Week 2 - Perspectives are like maps

• Filosofie
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5

Welcome to

Theory of Knowledge

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

What will we be doing?

The plan

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

       Journal activity week 1:

Choose one everyday activity (e.g. cooking, gaming, sport) you are familiar with. Analyse this activity in three steps:

1. Explain how this activity shows how knowledge is vast, interconnected, collectively constructed and cumulative. 
2. Show how the three kinds of knowledge apply to this activity (personal experience, skill, information & ideas) . 
3. Explain a limitation of knowledge that is involved. 
4. Choose one of your DP-subjects and explain how the knowledge in this subject is limited. Discuss at least two limits. 

Before you start

Make a rough draft before you start writing in your journal.

Work neatly

You will need to hand in your journal for assessment.

*K 2.1.2

*K 2.1.3

What will we be doing?

The plan

Week 1: scope	Week 2: perspective	Week 3: methods & tools	Week 4: methods & tools
What counts as knowledge?	How do perspectives shape knowledge?	How do we justify knowledge claims?	How do reasoning and bias affect what we accept as knowledge?

The plan

Unit 1: Unravelling knowledge

Monday	Thursday
Recognising perspectives/pro's and cons	Perspectives as maps

What will we be doing?

The plan

(perspective is a key concept as well as part of the knowledge framework               )

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

In the physical world, your ‘perspective’ is the angle from which you see something. Your own eyes give you one set of observations among others possible. 

In metaphor, your ‘perspective’ is what you think about a topic, one set of thoughts among others possible. Perspectives are not static: they can change with knowledge.

Perspective

What will we be doing?

The plan

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

Your perspective

The communities we are in, form the perspectives we have. 

You belong to different communities of knowers. 

A community of knowers = a group of people who share something that impacts their knowledge about the world. 

What will we be doing?

The plan

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

Your perspective

The communities we are in, form the perspectives we have. 

You belong to different communities of knowers. 

A community of knowers = a group of people who share something that impacts their knowledge about the world. 

This might be experiences (black community), language (Turkish people, gamers), rules for interpretation (scientists), sources (religious believers), values (IB!), assumptions (tech optimists, mathematicians), etc. 

'something'...?

What will we be doing?

The plan

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

Essential understandings week 2:

• Explain what is meant by the core concept ‘perspective’ and why it matters to knowledge.
• Recognise the advantages of multiple perspectives in problem-solving, but also some of the difficulties to be overcome.
• Recognizing and identifying different communities of knowers to which the student belongs
• Argue for the importance of keeping an open mind.

What will we be doing?

The plan

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

Essential understandings week 2:

• Explain what is meant by the core concept ‘perspective’ and why it matters to knowledge.
• Recognise the advantages of multiple perspectives in problem-solving, but also some of the difficulties to be overcome.
• Recognizing and identifying different communities of knowers to which the student belongs
• Argue for the importance of keeping an open mind.

What will we be doing?

The plan

Quick task

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

Make two groups.

Identify what you think is accurate about each map.

Knowledge as a map

What will we be doing?

The plan

Quick task

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

Rank the maps in order of accuracy.

Knowledge as a map

What will we be doing?

The plan

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

Mercator-projection

• angles are accurate, works well for navigation
• zooming in/out without distortion
• size of land masses at the poles is heavily distorted
• no political information (wait a minute, why is Europe at the center?

Knowledge as a map

What will we be doing?

The plan

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

Galls-Peters projection

• relative land masses are accurate
• details at poles nearly impossible to read
• recently adopted by the UN (and other countries)

Knowledge as a map

What will we be doing?

The plan

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

The ocean floor

• shallow and deepest parts in the ocean accurate
• 
  

Knowledge as a map

What if a fish could make a map?

What will we be doing?

The plan

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

Population year 2022 

• represents countries by population
• distorts land masses and shape

Knowledge as a map

What will we be doing?

The plan

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

Polar Azimuthal Equidistant projection

• relative distances from one center point are accurate
• distortions of land masses
• useful for missile maps
• you might recognize this map..

Knowledge as a map

What will we be doing?

The plan

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

South up map / upside down map

• land masses are accurate
• challenges assumption that north is 'up' (and colonial heritage where the West is 'above' Africa, Asia)

Knowledge as a map

What will we be doing?

The plan

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

World map by countries

• political borders are accurate, easy to read
• geographical features are absent
• just a snapshot? Borders change

Knowledge as a map

What will we be doing?

The plan

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

Pacific centered world map

• accurate depiction of position of countries relative to each other
• Why start from Europe? What does your place on the map convey about value and power?
• questions the terms 'Middle-East' or 'Far East' 

Knowledge as a map

What will we be doing?

The plan

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

Conclusions about maps:

• maps are not the territory
• in choosing what features to include or highlight, values are written into maps
• maps guide our thinking processes in ways we may not be aware of
• reading a map properly means understanding what assumptions and choices are made

Knowledge as a map

*Hdr. p60-65

What will we be doing?

The plan

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

Conclusions about knowledge:

• our knowledge of the world is not the world
• each perspective or community of knowers, includes and highlights different aspects of knowledge based on values, assumptions and rules
• reflecting on our knowledge means understanding what assumptions and choices are made

Knowledge as a map

*Hdr. p60-65

What will we be doing?

The plan

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

Essential understandings week 2:

• Explain what is meant by the core concept ‘perspective’ and why it matters to knowledge.
• Recognise the advantages of multiple perspectives in problem-solving, but also some of the difficulties to be overcome.
• Recognizing and identifying different communities of knowers to which the student belongs
• Argue for the importance of keeping an open mind.

Which essential understanding is related most to the idea of knowledge as a map?

What will we be doing?

The plan

Unit 1 - Unravelling knowledge

       Journal activity week 2:

Choose a real-life issue where different communities of knowers have different perspectives. 

• Distinguish two communities involved.
• Analyse what these communities share and how they differ by using the 'guide to examining perspectives' (K.2.2.1). 

Tip

Make a rough draft before you start writing in your journal.

Work neatly

You will need to hand in your journal for assessment.

*K 2.2.1