The IB Core

Students pursuing the IB Diploma also have the opportunity to complete the IB Diploma Program Core. The IB Core is made up of three components designed to broaden and deepen students' perspective, experience, thinking skills. The aim of the IB Core components are to help students develop as Learners who see themselves as important actors in a Global society.

Theory of Knowledge is a two-year course required for all students pursuing the IB Diploma.

Course Description

The interdisciplinary TOK course is designed to develop a coherent approach to learning that transcends and unifies the academic areas and encourages appreciation of other cultural perspectives. The theory of knowledge course is in part intended to encourage students to reflect on the huge cultural shifts worldwide around the digital revolution and the information economy. The extent and impact of the changes vary greatly in different parts of the world, but everywhere their implications for knowledge are profound. Theory of knowledge encourages critical thinking about knowledge itself and aims to help young people make sense of that they encounter. Its core content focuses on questions such as the following:

• How do we know what we know?

• What counts as knowledge?

• What are its limits?

• Who owns knowledge?

• What is the value of knowledge?

• What are the implications of having, or not having, knowledge?

TOK activities and discussions aim to help students discover and express their views on knowledge issues. The course encourages students to share ideas with others and to listen and learn from what others think. In this process students' thinking and their understanding of knowledge as a human construction are shaped, enriched, and deepened. Connections may be made between knowledge encountered in different Diploma Programme subjects, in CAS experience or in extended essay research, and distinctions between different kinds of knowledge may be clarified.

Aims & Objectives

The aims for the TOK course are for you to:

• to encourage students to reflect on the central question, “How do we know that?”, and to recognize the value of asking that question

• to expose students to ambiguity, uncertainty and questions with multiple plausible answers

• to equip students to effectively navigate and make sense of the world, and help prepare them to encounter novel and complex situations

• to encourage students to be more aware of their own perspectives and to reflect critically on their own beliefs and assumptions

• to engage students with multiple perspectives, foster open-mindedness and develop intercultural understanding

• to encourage students to make connections between academic disciplines by exploring underlying concepts and by identifying similarities and differences in the methods of inquiry used in different areas of knowledge

• to prompt students to consider the importance of values, responsibilities and ethical concerns relating to the production, acquisition, application and communication of knowledge.

After successfully completing this course, you should be able to do the following:

• demonstrate TOK thinking through the critical examination of knowledge questions

• identify and explore links between knowledge questions and the world around us

• identify and explore links between knowledge questions and areas of knowledge

• develop relevant, clear and coherent arguments

• use examples and evidence effectively to support a discussion

• demonstrate awareness and evaluation of different points of view

• consider the implications of arguments and conclusions.

Please click here to access the TOK Syllabus and Course description website.

The Extended Essay offers the opportunity for IB students to investigate a topic of special interest, usually one of the student's six DP subjects, and acquaints them with the independent research and writing skills expected at university. It is intended to promote high-level research and writing skills, intellectual discovery and creativity - resulting in approximately 40 hours of work.

The Extended Essay provides students with an opportunity to engage in personal research on a topic of their choice, under the guidance of a supervisor. This leads to a major piece of formally presented, structured writing of no more than 4,000 words, in which ideas and findings are communicated in a reasoned and coherent manner, appropriate to the subject.

It is recommended that students follow the completion of the written essay with a short, concluding interview - viva voce - with the supervisor. In situations where interviews are required prior to acceptance for employment or for a place at university, the extended essay had proved to be a valuable stimulus for discussion.

Please click here to access the CHS Extended Essay Guide.

Creativity, activity, and service are at the heart of the Diploma programme, involving students in a range of activities that take place alongside their academic studies throughout the IB Diploma Programme. The component's three strands, often interwoven with particular activities, are characterized as follows:

Creativity - arts and other experiences that involve creative thinking

Activity - physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle, complementing academic work

Service - an unpaid and voluntary exchange that has a learning benefit for the student.

(CAS) encourages students to be involved in activities as individuals and as part of a team that take place in local, national, and international contexts. Creativity, action, service enables students to enhance their personal and interpersonal development as well as their social and civic development, through experiential learning, lending an important counterbalance to the academic pressures of the rest of the IB Diploma Programme. It should be both challenging and enjoyable - a personal journey of self-discovery that recognizes each student's individual starting point.

Activities should provide:

• real, purposeful activities, with significant outcomes

• personal challenge - tasks must extend the student and be achievable in scope

• thoughtful consideration, such as planning, reviewing progress and reporting

• reflection on outcomes and personal learning.

Students in the IB Diploma program must demonstrate 18 months of involvement in CAS activities through ongoing incidental evidence collection and periodic reflective responses. In addition to regular CAS activities, each student is also responsible for planning and executing an individual CAS Project.