Using Tok in Everyday Lessons
Bringing TOK into everyday subject teaching
Obtained from experienced TOK teachers working in specialist subject groups at the Madrid TOK conference November 2003.
Compiled by Geoffrey Neuss
Swedish A1 (Reporter: Håkon Kjellin, Täby Gymnasium, Sweden Hakan.Kjellin@tibble.taby.se)
Interpretation:
• Are there correct and incorrect interpretations? Or is relativism absolute when interpreting texts? Is there such a thing as over-interpretation?
• What factors – individual psychological, cultural, historical, social –deter mine the interpretation?
• Comparing different models of interpretation: differences and similarities in the models of interpretation of different disciplines.
• Who ‘owns’ the text.? The author or the reader? If the latter: who is the creator?
Language:
• Language and reality: What kind of reality does a work of fiction create? What is the ontological status of characters in novels?
• The dichotomy: documentary-fiction versus fiction-fiction.
• Questions about the basics of philosophy of language: signifier – signified; the nature of hopes (metaphors etc)
• What is a symbol? How does a symbol work?
Knowledge:
• What kind of knowledge - and about what – do we get from literature (fiction, drama and poetry)?
• What kind of authority is the author?
Some questions
• Can you talk about good or bad literature?
• What is behind the choice of books on the IB booklist?
• What does Strindborg have that no other Swedish playwright has?
(Recommended reading: Jorge Luis Borges! In his stories you can find illustrations for every TOK topic!)
English A1
Reporter: Fiona Guertler, International School of Düsseldorf, Germany guertlerf@isdedu.de 1. Become more familiar with TOK
• Inservice training days
• Observation of TOK lessons
• Invite a TOK teacher in to make links at the end (last 15 minutes?) of a lesson
• Use the TOK terms more actively (distribution of TOK diagram in classroom)
• If
Obtained from experienced TOK teachers working in specialist subject groups at the Madrid TOK conference November 2003.
Compiled by Geoffrey Neuss
Swedish A1 (Reporter: Håkon Kjellin, Täby Gymnasium, Sweden Hakan.Kjellin@tibble.taby.se)
Interpretation:
• Are there correct and incorrect interpretations? Or is relativism absolute when interpreting texts? Is there such a thing as over-interpretation?
• What factors – individual psychological, cultural, historical, social –deter mine the interpretation?
• Comparing different models of interpretation: differences and similarities in the models of interpretation of different disciplines.
• Who ‘owns’ the text.? The author or the reader? If the latter: who is the creator?
Language:
• Language and reality: What kind of reality does a work of fiction create? What is the ontological status of characters in novels?
• The dichotomy: documentary-fiction versus fiction-fiction.
• Questions about the basics of philosophy of language: signifier – signified; the nature of hopes (metaphors etc)
• What is a symbol? How does a symbol work?
Knowledge:
• What kind of knowledge - and about what – do we get from literature (fiction, drama and poetry)?
• What kind of authority is the author?
Some questions
• Can you talk about good or bad literature?
• What is behind the choice of books on the IB booklist?
• What does Strindborg have that no other Swedish playwright has?
(Recommended reading: Jorge Luis Borges! In his stories you can find illustrations for every TOK topic!)
English A1
Reporter: Fiona Guertler, International School of Düsseldorf, Germany guertlerf@isdedu.de 1. Become more familiar with TOK
• Inservice training days
• Observation of TOK lessons
• Invite a TOK teacher in to make links at the end (last 15 minutes?) of a lesson
• Use the TOK terms more actively (distribution of TOK diagram in classroom)
• If