Theory of Knowledge
G3N tutors you through the full International Theory of Knowledge syllabus offline — from Asking questions: 'Why?' and 'How do we know?', My senses and what they tell me, True and false: the difference between fact and pretend and more — with adaptive lessons, instant quizzes, flashcards and exam-ready summaries.
Syllabus
What you’ll cover in Theory of Knowledge.
The complete topic outline G3N teaches, mapped to the International curriculum.
Phase 1 (KG)
9 topicsAsking questions: 'Why?' and 'How do we know?'
My senses and what they tell me
True and false: the difference between fact and pretend
Sharing what I know: telling, showing, drawing
Different people, different ideas
Wondering and curiosity as a way of learning
Stories and what they teach us
Being fair and honest in what we say
Noticing what is the same and what is different
Phase 2 (Grades 1-2)
10 topicsHow do we find things out? (asking, looking, reading, experimenting)
Evidence: how do we know something is true?
The difference between opinion and fact
How our feelings affect what we notice
Learning from mistakes
Different points of view: seeing things differently
Stories and myths as ways of explaining the world
Questions that have one answer vs questions with many answers
Why we disagree: exploring different perspectives
Experts: who do we trust and why?
Phase 3 (Grades 3-4)
10 topicsKnowledge from experience vs knowledge from being told
Bias: how our background shapes what we believe
The role of memory in knowledge
How language shapes what we can think about
Scientific knowledge: observation, experiment, conclusion
Historical knowledge: how we know about the past
Knowledge in mathematics: why do we trust proofs?
Ethics and knowledge: is knowing something enough to do the right thing?
The difference between knowing, believing, and guessing
Changing what we think: when new evidence arrives
Phase 4 (Grades 5-6)
10 topicsHow we come to know: perception, reason, emotion and language
Certainty and doubt in different areas of knowledge
Assumptions: things we believe without questioning
Cross-cultural knowledge: does knowledge vary across cultures?
Indigenous ways of knowing and their validity
The limits of personal knowledge
Digital literacy: evaluating online information
Knowledge and power: who decides what counts as knowledge?
Ethical knowledge: universal values vs cultural practices
Preparing for disciplinary thinking: how different subjects approach truth
MYP 1 (Grade 6)
8 topicsWhat is knowledge? Definitions and types
Personal knowledge vs shared knowledge
How we know: sense perception and reason
How do we know what is true?
Knowledge in different subject areas
Asking good questions: essential questions
Bias and perspective in everyday life
Introduction to argument: claim, evidence, reasoning
MYP 2 (Grade 7)
8 topicsLanguage and knowledge: how words shape meaning
Emotion and knowledge: trust and intuition
Knowledge in natural sciences: the scientific method and its limits
Knowledge in history: how historians construct the past
Fake news and misinformation: evaluating sources
Ethics: moral knowledge and dilemmas
Cultural perspectives on knowledge
The role of creativity in knowledge
MYP 3 (Grade 8)
8 topicsIndigenous knowledge systems: oral traditions, ecological knowledge
Mathematical knowledge: certainty and proof
Artistic knowledge: can art tell us true things?
Technology and knowledge: algorithms, AI, and what we know
Consensus and disagreement in knowledge communities
Knowledge and authority: experts, institutions, governments
Ethics of knowledge: what should we know? What should be secret?
Conceptual understanding: how concepts help and limit thinking
MYP 4-5 (Grades 9-10)
10 topicsTheory of knowledge as an academic discipline
How disciplines build knowledge: scope, perspectives, methods and ethics
Applying TOK to all MYP subject areas
Interdisciplinary knowledge: connections across disciplines
Paradigm shifts: how fundamental knowledge changes
Objectivity and subjectivity across disciplines
Responsibility and knowledge: acting on what we know
Preparing for DP TOK: essays, exhibitions, and oral argument
Evaluating rival interpretations of the same evidence
Real-life situations as springboards for TOK inquiry
The knower: perspective, identity and intellectual humility
8 topicsWhat does it mean to know something?
Personal knowledge: experience, memory, and individual perspective
Shared knowledge: how communities build and validate knowledge
The knower's perspective: how identity shapes what and how we know
Intellectual humility: recognising the limits of one's own knowledge
Biases and assumptions in the pursuit of knowledge
The relationship between personal and shared knowledge
Knowledge and responsibility: ethical obligations that come with knowing
Language and the expression of knowledge
8 topicsLanguage and thought: how language shapes what we can think
Translation and conceptual loss across languages
Metaphor and framing: how language influences perception
The limits of language in expressing knowledge
Language and power: who controls the terms of debate?
Technical language vs natural language in knowledge communities
Silence and what cannot be said: knowledge beyond words
Digital communication and changes in how knowledge spreads
Technology as a producer and filter of knowledge
8 topicsHow technology extends and transforms human knowledge
Algorithms and artificial intelligence as knowledge producers
The filter bubble: how digital platforms shape what we know
Big data: promise and limitations as a source of knowledge
Digital literacy and evaluating online knowledge claims
Technology and surveillance: knowledge, privacy, and power
Scientific knowledge and technological application
Ethical responsibilities of technological knowledge-makers
Political knowledge: contestation, expertise and power
8 topicsPolitical knowledge: how it is produced, contested, and legitimised
Propaganda and the manipulation of shared knowledge
Democracy and the epistemic commons: who counts as a knower?
Expertise and populism: trust in political knowledge claims
Knowledge and ideology: how beliefs shape perception of facts
International relations and contested historical narratives
Freedom of information and the politics of secrecy
Citizen knowledge: participatory democracy and local expertise
Religious knowledge: faith, reason and revelation
8 topicsFaith and reason as sources of knowledge
Religious knowledge systems: revelation, scripture, tradition
Comparing religious and scientific explanations
Mystical experience as a source of knowledge
Ethics and religion: moral knowledge from religious frameworks
Secularism and the place of religious knowledge in public life
Interfaith dialogue and the limits of religious knowledge claims
Religious art, ritual, and symbol as carriers of knowledge
Indigenous knowledge systems and their transmission
8 topicsDefining indigenous knowledge: characteristics and diversity
Oral traditions as a knowledge system
Ecological and environmental knowledge in indigenous cultures
Relationships between indigenous and Western knowledge systems
Colonialism and the suppression of indigenous knowledge
Intellectual property and ownership of indigenous knowledge
Repatriation of cultural knowledge and artefacts
Integrating indigenous knowledge in education and research
Method and certainty in the natural sciences
8 topicsScientific method: observation, hypothesis, experiment, theory
Paradigm shifts and scientific revolutions (Kuhn)
The role of mathematics in natural science
Limits of scientific knowledge: what science cannot address
Objectivity and observer effects in scientific measurement
Ethics in scientific research and publication
Science and technology: knowledge vs application
Falsifiability (Popper) and the demarcation problem
Studying people: method and objectivity in the human sciences
8 topicsMethods in human sciences: qualitative vs quantitative approaches
Challenges of objectivity when studying human behaviour
The role of models and theories in psychology, economics, sociology
Replication crisis: implications for human science knowledge
Prediction in human sciences: possibilities and limits
Ethics of conducting research on people
Cross-cultural validity of human science findings
Free will and determinism in human sciences
Evidence and interpretation in history
8 topicsWhat counts as historical evidence?
Perspectives and bias in historical accounts
The role of the historian: selection and interpretation
Collective memory vs historical record
Causation, correlation, and contingency in history
Counter-factual history: what if things had gone differently?
Historiography: how historical knowledge changes over time
Oral history and its status as evidence
Meaning and interpretation in the arts
8 topicsCan art convey knowledge? Aesthetic experience as knowing
Interpretation and the role of the audience
Intention vs reception: what the artist means vs what we understand
Art and emotion: empathy and the ethics of representation
Cultural context and the meaning of art
Criticism and evaluation: standards in aesthetic judgment
Art as political or social knowledge
Creativity and originality: what makes an artwork new?
Proof, axioms and certainty in mathematics
8 topicsMathematical proof as the highest standard of certainty
Axioms and the foundations of mathematics
The unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in describing reality
Mathematical beauty: aesthetics and elegance in proofs
Invented or discovered: the ontology of mathematical objects
Infinity and the limits of mathematical intuition
Applied vs pure mathematics: knowledge for its own sake
Gödel's incompleteness theorems and the limits of formal systems
Ethics in the pursuit and application of knowledge
8 topicsEthical constraints on what knowledge may be sought, funded or published
Ethical theories as tools for judging knowledge claims: consequentialism, deontology, virtue ethics, care ethics
Moral relativism vs moral universalism across knowledge communities
The is-ought gap (Hume): deriving values from facts
Applied ethics in practice: bioethics, environmental ethics, business ethics
Responsibility of the knower: acting on what one knows
The role of emotion and reason in moral judgment
Ethical dilemmas and the limits of moral theory
Reflective essay on knowledge questions
8 topicsChoosing and unpacking a prescribed title
Identifying genuine knowledge questions within the title
Constructing a central argument (thesis)
Selecting relevant Areas of Knowledge and themes
Developing real-life examples and case studies as evidence
Acknowledging counter-arguments and alternative perspectives
Structuring the essay: introduction, body, conclusion
Academic writing conventions: citing, referencing, word count
Exhibition connecting knowledge to the world
8 topicsUnderstanding the exhibition's purpose: connecting TOK to the real world
Selecting three objects or artefacts from real-world contexts
Choosing an IA prompt and developing a knowledge question
Explaining the connection of each object to the prompt
Writing the exhibition commentary for each object
Ensuring independence of objects (distinct contexts and perspectives)
Academic integrity in the exhibition
Curating and presenting the exhibition effectively
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