From Shakespeare’s Hamlet
“Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him… Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar?”
PHOTO CREDIT: Vasiliki/Getty Image
STARTING TOK
TOK FRAMEWORK
The four elements of the TOK framework provide a universal, systematic structure for approaching the core and optional themes and all five Areas of Knowledge.
1. SCOPE
What is the nature of this particular theme? What is it about? What makes it intriguing? What are some of the intrinsic strengths and limitations? For Areas of Knowledge: what is being studied, and what kinds of problems can be solved? Where are the frontiers? What are some of the current open, unanswered, or contentious questions?
2. PERSPECTIVES:
What is the role of the individual knower and in this particular theme or Area of Knowledge? What is the role of the individual in relation to others in the community of knowers in this domain. How important are different perspectives? How do individuals contribute, and what responsibilities rest upon them when they do?
What are some of the key concepts and key terms used? What metaphors pertain to this area?
3. METHODS AND TOOLS
What are some the conventions and rituals involved in this particular theme or Area of Knowledge? What methods or procedures are used? What kinds of skills or initiations are required? What assumptions underlie them? What role do models play? What is the role of technology in this domain?
4. ETHICS
What are some of the ethical constraints on the methods used in the scope of inquiry in this particular Theme or Area of Knowledge?
The Nobel prize ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, December, 2012.
Photo: Alexander Mahmoud / Copyright Nobel Media AB