Deepening the Connection

Overview

Subject: History
Level: NCEA Level 3 / Year 13
Curriculum Alignment: Social Sciences – New Zealand Curriculum
Big Ideas (NZC):

• The past informs our identities, values, and actions.
• Aotearoa New Zealand has a unique history shaped by the relationships and interactions between Māori and non-Māori.
• The impact of colonisation continues to influence Aotearoa today.
• People seek to understand, question, and transform systems of power.

Learning Intention

Students will explore practical ways to embed the principles of Te Tiriti through meaningful actions across the eight New Zealand Curriculum learning areas, using historical and present-day examples of partnership, protection, and participation – all framed within the goals of equity, respect, and inclusion.

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Success Criteria

By the end of the session, ākonga will:

• Identify examples of respect-based partnerships from Aotearoa’s past.
• Connect the concepts of participation and protection to modern learning environments and other curriculum areas.
• Develop a cross-curricular action idea in group settings that empowers all ākonga and honours Indigenous knowledge systems authentically.

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Resources Needed

• A3 paper and markers
• Sticky notes
• Printed curriculum area overviews (brief)
• Video clip: Short kōrero or oral history from a kaumātua (in-class offline resource)
• Cards with each of the eight learning areas written on them
• Whiteboard or digital screen

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Detailed Lesson Breakdown – Total Time: 60 Minutes

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🌀 1. Whakawhānaungatanga – Welcome & Connect (10 mins)

Purpose: Connect individually and collectively, setting a respectful tone.

Activity:

• Begin with a karakia or short whakataukī (e.g., He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata).
• Circle kōrero: Ask each student to name one way they’ve seen relationships, knowledge, or cultural practices respected within school or community learning (pair-share first, then selectively share aloud).

Teaching Strategy: Tuakana-teina dynamic encouraged — students who are confident can guide others.

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🧭 2. Engage with History – Video & Discussion (10 mins)

Purpose: Connect with historical grounding of respectful partnership.

Activity:

• Play a 3-minute offline video: snippet of a kaumātua discussing pre-colonial knowledge sharing systems, such as whare wānanga.
• Follow-up: What characteristics of learning existed in traditional Māori contexts that we might use today across the curriculum?
• Small group discussion on one of: partnership, protection, participation – what do these look like in daily school life?

Facilitator Guidance: Coax students beyond ‘tick-box’ engagement — look for systemic examples (e.g., student voice informing curriculum design).

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🧠 3. Cross-Curricular Mapping Challenge (20 mins)

Purpose: Build awareness of how Indigenous principles can be embedded in all learning areas.

Activity Instructions:

1. In groups of 3–4, students choose or are given one learning area (e.g., Science, Arts, Mathematics, etc.) and are tasked to brainstorm:

   • One way to foster respectful relationships
   • One way to protect Indigenous knowledge
   • One way to enable participation of all learners

2. They write up their ideas in a 5-phase progression, deepening from Year 1 through to Year 13. For Year 13, ask them to focus on the most profound expression of partnership/protection/participation.

Example (Visual Arts - Year 13):
Partnership: Co-designing an exhibition with local iwi artists
Protection: Ensuring cultural motifs are not misappropriated – led by iwi consultation
Participation: Student-led wānanga on kaupapa Māori forms with mixed year groups

3. Students write these out clearly on A3 sheets and stick them on the walls ("curriculum gallery walk").

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💬 4. Gallery Walk & Reflection (10 mins)

Purpose: Share ideas, see wider application of kaupapa.

Activity:

• Students walk around and read other groups' ideas.
• Using sticky notes, they respond with one of:
  • A connection to their own experience
  • A suggestion for enhancement
  • A question probing the "why" or "how"

Encourage thoughtful critique and affirmation.

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🌊 5. Closing Hui: Ko te ara whakamua (10 mins)

Purpose: Bring collective insights together and set direction for future learning.

Activity:

• Whole-class koha (contribution): Each student shares one insight or action they'll take from today’s session.
• Class discussion: How can this approach be applied in future learning projects or school systems?

Optional Extension Prompt (for homework or follow-up project):
Create a proposals document or pitch for a cross-curricular project that activates the history-centred principles of this lesson.

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Assessment Opportunity

• Formative: Observation and analysis of group mapping and individual sticky note responses
• Self-Reflection: Student insight shared in closing hui
• Extension Potential: Design a research portfolio on how Aotearoa's history influences cross-curricular education design

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Teacher’s Notes

• This is not a “one-off” lesson; it supports Unit #4 in a deepening history inquiry exploring agency, equity, and change through praxis.
• Encourage strong links to Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories curriculum while also embedding critical curriculum design thinking.
• Consider inviting a community leader or using school whānau consultation to review ideas generated.

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He Whakamutunga – Final Thoughts

This lesson challenges Year 13 students to become curriculum designers, using the wisdom of history and Indigenous knowledge to shape current and future learning. It equips them with the tools to think of education not only as something they receive but as a system they can co-write, co-own, and co-transform.