TOK Year-In Reflection

This year I’ve been introduced to so many new concepts and perhaps the weirdest one of all is Theory of Knowledge. Going in, I was expecting it to be kind of like Philosophy and when it wasn’t, I kind of projected my frustrations onto my teacher and onto my work. Until now, I still don’t get the methodology of how we gain knowledge. This is because it seems like you are using an unnatural way of describing thoughts and behaviors with TOK terminology. I get that this is part of critical thinking and it may be a skill I need to work on moving forward, but I really don’t buy it. What I do get, however, are conceptual understandings and knowledge frameworks as they help me navigate the different areas of knowledge. The topic that has stood out to me so far is Ethics, it such a fascinating field of study and I wish we devoted more time to discuss it. I drew so many personal examples and pinpoint what ethical decisions I made and what kind of ethical values I have. Furthermore, TOK has refined the skills I already have such as curiosity and creativity. Although the general perception of TOK is that it is mostly nonsense (no comment), I believe it can help us in the way we approach the IB. I don’t think it has ruined my thinking at all. I would rather over-analyze information than not analyze it at all. Education is a gift best used to its full potential. Next year, I want to experience more failures in TOK because this year I did not take enough leaps which would have furthered my thinking. I played it too safe and I want to take more risks because that is the most effective way I can learn in UWCSEA.