Tok Conference IB
Feb 01, 2022
The 1st of February saw “In Fenestra”, the annual Theory of Knowledge
(TOK) Conference 2020-21, organised by the Year 1 students of IBDP, with
10th grade, ISC 11th grade and IBDP Year 2 students serving as the
audience. The TOK Conference was an oral presentation in which students
reflected on the nature of knowledge, and discerned how we know what we
claim to know, through debates and activities.
The TOK Conference 2021 attempted to shed light on the topics of accuracy of
information and beliefs. The students were divided into 4 groups that each took
on one or two knowledge questions that intrigued them, based on the core and optional themes of TOK. Due to the complicated nature of the questions, the students presented the religious or cultural background behind each while backing them with examples of books, TV shows, movies etc.
The first group, Est Artifex, questioned the creative license of artists
portraying God and the Divine. The second one, Bona Fide, debated upon
the dependence of religion on the afterlife. The third one, A Voce Magna, was an
extremely intriguing group of students who pondered on whether the more
powerful voices should be the ones who shape the facts we know and learn
each day. And lastly, In Fenestra, made use of intriguing subjects such as
optical illusions and astronomy, to argue on how what one sees can be
constrained by what one can’t see.
All in all, the conference seemed to meet its purpose- To leave the audience
pondering. From the introduction to what TOK actually is, to the never-ending
debate it triggered, the presenters never once lost the audience’s attention.