Theory of Knowledge and Senior Project Course Descriptions Bob Girton School phone: 363-7142 Home phone: (513) 381-8111 Cell: (513) 300-9241 E-mail: rgirton@cinci.rr.com Theory of Knowledge and Senior Project are year-long courses designed to give seniors the opportunity to reconsider previously learned knowledge. Students will receive a semester credit for both courses. On Monday and Tuesday of each school week, Senior Project will be the focus of our work in class. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of each school week, Theory of Knowledge will be the focus of our work in class. Students will receive grades for both courses for all four quarters of the academic year. These two courses are the mandatory twelfth grade Social Studies courses which Clark students must complete to graduate from Clark Montessori School. There are two basic questions which drive the work we do in both Theory of knowledge and Senior Project. These questions are: What do I know is true? How do I know that this knowledge is true? By examining and reexamining these questions through the content of Theory of Knowledge and the creation of a Senior Project, students are able to grasp the enormous challenges that these two questions pose for all of us. At the same time, a savoring of these questions instills in each of us a sense of awe, responsibility and wonder of being alive that Maria Montessori considered the heart of her educational philosophy. The work of Theory of Knowledge is arranged around curricular units. These curricular units are meant to be a spiraling curriculum, i.e. by learning the problems associated with all knowledge acquisition, students are then able to explore the problems of knowledge associated with a particular field such as science, mathematics, or ethics and to make connections between different fields of knowledge. The work of Senior Project is arranged by quarter. The focus of first quarter is the development of a research proposal, the focus of second and third quarter is the development and refinement of that research investigation and the focus of the fourth quarter is the presentation of that investigation. Please refer to the individual curricular units in Theory of Knowledge and the quarterly packets for Senior Project for information about the specific work, due dates and methods of assessment for each of these courses. The nature of the work in both courses is meant to be intellectually stimulating as well as community building. On the one hand, to be valuable and significant in one’s life, the task of knowledge acquisition must be a task that the individual pursues by himself. This work is intellectually stimulating because it addresses the most fundamental questions of our existence like, “Who am I?” and “What is the purpose of my life?” On the other hand, this work builds community because we begin to recognize the common threads in our individual struggles and the wisdom of listening to other people’s insights. For that reason, peer tutoring and seminars play a significant role in both courses. Please feel free to contact me through the school year through phone or e-mail if you have any questions about these courses. You are certainly welcome to visit our deliberations at any time!