TaK

The Presentation

• Real-life situation• Contemporary problem

TaK

Real-life situation.

Identify some central conflict

revolving around a knowledge

issue

Tentative resolution of the central conflict in

the real-life situation

Branching Arguments

Underlying knowledge

issues

Evaluationof

Knowledge Issues

ToK vocabulary

Vocabulary ofreal-life situation

Ab

stra

ctio

n

Imp

licat

ion

s

The structure and vocabulary of a ToK Presentation

from Ric Sims

1

2 3

4

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ToK Presentation Planner

Real life SituationStart Here

UnderlyingKnowledge Issue

Other Real life Situations

Evaluation ofKnowledge Issues

Vocabulary ofReal LifeSituation

ToK Vocabulary

Ext

ract

KI

fro

m R

LS

Implications

Implications

Imp

licatio

ns

Arguments

TaK

A potential topic?

A few weeks ago you saw a video about birth control in which, among other things, a foetus was shown to feel acute pain. You decide that the real-life situation for your ToK presentation will be Abortion.

You decide first to answer for your class some basic questions concerning types of abortion, the variety of ways it is possible to induce it and a description of what you have learnt is called, “post-abortion syndrome”; then to present some comparative facts about abortion laws in different countries.

Since your presentation partner is strenuously opposed to abortion, while you think that abortion should be a choice that belongs to each woman, the class is guaranteed to hear both sides of the argument.

Everyone in the class will want to participate in the discussion your presentation is certain to provoke.

TaK

Real-life situation/contemporary problem: (Focus:……………..)

Scenario: …………………………………..

1. State your knowledge issue clearly

2. Show how it arises from your selected real-life situation

3. Develop it

4. Demonstrate how it could be applied back to your real-life situation and others

TaK

Real-life situation/contemporary problem: (Focus: History)

Scenario: Demonstration in China against a new history textbook in Japan

Knowledge Issues: • “How is it decided what history is taught in schools?”• “How can we safeguard against bias?”• “Can we talk about historical truth?”• ….others?

TaK

Strategies for finding topics

• Think about any cause, local or global, that you support

• Think about your favourite IB subject. Consider topics within it that interest you most

• Think about items from the news that have caught your attention

• Think about experiences you have had

Whatever your topic, you have to be able to formulate at least one good question about knowledge from it.