On March 20th, 2024, the BISP Year 12 cohort took one of their first steps towards completing the IB Diploma by participating in the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) Exhibition in the school auditorium. The exhibition asks the students to identify and explain how TOK manifests itself in the real world. It is quite a daunting task for these fledgling philosophers. 

TOK is a core element of the IBDP. All students must successfully navigate this course and demonstrate their knowledge in the form of the TOK Exhibition in Year 12 and, completing The TOK Essay in Year 13.

In the TOK Exhibition, the students have to choose from a list of 35 prompts. Questions such as ‘Why do we seek knowledge?’, ‘What is the relationship between knowledge and culture?’, and ‘Who owns knowledge”. The students then identify three real-world objects that act as examples to answer their chosen prompt. This, combined with their newly acquired knowledge of concepts learned in TOK classes, acts as a way to bring TOK into reality for the students.

The exhibition in the auditorium acts not as the finished work, but rather as part of the process in their exploration of the prompt and tests whether or not their chosen objects are worthy of inclusion in their final work, which is a 950-word essay-styled commentary.

The students presented their ideas to their peers, Y13 students, parents, and teachers in an energetic engagement of discussions. There was a very positive response from all attendees and visiting parents commented extremely positively and claimed that they had gained a better understanding of what exactly their children are doing in the mysterious subject of TOK.