Sixth Form News
Lower Sixth IB students 'Explore the World's Knowledge'
In common with all International Baccalaureate students worldwide, our sixth form girls take a course called Theory of Knowledge (TOK).
This is a core element of the IB Diploma programme. It encourages critical thinking about knowledge itself, to try to help young people make sense of what they encounter. We ask questions like these: What counts as knowledge? How does it grow? What are its limits? Who owns knowledge? What is the value of knowledge? What are the implications of having, or not having, knowledge?
To start the TOK course for this year's Lower Sixth students, we arranged an outing to 'Explore the World's Knowledge': a workshop at the British Library. We investigated how the library's breathtaking quantity of knowledge is stored, categorised and accessed, through a series of entertaining activities.
One of the most engaging tasks involved identifying the origin and nature of a diverse selection of books. The girls were also introduced to King George III's magnificent personal library, donated to the British Library for public use by his son, King George IV.
The day's activity was completed with an interactive tour of the library's 1968 Exhibition, before the return journey to Bedford.
