Martin Luther King- Jr. High School – IB Theory of Knowledge (Core)

Mar 2026 · 2nd Semester

Theory of Knowledge is a required capstone or summary course for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, beginning second semester the junior year and finishing the first semester of the senior year. In Theory of Knowledge (or TOK), students learn to compare, synthesize, and evaluate the methods of learning acquired in their other IB classes. Students develop critical thinking skills comparing and contrasting Ways of Knowing (Sense Perception, Language, Emotion and Reason) and Areas of Knowledge (Human Sciences, Natural Sciences, Mathematics, The Arts, Ethics, and History). Assessed items include, first, an internally graded presentation in which students apply Ways of Knowing and Areas of Knowledge to a contemporary issue in a critical fashion. Second, an externally graded edited essay about to what extent we know what we think we do, addressing one of six possible prompts provided by IBO. Non-IB students may apply to take this course, space and scheduling constraints permitting.