The TOK course
The TOK course consists of three interlinked elements: the areas of knowledge, the optional themes, and the core theme. As you explore each one, you’ll meet a host of brilliant ideas, life-changing thinkers, and thought-provoking events and issues.
Follow the links below to access a huge amount of free and premium material to help you take ownership of the TOK course, and create brilliant assessment tasks at the end of your journey.
Explore the TOK course themes
TOK core theme
The AOKs and themes help to define us as knowers, which we focus on within the core theme – knowledge and the knower – as well as looking at the different communities of knowers to which we belong. Explore core quotes, knowledge questions, real-world issues, and key thinkers here.
TOK optional themes
The five optional themes – indigenous societies, language, politics, religion, and technology – are our personal and societal affiliations which shape the way we produce and acquire knowledge. Explore quotes, knowledge questions, real-world issues, and key thinkers related to them here.
TOK areas of knowledge
The five areas of knowledge – the arts, history, human sciences, mathematics, and natural sciences – represent the the ways we categorize ideas and concepts in order to understand and take ownership of them. Explore quotes, knowledge questions, real-world issues, and key thinkers related to them here.
Receive regular updates about TOK
Our free TOK newsletter provides you with monthly news stories related to TOK, enabling you to explore the AOKs, optional themes, and core theme within an authentic context, and understand how TOK concepts manifest in the world around us. Subscribe here.
How does the TOK course fit together?
The optional themes are our personal and societal affiliations which shape the way we produce and acquire knowledge.
The areas of knowledge the the ways in which we categorize ideas and concepts in order to understand and take ownership of them.
Both the themes and the AOKs help to define us as knowers, which we focus on within the core theme – knowledge and the knower – as well as looking at the different communities of knowers to which we belong.
Exploration points
Explore the quotes, KQs, real-world issues, and ideas that feature on the site via discussion points and unpacking ideas, links to additional media sources, guidance on using the key concepts of TOK, and other suggestions. To gain access to the exploration points, become a member.
Join theoryofknowledge.net
Members of the site have access to a huge amount of resources for TOK, including a complete course of classroom-ready lessons, the monthly newsletter, our DP Integration Tool, Investigating Issues, Knowledge Heroes, and loads more goodies! Join in seconds via this page.
