Teaching article
Two civic sources may be repeating the same claim
Ask who produced a source, what it discusses and why it was created before relying on it.
Finding the same sentence twice does not necessarily give it two independent foundations. Look for authorship, purpose and the original evidence before deciding how much confidence to place in a civic explanation.
Compare author, purpose, date and evidence. Two pages repeating the same unsupported statement do not necessarily provide independent confirmation.
An opinion about a playground describes a viewpoint; a service page may identify the managing authority.
Trace the information further back
Name each source's author or organisation. Identify its purpose. Decide which question it can reasonably help answer.
An opinion and a service record serve different purposes. Which source supports the specific factual question?
Provide clearly labelled, short source extracts.
Resources
- Who Does What? Government Power Match — Use the responsibility matching activity for a separate checked-service comparison.
Further reading
- Parliamentary Education Office — classroom activities
- Australian Electoral Commission — Democracy Rules
Read next
- Community consultation that leaves a way to answer quietly
- Rules and laws: who gets to change them?
- A classroom message that explains representation
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