Ask whose stories the resource actually includes

Identify the voices and experiences represented in the account before looking for gaps. A missing viewpoint is a reason to seek appropriate additional sources, not permission to create imagined testimony on someone else's behalf.

One official account may not describe every group's experience.

Extend the inquiry without inventing a voice

Look for appropriate additional sources rather than supplying imagined perspectives. Identifying a gap is the beginning of further inquiry, not permission to invent testimony.

Identify included voices. Note absent viewpoints. Find appropriate further sources.

Do not invent missing voices.

What additional source would help? Use an educator-led discussion.

Resources

• Interview Someone Special — Adapt the interview prompts with voluntary participation and agreed permissions.

Further reading

• National Museum of Australia — Digital Classroom

Read next

• Selecting First Nations resources: start with authority and context
• A local place-name inquiry should not guess at a translation
• Personal preference is not a rule about a culture

Explore Respectful cultural and historical inquiry. Browse all teaching articles.