November 4, 2024

Agenda

1. Starter: 11/4

   “Learning happens in the minds and souls, not in the databases of multiple-choice tests.” - Ken Robinson

   • Do you agree with Ken Robinson?

   • Do you think this is the approach followed at our school?

2. Activity: Write, Pair, Share

   1. How do we usually measure the potential of human beings (in school, university, by companies, governments, etc., etc.)?

   2. Are these ways still effective, or has technology such as ChatGPT, Google, (etc.) changed the playing field? 

   3. How do you think we should assess people’s potential?

3. Group Activity: Design Task

   • Design your ‘ideal’ education system to cover the current primary, secondary, and tertiary stages of education (ie elementary, high school, and university).

     • What would your key aim/s be for students?

     • What would be taught, and how?

     • How would students’ potential and ability be assessed?

     • What other key differences would your system include?

   • Try to include some completely original ideas that are not based on present educational assumptions.

4. Activity: Write, Pair, Share (#2)

   • Make a copy of the handout describing the two ways TOK is assessed.

   • Highlight aspects you think are positive (green), and, in another color (yellow), aspects you think are negative. 

   • Be ready to share your ideas about this.

   • Discussion Questions:

     • Is it always more rigorous to have an exam at the end of a course?

     • Are exams redundant in the Google Age?

     • Has the IB got it right with an essay and an ‘exhibition’?

     • What do you think about the exhibition being public and seen by most members of your school community?

     • Should everything be assessed ‘in house’?

     • Is the balance of 66/33 right?

5. TOK Exhibition Practice

   • Related exhibition prompt: What are the implications of having, or not having, knowledge?

   • Refer to the ideas from this lesson to answer this question.

   • Which objects could help to illustrate your answer?

     • For example, are education systems structured and run effectively to provide people with knowledge? What happens when individuals and societies are cut off from knowledge because of educational deficiencies? 

6. Exit Ticket: 11/4

   • Overall, how do you feel about the way TOK is assessed? 

   • Does it seem to be about the enrichment of our ‘minds and souls’?