On Thursday 7th November the Grade 11 Theory of Knowledge students had a thought provoking session with visiting author and broadcaster Masha Hamilton. With their teachers’ guidance they formulated second order Knowledge Questions about the nature of knowledge produced in The Arts. Starting with first order questions, rooted in the memoir that Masha read from, they were able to ask about things like whether it is important that a memoir be based on primary evidence, to deeper questions concerning whether the Arts can produce knowledge, and what sort of knowledge that might be? How reliable is knowledge shared through the Arts? How might we evaluate this? How does this compare with knowledge gained in other Areas of Knowledge? This interrogation of knowledge claims is at the core of the IB Diploma programme and is one of the things that makes IBDP students stand out from students from other Gr 11 and 12 programmes.

Thanks to the TOK team, Aj.Alan, Aj.Joe, Aj.Cathy, to our Creative Director Aj.Alex, the Grade 11 TOK classes and especially to Masha Hamilton for providing an excellent example of how Prem’s visiting Artist programme enriches curriculum and student experience.