NEWSNIGHT: Paxman shows Coca Cola boss how much sugar is in a supersize cup

The 9/11 Hotel "FULL DOCUMENTARY"

Sport Ethics? WORST FOOTBALL (Soccer) DIVERS and CHEATERS

Who defines the ethics of sport? Is there a difference between amateur sport and professional sport? Is winning at all costs ruining the idea of 'fair play' in sport? What about other forms of cheating in sport? How can we know the truth about fair play in sport?

In Pakistan, vaccinating children against polio can be a deadly job

This is sad but accurate example of EMOTION as a WOK. The gunmen hate foreigners. Their emotion of hate leads them to believe that foreign NGOs even the UN are not there to help local people. So they kill the medical workers. The victor is the disease of polio and the losers are the children. Do you think any amount of medical evidence would convince the gunmen to stop - if so why and if not then why not?

"Magnolia" - Sydney Barringer's unsuccessful suicide

Freshwater Conservation in Haizishan Region - Conservation International...

Tibet clean up and conservation through education.

What is Sustainability? (CIPS and EFMD business education video)

Knowledge Question: What is the evidence that we can balance the need for development with the need to protect the environment through conservation and sustainable development. For a Real Life Situation one could take Singapore which has many new initiatives in this area.

JFK -The Kennedy Assassination - Beyond Conspiracy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi14A20MJbE


The President Kennedy Assassination - Beyond Conspiracy - an excellent BBC Documentary but there are disturbing images of the president being shot. This video is not suitable for children or people of a sensitive disposition. A lot of discussion is about the shots and the angle of the wounds.
http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=6446   

COUNTER - CLAIMS :You can read a critical counter claim to the documentary here:

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=6446    

Prof. Amy Cuddy Harvard Business School- Topic - Power and Body Language

PHYSICS - Michio Kaku: The Universe in a Nutshell

Parallels and Paradoxes: Explorations in Music and Society Prof Edward Said and Daniel Barenboim

Not an easy book but a very rewarding book for those interested in music and society. These free-wheeling, often exhilarating dialogues—which grew out of the acclaimed Carnegie Hall Talks—are an exchange between two of the most prominent figures in contemporary culture: Daniel Barenboim, internationally renowned conductor and pianist, and the laet Edward W. Said, eminent literary critic and impassioned commentator on the Middle East. Barenboim is an Argentinian-Israeli and Said a Palestinian-American; they are also close friends.

Prof Karen Armstrong and Salman Rushide diverse and interesting views on religion

                     

What is Holocaust Denial? What are the knowledge issues surrounding the holocaust of World War 2?

Many crimes are committed in wartime. Few countries are exempt from blame.
But the Holocaust is different because it was organised by a leader who had been originally elected and by the whole state apparatus. Civil servants, police, army, engineers and the corporate world were involved in slave labour and finally extermination. The other appalling aspect of the genocide, is that the Nazis embraced modern technology to document, transport, rob and then murder the Jewish families of Europe.
Many in the nineteenth century had optimistically believed that improvements in literacy rates and improvements in medicine and technology would usher in a new era of human development and decency.
World War 1 dashed those hopes and it bred the heartlessness that is clear in Hitler's speeches and writings.
This did not happen during the era of Caesar or Genghis Khan, this happened in living memory in the land of Goethe and Beethoven in the heart of 'civilized and cultured' Europe. It was also carried out by a nation that celebrated Christmas by a people who largely considered themselves Christian (though not Hitler or Martin Bormann who despised Christ in private but not in public.)
How can we know the truth about the Holocaust and about Holocaust Denial?
David Irving once a respected writer on World War 2 destroyed his credibility and his career through Holocaust Denial. A British citizen who is fluent in German, he was a master at tracing primary sources in the West German archives. At some point while studying Hitler he seems to have lost his objectivity and become 'seduced' by the object of his studies, Hitler and his Third Reich.
Here are some sources for you to investigate the holocaust and its denial as a Knowledge Issue:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/709203.stm

http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/orgs/american/skeptic-magazine/skeptic-9.html




 
Click on this link for excellent page on Holocaust Denial :  http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Holocaust_denial                                                                                                                                             

Even to enter into the arena of debate on whether the Nazis carried out such atrocities is already to lose one's humanity.

—Noam Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent

Holocaust denial is assertion that the Holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany, other Axis powers, and their collaborators in occupied Europe during the Second World War never happened or - in true conspiracy theory fashion - the denial that it happened according to the "official" story. Like most conspiracy theories, it takes many forms, from the fairly light claims of "exaggeration" to the extreme views of outright fraud, fakery and Zionist conspiracy. Generally, the claims include:

• That the Final Solution was in fact not the genocide of the Jewish people, but rather the expulsion of Jews from Germany
• That 6,000,000 is a gross exaggeration of the Jewish death count
• That the Nuremberg testimonies from Germans were extracted by torture
• That the Jews just made everything up to gain the world's sympathy
• That the gas chambers used by the Nazis were actually delousing stations.
• That death counts for other groups (such as gypsies or homosexuals) are exaggerated, that they were not included in the Holocaust, or that they were among those who carried it out.

Particularly when it focuses on "how the Jews faked it all," Holocaust denial is a form of anti-Semitism often embraced by bigots who are too cowardly to admit that they wished that Hitler finished the job.

BBC DOCUMENTARY ON THE NAZI DEATH CAMP AUSCHWITZ. NOTE: THIS IS A DISTURBING VIDEO WITH DISTURBING IMAGES. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
IT IS HERE FOR IB STUDENTS AND OLDER PEOPLE - NOT FOR YOUNG CHILDREN.
         
.

NOTE : Students are advised to talk to me or their History teacher or Principal Gardner before proceeding with this topic. It requires a lot of commitment and time to research it properly and with the respect it deserves.
Final point from Mr C: If there was no organised holocaust of the Jewish people and others groups, why would the German people denounce this version of history which naturally is a shameful chapter in their past? Why is their no statue of Hitler in Germany when there is a beautiful memorial to Napoleon in Paris? May one say that Hitler was not just another conqueror like Napoleon or Caesar? At the end of World War 1, the Kaiser did not feel the need to kill himself because his crimes were on a par with other leaders in that terrible conflict. Hitler knew what awaited him and many of the top Nazis killed themselves including Himmler, Goebbels and Goering. Even Goering denied that he knew about the holocaust until his signature was found on key documents

Canada & USA - The Difference - Michael Moore investigates Canadian attiitudes to guns and life in general

Topic: American Gun Laws - Knowledge Question: Will gun control laws reduce gun homicides in the USA?

                                                                              Three videos: Video 1 seems to justify gun ownership. The second video is a British Commentator who thinks American's love their guns! (Warning some rude and vulgar language.) There is some appalling anti-British stand up comedy in the second video.                        The third video is another pro-gun video.

                              

 

Dublin Castle Reception for Indian Students 2012 - for general information

Dave Meslin: The antidote to apathy - Do many people feel powerless in the area of politics and improving society?

TOK ORAL PRESENTATION? TOPIC What are the dangers of SOCIAL MEDIA?

The speaker makes KNOWLEDGE CLAIMS on his KNOWLEDGE QUESTION based on A REAL LIFE SITUATION. In TOK we also examine COUNTER CLAIMS. We also look for connections and we use the RUBRIC to plan a brilliant presentation. Students who wish to explore this or related topics should consult their TOK teacher. Please use the PLANNING DOCUMENTS ON MR HOYE'S TOK WEBSITE and also the website of Mr Tim Woods.

Qatar treatment of Foreign Workers - World Cup hosting and ethics - Human Rights Watch

 

Is Qatar a suitable country to host the World Cup? Human Rights and Ethics, treatment of foreign workers.       

BBC - WikiLeaks: The Secret Life of a Superpower (Ep. 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wzY0twag2c

The California Institute for Social Business in Collaboration with Muham...

 

 How important is the Micro Credit Movement in lifting people out of poverty? Knowledge Question: How many countries have embraced this model for working to empower the poor in their own countries? 

What are the WOK and AOK in this real life situation?

Knowledge Issues or Knowledge Questions are all around us .... Human Sciences - Urban Planning for example

Mission

Bombay First is an initiative to make the city a better place to live, work and invest in. It aims to serve the city with the best that private business can offer. It will achieve this by addressing the problems of today and the opportunities of tomorrow, through partnerships with government, business and civil society. 

Possible Oral Topic: How can we know if the vision of Mumbai first can be realised given the special challenges facing the city?
Knowledge Issue: What are the models of success in modern India that can point to a resolution of this topic?
What are the obstacles to success?
What can the coming generation of young Indian graduates contribute to the mix of public and private enterprise envisoned for the future?
Connections: Look at the role of transport in Shanghai, Singapore and Mumbai and ask if the obsession with private cars can be addressed in urban planning issues.

NOTE : The IB encourages students to look at local issues, not just Hitler or Galileo, which are over-used and become cliches in some cases.
You can look at issues based on YOUR experience within the IB curriculum and in daily life. This includes CAS, subject classes, MUN, conversations with classmates, work experience, summer college camps, personal reflections in your TOK Journal.  This is the personal knowledge we experience in our own lives and is also shared in public spaces with the wider community.

KNOWLEDGE ISSUES TOK KNOWLEDGE QUESTIONS

Knowledge issues
Knowledge issues are questions that directly refer to our understanding of the world, ourselves and
others, in connection with the acquisition, search for, production, shaping and acceptance of knowledge.
These issues are intended to open to inquiry and exploration not only problems but also strengths of
knowledge. Students sometimes overlook the positive value of different kinds of knowledge, and the
discriminatory power of methods used to search for knowledge, to question it, and to establish its validity.
Knowledge issues can reveal how knowledge can be a benefit, a gift, a pleasure and a basis for further
thought and action, just as they can uncover the possible uncertainties, biases in approach, or limitations
relating to knowledge, ways of knowing, and the methods of verification and justification appropriate
in different areas of knowledge. 


Source IB TOK SUBJECT GUIDE 2008

Example of Knowledge Issue or Question: Can the Golden Ration of Mathematics be applied to our ideas of beauty in men and women?

May 2014 TOK essay titles and online resources

May 2014 TOK essay titles

Your theory of knowledge essay for examination must be submitted to your teacher for authentication. It must be written on one of the six titles (questions) provided below. You may choose any title, but are recommended to consult with your teacher. Your essay will be marked according to the assessment criteria published in the Theory of Knowledge guide. The focus of your essays should be on knowledge issues. Where appropriate, refer to other parts of your IB programme and to your experiences as a knower. Always justify your statements and provide relevant examples to illustrate your arguments. Pay attention to the implications of your arguments, and remember to consider what can be said against them. If you use external sources, cite them according to a recognized convention. Note that statements in quotations in these titles are not necessarily authentic: they present a real point of view but may not be direct quotes. It is appropriate to analyse them but it is unnecessary, even unwise, to spend time on researching a context for them.

Your essay must be between 1200 and 1600 words in length, double spaced and typed in

size 12 font. Use MLA referencing.

1. Ethical judgements limit the methods available in the production of knowledge in both the arts and the natural sciences. Discuss.

2. “When the only tool you have is a hammer, all problems begin to resemble nails” (Abraham Maslow). How might this apply to ways of knowing, as tools, in the pursuit of knowledge?

 

3. “Knowledge is nothing more than the systematic organisation of facts.” Discuss this statement in relation to two areas of knowledge.

4. “That which is accepted as knowledge today is sometimes discarded tomorrow.”   

5. “The historian’s task is to understand the past; the human scientist, by contrast, is looking to change the future.” To what extent is this true in these areas of knowledge?

6. “A skeptic is one who is willing to question any knowledge claim, asking for clarity in definition, consistency in logic and adequacy of evidence” (adapted from Paul Kurtz, 1994). Evaluate this approach in two areas of knowledge.

Fantastic Online Resources - How to ace the essay!

http://mrhoyestokwebsite.com/ 

http://www.timwoods.org/2011/11/13/how-to-structure-a-theory-of-knowledge-essay/

http://amyscott.com/theory_of_knowledge.htm 

I am indebted to the teachers who have shared these ideas generously on their blogs. I hope my blog is occasionally helpful to teachers and students across the globe in the IB Learning Community. We all share this marvellous journey in Theory of Knowledge. 

Our students in BD Somani International School have each been issued with a planning package in May and with a second planning package in October 2013.
 
Classroom focus for Grade 12 TOK November - December - Students will present their TOK Oral Presentation and finalise the title of their essay in November and first draft before December Break.