledge questions and real life situations, explaining their significance to TOK, and how to approach them in the essay and presentation. We’ll be releasing more over the next few months, covering many different aspects of the course.


We're also planning to release a whole range of exciting new TOK resources for the 2015-16 academic year, and these can be viewed in our resources brochure. These include an additional Sessions Pack, a second TED Companion, and an all new resource making the ideas and thoughts of philosophers more TOK-friendly.
If you’d like to introduce or consolidate TOK skills in your school, or want to consider the 'bigger picture' of what we're doing, in a clear, engaging, and jargon-free way, our new student seminars and teacher workshops will be of interest to you.
See the different topics and modules that we deliver here.


Our app for both iOS and Android is available by following the links below.
 

               

News stories & knowledge questions 

1. Tabloid knowledge

We present the first of our RLSs in the same way it appears in the premium newsletter. Find out more details on subscriptions here.
AoKs/WoKs:
Human sciences (journalism), emotion, reason, nature of knowledge

 

First order KQs: What characterises tabloid journalism?

 

Second order KQs: What the knowledge implications of news being reported in a contradictory way? Which ways of knowing are necessary to read between tabloid lines? What impact does a biased agenda have in terms of the reporting of ‘the truth’?

 

Description: “British tabloids, which have been scaremongering about refugees for years, telling Britons to fear and resist any immigration and helping to drive the UK's shameful anti-refugee policies, discovered their compassion for refugees on Wednesday when a small child's body washed up on a Turkish shore. The child was a Syrian refugee who, like many hundreds of other refugees, had died during the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean. A photo of the young boy went viral, and the same British tabloids that are overtly hostile to living refugees decided that this one was worth caring about, and have plastered their covers with his image.”

 

Discussion points: This is a great story for viewing the way in which tabloid journalism works (and, some would say, journalism in general). Driven by motives other than simply conveying the ‘truth’ about what is going on in the world, one finds completely different headlines and and reports of exactly the same events and issues going on in the world. Given the very high circulation figures of these papers, the knowledge implications of this are huge: most people who read a newspaper (either online, or printed) read a tabloid newspaper, so their knowledge of what is going on in the world is based on this approach to covering contemporary events. Does this mean that most people’s knowledge of the world is flawed? Do other sources of knowledge make up for this? Are serious (or ‘broadsheet’) newspapers and news sites better, or do they just market themselves more convincingly?

 

Further exploration: There’s a great deal of scope for further exploration here. Look at different tabloid news sites, and try to get a handle on their agenda. How does this affect the way they communicate knowledge? Should more to be done to try to force tabloids to approach journalism in a more accurate way?


Source: Vox
 

2. Importance of smell

AoKs/WoKs: Sense perception, emotion, human sciences (psychology)

 

KQs: Why do we underrate the importance of knowledge provided to us by our olfactory sense?

 

Description: “Despite the various ways smell protects us, humans often count it as one of the senses they could do without. (In a recent study by McCann Worldgroup, “53 percent of those aged 16-22 and 48 percent of those aged 23-30 would give up their own sense of smell if it meant they could keep an item of technology.”) For me, too, it was a sense I thought I could do without—until I lost it.”

 

Discussion points & further exploration: Upgrade to the Premium Newsletter

 

Source: The Atlantic

 

3. Divisive words

AoKs/WoKs: Language, ethics

 

KQs: What does language reveal about our personal biases?

 

Description: “The split goes so deep that the two sides can't even agree on what the people entering Europe should be called. To those who view them sympathetically, they're refugees; to those who want them kept out, they're migrants. So which side is right? The answer's complicated."

 

Discussion points & further exploration: Upgrade to the Premium Newsletter

 

Source: Vox

 

4. Contemporary theories

AoKs/WoKs: Language, emotion, human sciences (psychology)

 

KQs: Does language interfere with our ability to communicate our emotions?

 

Description: “One way of understanding the enthusiasm for telepathy is to consider its inverse: the growing  suspicion of traditional verbal communication. Consider the remarkable rise of emoji, which, according to one British linguistics expert, is “the fastest growing form of language in history, based on its incredible adoption rate and speed of evolution.”

 

Discussion points & further exploration: Upgrade to the Premium Newsletter

 

Source: The Atlantic

 
 

5. Impeded by words

AoKs/WoKs: Human sciences, technology

 

KQs: Can a link between violence and video games be proven?

 

Description: “Psychologists have confirmed that playing violent video games is linked to aggressive and callous behaviour. A review of almost a decade of studies found that exposure to violent video games was a "risk factor" for increased aggression."

 

Discussion points & further exploration: Upgrade to the Premium Newsletter

 

Source: The Independent

 

6. Moved by music

AoKs/WoKs: The arts, indigenous knowledge systems, human sciences (anthropology and sociology), memory

 

KQs: Does music help us to interpret and understand emotional knowledge?

 

Description: “If you think you’re obsessed with music, consider the BaBinga people from Central Africa, who have elaborate dances for almost every activity, from gathering honey to hunting for elephants. The anthropologist Gilbert Rouget, who lived with them in 1946, found that sleeping through the ceremonies was considered one of the greatest crimes.”

 

Discussion points & further exploration: Upgrade to the Premium Newsletter

 

Source: BBC

 

7. Messy science

AoKs/WoKs: Natural and human sciences, mathematics

 

KQs: Can scientific data be used to prove anything?

 

Description: “If we’re going to rely on science as a means for reaching the truth — and it’s still the best tool we have — it’s important that we understand and respect just how difficult it is to get a rigorous result. I could pontificate about all the reasons why science is arduous, but instead I’m going to let you experience one of them for yourself.”

 

Discussion points & further exploration: Upgrade to the Premium Newsletter

 

Source: FiveThirtyEight

 

8. Images that change the world

AoKs/WoKs: Human sciences (journalism and psychology), the arts, ethics

 

KQs: Why does the knowledge provided by an image impact more on us than text?

 

Description: “By now, you've probably seen the photo. A lifeless boy, body limp and legs dangling, is carried by a Turkish paramilitary officer from the water's edge. The image is a powerful representation of the refugee crisis in and around the Mediterranean. Taken by photographer-reporter Nilufer Demir, the photograph sped quickly around the world in mass media and on social networks, sparking increased outrage with every post and retweet. Photographs like this stay with you, as unshakable as a bad childhood memory.”

 

Discussion points & further exploration: Upgrade to the Premium Newsletter

 

Source: Vice News

 

What else comes in this month's premium newsletter?

 

7 more detailed real life situations, exploring the following knowledge questions:

  • Should science be removed from the context of everyday life in order to understand it?

  • To what extent is our perception of indigenous people shaped by biases?

  • How is ‘indisputable’ proof established in history?

  • To what extent is scientific knowledge open to debate?

  • How do medical myths become accepted as ‘fact’?

  • Is reflective thinking always more effective than intuitive thinking?

  • Is reason built on mathematics and science?

 

5 ‘quick’ real life situations, helping you to consider:

 
  • What role does environment play in the development of language?

  • Why do languages die - and what are the consequences?

  • What does it mean to be religious?

  • What does our slang say about our identity?

  • Do we 'perceive the world inaccurately all the time'?

Our TOK teaching and learning resources 


theoryofknowledge.net is now the one-stop destination for all TOK educators and learners. All our resources can be purchased securely from the site, and are emailed to you instantly. Download our new resources brochure for 2015-16.
 

The TOK Sessions Pack

The awesome TOK Sessions pack is now being used by hundreds of educators around the world to deliver the TOK course, and help students understand the assessment tasks.


The pack contains 85 lesson plans for all the areas of knowledge and ways of knowing, introductory lessons on TOK, plenary sessions for the end of the course, and suggestions on how to explain the essay and presentation.



 
Purchase the TOK Sessions Pack

TED Companion Pack

The inspirational TED Companion Pack presents TOK-related questions on 60 different TED talks, enabling students to learn about key thinkers and ideas, be involved in the most important contemporary knowledge issues, and gather material for their essays and presentations.


16 Essential speakers are identified, and advice is provided for including the key ideas of the talks into essay and presentations.

 
Purchase the TED Companion Pack
Browse all our brilliant resources for TOK

theoryofknowledge.net has a diverse range of teaching and learning resources that will help you to master the course, understand the key ideas, and write the perfect essay or presentation. Check out our resources shop here.


 
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