ToK Moments

It's Thursday morning, a pretty usual school day. I just sat through yet another Theory of Knowledge presentation (ToK) and it got me thinking. Theory of Knowledge is a course mandatory for all IB students, in order for us to become 'critical thinkers.' In the end of the course, which at RCN ends after the third term, everyone has to do a ToK Essay and a ToK Presentation. I don't want to go into more detail, because most people taking the course probably still wouldn't be able to explain to you exactly what it is.

Today, my friend Alonso (Peru) had a presentation of our aesthetic perception. He was talking a lot about how for example the layout of an university website defines part of our final decision. This made me think. I have gone on to many university sites, after reading just a big about them on CollegeBoard. Many times I haven't been too impressed about the school from reading and have then gone on to an unorganized and to be not very pleasing website leading to me often not giving the school much consideration. The other day I went on a virtual tour of a Campus and even from pictures of a school I had really liked from reading, I didn't find it the buildings and the feeling I got from this very personal and therefore not very pleasing to me. I think this had a big impact on me as I went on to further reading and learning about the school (that I have now decided probably not to apply to anyways.)

Some of our discussions after the presentation made me think about my schooling and how we learn differently. I remember when I took piano lessons, how I had a very clear way of learning. If I got a piece to learn for the next lesson and my teacher didn't play it for me before leaving, it could take me a very long time to get it right, but if she just played it once I would remember and hear it right away if I played a wrong tune. In that way it always  worked much better for me to hear and get things explained than to read them myself. It made me thin of how weird it is that no more research or effort has been put into developing people's different ways of learning. If someone is very visual vs. someone very oral and everything is taught in lectures, do we really give everybody the same fair opportunities for education? I don't know. I just wanted to share some thoughts as I am waiting and waiting for the big university decision e-mail.

Tonight we have advisor movie/Christmas night. I think we are watching one of my favorites "The Polar Express", eating Christmas cookies and drinking Gløgg (traditional Nordic Christmas drink, in this case non-alcoholic).

8 more days until home!