DP essentials
TOK Knowledge Questions
A central part of the teaching of TOK, according to the 2020 Subject Guide, is the use of 'knowledge questions'. It is worth reading closely the relevant section of the Guide (pages 11-13), not least...
DP essentials
TOK Guide 2020
The TOK Guide which came into effect from September 2020 provides a somewhat simpler programme and approach than the previous one (2015). What I present here is a brief summary of the overall framework,...
Blog
Language and prejudice Free
On television a few nights ago, I watched a film I’d never even heard of before - ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’. It’s an elegant black and white Hollywood quality production, directed by Elia Kazan and starring...
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Blog
Appropriate? Free
In Paper 1 Writing, in May, students will have to decide which text type is ‘appropriate’ for the task they choose. But what does ‘appropriate’ mean… and how will students recognize which is the most...
DP essentials
TASKS Newspeak
George Orwell's novel 1984 imagines a bleak world in which England is completely controlled by a totalitarian Party, led by the supreme leader Big Brother. The novel is often considered the classic dystopia...
eBook
TASKS Covid rule breaking
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on all human societies. As with all stress-tests, this impact has raised questions, and perhaps reveals truths, about how those societies work. The article...
Blog
The Crown Free
I have been watching the series The Crown on Netflix. I find it impressive. To start with, the settings are often spectacular – for example, the many interior shots of the vast and over-decorated Buckingham...
Assessment
TASKS Bungling burglars
. Not all news reports are heavy and serious, and this is an example of one news report which is simply entertaining - the event reported is scarcely earth-shaking and has no wide importance. It's simply...
Building a programme
Design principles Free
All teachers will have some ideas about how an English B course programme should be put together. I have labelled these ideas 'design principles'. These ideas will include their own preferred ways of...
Building a programme
TASKS Analysing a pamphlet
. You may well ask "What are conceptual understandings... and how do I find them?" This page provides practice in how to find the main conceptual understandings in a text - and that means how to look...