E3 Selecting and using perspectives: SACE Activating Identities and Futures
“E3 Selecting and using perspectives: actively seek, select and use relevant perspectives from people and sources to build understanding and progress your learning, including respectful consideration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives where relevant”
E3 is about actively seeking varied, relevant perspectives from experts, users, community members and sources, using them to shape your learning, and synthesising agreements and differences into your own direction. Engage respectfully, seek cultural advice where relevant, and record how each perspective changed your thinking.
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What this criterion asks
E3, Selecting and using perspectives, asks you to seek out and use other people's knowledge and viewpoints to build your understanding. The subject outline says students "actively seek perspectives to build their understanding and ideas when exploring their topic". E3 is assessed mainly in the Portfolio (AT1).
The answer
Where perspectives come from
- Experts and practitioners: people who do this work (a mechanic, a nurse, an artist).
- Users and audiences: the people your Output of Learning is for.
- Community members: people affected by your topic, including different cultural groups.
- Published sources: articles, books, videos, podcasts, reports.
- Peers and family: people with lived experience.
Select, use, synthesise
- Select perspectives that are relevant and varied, not just the easiest to find.
- Use them: explain how each changed your thinking or your plan.
- Synthesise them: combine agreements and differences into your own informed direction.
| Grade | E3 standard |
|---|---|
| A | Selects and synthesises relevant perspectives to progress the learning |
| B | Selects and uses relevant perspectives to progress the learning |
| C | Includes perspectives to progress the learning |
| D | Acknowledges the purpose of identified perspectives related to an area of interest |
| E | Identifies individuals or groups related to the area of interest |
Respectful engagement
The subject outline asks students to be respectful of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and perspectives, and to consider and/or seek cultural advice about what to include and discuss. More generally: ask permission, acknowledge sources, represent views fairly and protect people's privacy.
Learning Goal: to learn to train a rescue dog with anxiety.
- Perspectives sought: a dog trainer (reward-based methods), a vet (health causes of anxiety), a rescue organisation volunteer (common behaviours in rescue dogs), and online forums of other owners.
- Selection: the forum advice conflicted and was not evidence-based, so it was given less weight.
- Synthesis: the vet ruled out health causes first; the trainer's gradual exposure method was combined with the volunteer's tip about routine.
- Evidence: interview notes and a reflection on why each perspective was trusted or not.
- Only using internet searches
- Talk to real people with relevant experience.
- Listing who you spoke to without saying what changed
- Show the effect on your learning.
- Treating all perspectives as equally reliable
- Explain why you gave some more weight.
Practice questions
Original practice questions graded from foundation to exam level, each with a full worked solution. Try them before revealing the solution.
foundation3 marksIdentify three different perspectives a student should seek for the Learning Goal 'to design a proposal for a youth mental health peer-support program at my school'.Show worked solution →
- Students who might use the program (what they would find helpful or off-putting).
- The school counsellor or wellbeing leader (safety, referral processes, what works).
- A youth mental health organisation's published guidance (evidence-based approaches to peer support).
Marking guide: 1 mark per relevant, distinct perspective.
core4 marksTwo perspectives conflict: a café owner says social media is the best way to market a small business, while a marketing lecturer says local partnerships work better for new cafés. Show how a student could synthesise these for a Learning Goal about launching a weekend coffee cart.Show worked solution →
The student compares the reasons behind each view: social media reaches many people cheaply but takes time to build a following; local partnerships (with the sports club and markets) give immediate access to customers.
Synthesis: start with two local partnerships for guaranteed early sales, while posting photos from those events to build a social media following over time.
The student records both perspectives, the reasoning, and how the combined approach shaped the plan, showing selection and synthesis rather than just listing opinions.
Marking guide: 1 mark for identifying the reasons behind each view, 2 marks for a synthesis that combines them, 1 mark for recording how it progressed the learning.
exam5 marksA student's Learning Goal is to create a short documentary about their local area's history. Explain how they should select and use perspectives, including Aboriginal perspectives, responsibly.Show worked solution →
- Range of perspectives: long-time residents, the local historical society, council records, and Traditional Owners of the land, so the history is not told from one viewpoint.
- Aboriginal perspectives: make contact through the appropriate local Aboriginal organisation or land council, seek permission before recording or using stories, ask how people wish to be acknowledged, and follow advice on what is appropriate to share (some knowledge may be restricted).
- Selecting and synthesising: compare accounts, note differences (such as the meaning of "settlement"), and decide how the documentary will represent them fairly.
- Evidence: interview notes, consent forms, reflections on how each perspective changed the documentary.
This meets E3 and the subject outline's guidance to be respectful and to consider or seek cultural advice.
Marking guide: 1 mark for a range of perspectives, 2 marks for respectful engagement with Aboriginal perspectives, 1 mark for synthesis, 1 mark for evidence.