Identifying Business Ideas

Overview

This 45-minute lesson is Lesson 2 in the unit "Building a Māori Business" designed for Year 1-4 students in New Zealand. It aligns closely with Te Marautanga o Aotearoa to nurture business ideas grounded in Māori values and community needs. The lesson focuses on engaging students in brainstorming sessions to identify potential business ideas that reflect their culture and community, emphasising the importance of cultural relevance in business.

---

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• Identify simple business ideas relevant to their Māori community and values.
• Explain why their business ideas reflect Māori culture and community needs.
• Collaborate in groups to share and build on ideas.
• Demonstrate an understanding that business can support whānau and community wellbeing.

Curriculum Alignment (Te Marautanga o Aotearoa)

• Ngā Whāinga Matua (Key Competencies):
  • Ngā pūkenga aromātai (Critical thinking) – students begin to make connections between business ideas and community needs.
  • Te mahi tahi me ngā whanaungatanga (Collaboration and relationships) – working in groups fosters skills for whakawhanaungatanga.
• Knowledge and Skills:
  • Developing oral language and communication by sharing and describing ideas (supported by structured literacy approaches in years 1-4).
  • Connection to Māori perspectives through valuing taonga tuku iho (treasured stories and values), reflecting cultural identity in business ideas .
• Values: Community and participation, respect, integrity, and ecological sustainability embedded in business thinking .

---

Lesson Duration and Structure

Time	Activity	Description
5 mins	Whakawhanaungatanga (Getting to Know You)	Karakia, brief pepeha introduction by teacher to connect with students’ identity and context. Relate learning to students’ own experiences and community.
10 mins	Introduction to Business & Māori Values	Teacher explains, using oral storytelling, what a business is and how businesses can help our whānau and hapū. Focus on how Māori values like manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga guide business practices. Use simple examples relevant to kids (e.g., sharing kai, making crafts).
15 mins	Brainstorming Business Ideas	In small groups of 5-6 students, prompt children to brainstorm potential business ideas that help their community, protect the environment, or share culture. Teacher provides prompts/questions:

• What can we make or do that would help our whānau?
• How can we share our culture or help the environment through business?
  Groups use drawing or simple writing to capture their ideas. | | 10 mins | Sharing and Discussing Ideas | Groups share their business ideas with the class. Teacher highlights how the ideas reflect Māori values and community needs. Encourage students to ask questions or suggest improvements using positive, supportive language. | | 5 mins | Reflection and Mahi Toi (Creative Activity) | Students individually draw or write about their favourite business idea from the session and one Māori value it represents. This helps consolidate understanding. |

---

Teaching Supports and Resources

• Visual aids: pictures of local Māori businesses or crafts, symbols of Māori values (manaakitanga, kaitiakitanga, whanaungatanga).
• Graphic organisers/story maps for brainstorming ideas (to scaffold language and thinking).
• Props related to Māori culture and examples of Māori business products.
• Māori oral language prompts and models for sentence starters (e.g., "My business helps... because...").
• Use of waiata or karakia to open/close and acknowledge cultural context .

---

Assessment

• Formative: Observation of group participation and contribution during brainstorming and presentations.
• Oral: Students explain their ideas using Māori and English vocabulary learned, demonstrating understanding of cultural relevance (language development focus).
• Written/Creative: Review students’ drawings or sentences explaining their favourite business idea and related Māori value to check their comprehension and ability to make connections.

---

Cultural Responsiveness and Inclusion

• The lesson grounds students’ business learning firmly within te ao Māori, strengthening identity and connection to their community.
• Supports students with varying oral language ability through visuals, sentence stems, and collaborative work.
• Encourages whānau stories and including local community in identifying business needs and ideas.
• Respects multiple perspectives and honours students’ diverse connections to tikanga and iwi.

---

Example Teacher Script for Introduction

"Today, we are going to kōrero about ideas for businesses that we might start one day. A business is something that helps people, whānau, and our community. Māori businesses can show our values like caring for others (manaakitanga), protecting our environment (kaitiakitanga), and working together (whanaungatanga). Let’s think about what kinds of businesses we can create that help people and keep our culture strong."

---

This detailed plan invites active engagement for young students in a culturally respectful and curriculum-aligned way, nurturing early entrepreneurial thinking grounded in Māori values and community identity.

---

If you want, I can also provide ready-to-use printable templates for brainstorming and reflection activities to support this lesson. Would you like that?