Questioning Sources of Evidence: Apartheid

LEARNING OUTCOME

To question a source in order to extract information and make inferences about the time and views during a historical period.

WHAT YOU NEED

STUDENT SHEET: INFERENCE SHEET
STUDENT SHEET: QUESTIONING A SOURCE
BACKGROUND INFORMATION

WHAT TO DO

Ask students what they know about apartheid and share information from the Background Information sheet.

Give out the Student Sheet and explain that this source gives us facts, but from these, we can deduct and infer certain things about people and attitudes which prevailed during the apartheid era in South Africa. Ask what students understand by the terms inference and deduction.

Give out the Inference Template and explain to students how to use it, putting in some examples together, considering what the source tells us about apartheid, inequality, 1970, South Africa, attitudes, food  and diet, for example, the facts (what it tells you for certain) and what you can assume or infer from these facts.

In groups or pairs, allow time for students to discuss the source and add in as many ideas to the inference template as they can.  Ask groups to join with another group and compare what they have written, discussing similarities and differences and adding to their Inference Templates.

PLENARY

Ask groups to share the assumptions that they have written down. Discuss whether these can be legitimately inferred from the source – removing any which don’t fall into this category.

Ask students what, from this activity, they have learnt (knowledge about apartheid) and how they feel about what they have learnt (attitudes and reactions to apartheid). Finish by asking if students are surprised that they managed to learn and deduct as much as they did about the apartheid regime from the one source.