STUDENT RESOURCE

Finding another perspective

determining and actively seeking alternative perspectives
to enhance our understanding of an issue

Purpose Instructions

37
This strategy helps me • Identify the perspective reflected in the source you already have (if there
think of other groups and is one).
individuals that might
• Brainstorm all the other stakeholders (people or groups who might be
have an important opinion
affected by or have an interest in the event or issue).

Finding another
and additional information
• Speculate how each stakeholders’ perspective might be different and why

perspective
about an issue or event.
each perspective is important.
• Select those groups or individuals whose perspective is likely to be most
useful in expanding your understanding of the issue or event.
For a sample use of the • Brainstorm various places where you might find out about each perspective.
strategy, see the next page. • Actively search for alternative perspectives.

Finding another perspective 11 © The Critical Thinking Consortium

 STUDENT RESOURCE

PLE
SAMuse of the strategy

Finding another perspective

Issue Restricting internet use in school
perspective
Finding another

Current perspective Teachers, and possibly the principal, who think students misuse the
internet and that internet use should be restricted.

Stakeholders
Teacher-librarians
Students
School board officials
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Parents Issue:
Should we ban Police officers
internet use
Teachers who use in school?
the internet with
their classes Advertisers

Stakeholders Rationale Rate usefulness Where could I learn

about this perspective?
List the Why is it important to Is the perspective likely to Identify the people, organizations
stakeholders consider this perspective? be significantly different? newspapers/magazines, articles/books,
from the Will the perspective increase websites, films, blogs, DVDs, and any other
web above. your understanding other places/things you can search to find
of the issue? more information on these perspectives.
Students - they are most affected by the issue Not Very - survey students
- we need to find out how many are misusing useful useful - interview students
the internet - check the student newspaper for articles
- they should have a chance to tell us how on this issue
it will affect their ability to do their school - check if Statistics Canada or local/national
work newspapers have articles on how teenagers
- many uses of the internet are legitimate use the internet

Parents - parents might be worried about what sites

Not Very - attend a parent council meeting
students have access to at school - interview or survey parents
useful useful
- parents might not have internet access at
home and they might rely on schools to
provide access for research projects

Teachers who - they will also be very affected by this issue - survey or interview teachers
Not Very
use the - if they are using the internet with their - check individual teachers’ pages on the
useful useful
classes and then we ban the internet, it school website to see what kinds of assign-
internet with
will restrict what they are teaching ments they are assigning
their classes
- if they are requiring students to use the - look at the curriculum to see if there are
internet to do research and it’s no longer any requirements about using the internet
available at school, some students might
stop handing in their work because they
can’t do it

Finding another perspective 12 © The Critical Thinking Consortium

 STUDENT RESOURCE

PLE
SAMuse of the strategy

Finding another perspective

Stakeholders Rationale Rate usefulness Where could I learn

37
about this perspective?
List the Why is it important to Is the perspective likely to Identify the people, organizations
stakeholders consider this perspective? be significantly different? newspapers/magazines, articles/books,
from the Will the perspective increase websites, films, blogs, DVDs, and any other

Finding another
web above. your understanding other places/things you can search to find
of the issue? more information on these perspectives.

perspective
Teacher- - librarians use the internet a lot to teach Not Very - talk to the teacher-librarian at our
librarians us how to search for information ef- useful useful school
fectively - check the school website to see what
- they also use the internet themselves kind of internet sites the librarian
to find sources for us for our projects recommends

School board - school board officials might be get- Not Very - check the board website to see if there
officials ting lots of complaints from teachers, useful useful is a policy on internet use
parents, and principals or maybe they
are not getting many complaints at
all—we need to find out
- this might be difficult for us to find
out, though

Police officers - police officers might be concerned Not Very - search local and national newspapers
about illegal use of the internet useful useful for statistics on crime and student use
- criminals might use social networking of the internet
sites to contact children

Advertisers - advertisers probably want to have ac- - search for articles about advertising to
cess to children through the internet Not Very children through the internet to find
all the time useful useful out how big of a problem it is
- I’m not sure we need to research this; - look on popular websites to find out
it seems obvious that they would want what type of advertising pops up
unlimited internet use at school so
they could advertise to children

Finding another perspective 13 © The Critical Thinking Consortium