Many Voices Matter

Overview

Lesson 5 of 9 in Power and Participation in Aotearoa. Students explore how representation means having people’s voices included in decisions, using age-appropriate examples of Māori representation and women’s suffrage in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Learning intentions

• WALT explain what representation means.
• WALT identify different groups whose voices have shaped Aotearoa.
• WALT learn how Māori and women have participated in political decision-making.
• WALT listen respectfully to viewpoints and explain why representation matters.

Success criteria

• I can explain representation in my own words.
• I can name one way Māori voices are represented in Aotearoa.
• I can describe one change that helped women participate in voting.
• I can explain why it is important for different groups to have a voice.

Curriculum links

• Social Sciences: understand how people participate individually and collectively in response to community issues.
• Social Sciences: understand how the ways in which people participate are influenced by their cultures and communities.
• Aotearoa New Zealand histories: understand how people’s ideas and actions have shaped significant developments in Aotearoa.
• Key competencies: participating and contributing; relating to others; thinking; using language, symbols and texts.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 minutes – Hook: Who gets a say? Display the opening question in the introduction and hook slides: “If our class had to choose a new playground rule, who should help decide?” Students think, pair-share, then hear several responses. Introduce representation as having someone speak or make decisions with a group’s interests and experiences in mind.

2. 5–12 minutes – Build shared understanding Use the representation teaching slides to introduce the ideas of voice, voting and decision-making. Explain that Aotearoa’s political system has changed over time. Māori have long exercised leadership and decision-making through iwi and hapū structures, and Māori representation in Parliament began in the nineteenth century. Explain that women in Aotearoa campaigned for the right to vote and achieved it in 1893. Clarify that voting is one way to participate, but people can also participate by speaking, organising, signing petitions and leading groups.

3. 12–20 minutes – Look closely at examples Show the two age-appropriate examples in the Māori voices and women’s suffrage slides. Example one: Māori leaders and communities expressing their views and representing their people in decisions. Example two: women, including Māori women, signing petitions, organising and speaking publicly to support women’s voting rights. Ask: “What did this group want?” “What action did they take?” “How might their action have helped others?”

4. 20–32 minutes – Partner evidence task Give each pair the representation evidence worksheet. Students complete two simple sections: “Māori voices” and “Women’s suffrage”. They draw or write one action, one person or group, and one reason representation was important. Partners use the sentence frames: “This group wanted…” and “They participated by…”. Circulate, checking that students distinguish between being represented and simply being present.

5. 32–39 minutes – Share and compare Invite pairs to share one response. Record ideas under the headings voice, action and change on the board, referring back to the class discussion slides. Emphasise that groups are not all the same and that different Māori communities and women may have had different experiences and views.

6. 39–45 minutes – Plenary and formative check Students complete the final reflection on the representation evidence worksheet: “Representation matters because…” and draw one way people in our class can have a voice. Invite three or four students to share. Revisit the learning intentions and ask students to show thumbs up, sideways or down for their confidence.

Resources

• the representation, Māori voices and women’s suffrage slide deck
• the representation evidence worksheet
• Whiteboard and pens
• Pencils, crayons or coloured pens
• Aotearoa New Zealand map or classroom wall map
• Optional image cards or photographs of a voting place, a petition and a community meeting

Assessment

• Listen to partner and class responses for accurate use of representation, voice, participation and voting.
• Check worksheets for one accurate example relating to Māori participation and one relating to women’s suffrage.
• Use the final sentence and drawing to assess whether students can explain why representation matters.

Differentiation

• Support learners with picture cues, oral rehearsal and sentence frames: “I notice…”, “They wanted…” and “This mattered because…”.
• Read the worksheet aloud, allow drawing or scribing, and pair learners thoughtfully. Provide a small word bank: voice, vote, leader, petition, decision, represent.
• For EAL learners, pre-teach key words with gestures and invite home-language discussion before sharing in English.
• Extend confident learners by asking whether one person can represent everyone in a group, and what makes a representative trustworthy and fair.