Dosa, personal paintings, Stephen King’s novel, a compass, a stethoscope, and a teacher

LHS IB Theory of Knowledge Exhibition Night

Last night, I attended the 2023 Lecanto High School Junior and Senior International Baccalaureate (IB) candidates’ presentation of their Theory of Knowledge (TOK) Exhibitions. TOK is a course offered in the International Baccalaureate program, which aims to encourage students to reflect on the nature of knowledge and how it is acquired. It explores different ways of knowing, including perception, emotion, language, reason, intuition, and memory, and encourages students to question the assumptions and biases that underpin knowledge claims.

The International Baccalaureate program is one of Citrus School’s choice magnet programs, where parents choose for their student to participate in the program and apply in their 8th-grade year for acceptance their high school freshman year. It provides students with a challenging and rigorous curriculum that prepares them for success in college and beyond. The program emphasizes critical thinking and community service, and is recognized worldwide for its high academic standards.

As part of the course, students are required to complete a TOK essay, which is a 1600-word written assignment that explores a knowledge question related to the course’s themes. The TOK Exhibition is an oral presentation that accompanies the essay and requires students to demonstrate their understanding of the course’s concepts through a creative project or artifact.

Each student in the exhibition presented a personal item that represented their understanding of one of the course’s themes. The items used last night included a compass, a teacher (IB’s Dr. Ashley Shidner), personal paintings, Stephen King’s novel, a stethoscope, and, last but not least, a dosa. The dosa, a delicious South Indian dish, was a creative and unique way for TOK student Ananya Padala to showcase her understanding of the course’s themes and satisfied the hunger and spirit of those in attendance.

Through their presentations, students explained how their chosen item related to the course’s concepts and demonstrated their ability to think critically and creatively about the nature of knowledge. Attendees of the exhibition had the opportunity to ask questions of the students about their presentations, allowing for a deeper exploration of the themes and concepts covered in the course. I am so proud of these students and loved the opportunity to learn from them.

I want to thank all the IB and general education teachers who attended and support their students at the TOK event, and each and every day. I want to give a special thanks to IB coordinator Jessica Price for putting together another great event!

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