The TOK essay must be the student’s own work. The teachers will place check points during the writing process to discuss the student's essay to esnure that the development of the essay is the students own. A student will not be allowed to submit their essay to the IB without engaging in this process. There are a number of informal check-ins during the writing process and three formal check ins. The three formal check-in require students to make a note of their interaction with their teacher(s) on the ToK Planning and Progress Form. This form is required to be submitted to the IB examiner along with the essay. Students are required to complete the ToK Planning and Progress Form in ManageBac.
Formal interaction 1 - Choosing the title
The student should discuss the prescribed titles with the teacher. The final choice of title remains with the student, who should develop their own thinking and ideas.
Key things to note in your comment:
Unpacked all 6 essay titles as a class with the teacher
The prescribed title that you chose
Teacher met with small groups of students based on the question that they chose
Teacher provided an essay planning form
Formal interaction 2 - creating a plan for the essay
After choosing the title and developing their initial ideas in relation to it, the student must discuss their initial work/explorations with the teacher by sharing them in written form. For example, this could take the form of a set of notes and ideas that could then be turned into a more formal essay plan following the discussion with the teacher.
Key things to note in your comment:
Wrote a draft of the introduction
Spoke with the teacher about the AoKs and arguments to be made in the essay
Discussed with the teacher supporting examples for the arguments and counter-arguments
Formal interaction 3 - discussing teacher feedback on a full draft of the essay
The student will submit a full written draft to the teacher by the deadline given. The teacher will provide advice on how the work could be improved, which the student can choose to respond to.
Key things to note in your comment:
Submitted a draft of the essay
Teacher provided feedback on the essay and discussed it with you.
Note down some of the key improvements to make before the final submission of the essay