Perspective Web with String and Sticky Notes

  We are currently inquiry into Where We Are In Place and Time with central idea of Migration is a response to human circumstances. During our Making Conclusions stage of inquiry, students considered their key understandings about each century of Australian migration using a visible thinking routine Here Now There Then. However, we could only explore perspective thoroughly if we considered all points of view.

  As we were listening to an expert group share their research about Australian migration in the 1700s, I noticed students had only considered two points of view. As there was four major migration groups we had researched within Australia at the time including First Australians, First Fleet, Convicts and Free Settlers, we actually had a total of 12 perspectives to consider.

  To demonstrate these multiple perspectives visually I quickly grabbed a ball of string and a box of sticky notes. I asked for four volunteers to represent each of the four major migration groups. I stretched the string between the two perspectives they had already identified and then asked students to locate the 10 remaining connections.

  Their eyes widened when they could see and touch these perspectives. Together students explored each perspective by placing sticky notes onto the string to consider the stances, judgements, feelings and values of the people during that period in time.

  It worked so well that we repeated the perspective web to explore the 1800s. The next expert group had researched an additional major migration group. Therefore we now had a total of 20 perspectives to consider. This time we took to writeable surfaces to explore our thinking.