Many Ways, One Class

Overview

In this third lesson of Our Safe, Kind Classroom, students explore how cultural identity can be expressed through language, greetings, celebrations, foods, stories, and ways of showing respect. They connect these ideas to Aotearoa New Zealand, mana whenua, tangata whenua, and local places before creating a collaborative collage that welcomes everyone.

Learning intentions

• WALT notice and describe ways people and whānau express culture and belonging.
• WALT learn why mana whenua and tangata whenua are important in Aotearoa New Zealand.
• WALT ask respectful questions and use names and greetings correctly.
• WALT share ideas and contribute kindly to a class collage.

Success criteria

• I can describe one way a person, whānau, or community may show their culture.
• I can locate Aotearoa New Zealand on a map and explain that tangata whenua are the people connected to this land.
• I can ask before using a cultural practice and make a careful effort to say names correctly.
• I can add words, symbols, or pictures to a collage that shows everyone belongs.

Curriculum links

• Civics and Society — cultural practices as expressions of group belonging through traditions, language, and everyday practices.
• Civics and Society — New Zealand includes people from different cultural backgrounds.
• Civics and Society — cultures bring different traditions, languages, and ways of life.
• Civics and Society — the significance and fairness of rules and routines, including respectful classroom practices.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Welcome and hook. Open with the opening question and welcome image and ask, “What could make someone feel welcome in a new group?” Students think quietly, share with a partner, then offer examples such as a greeting, smile, invitation, or correct use of a name. Establish the message: different does not mean better or worse.

2. 5–13 min · Explore culture and belonging. Show the culture-and-belonging picture prompts. Explain that whānau and communities may have different languages, greetings, celebrations, foods, stories, music, and ways of showing respect. Students describe what they notice using the stem, “Some people might show belonging by…”. Emphasise that one picture cannot represent everyone in a culture and that we do not guess about someone’s identity.

3. 13–20 min · Aotearoa, place, and people. Use the Aotearoa map and local place slide to locate Aotearoa New Zealand. Introduce mana whenua as the iwi or people with customary connections and responsibilities to a particular place. Explain that tangata whenua means people of the land, and that Māori are tangata whenua of Aotearoa. Name the local mana whenua if this is known and appropriate for your setting; otherwise say that the class will learn the local name from a trusted source. Students practise the sentence, “This place is important because people have connections and responsibilities here.” Avoid treating all iwi or communities as the same.

4. 20–27 min · Story and respectful greetings. Read a culturally responsive picture book or share a short local story, using the story listening prompts for: “Who belongs here?”, “What place is important?”, and “How is respect shown?” Discuss kia ora as a common greeting or expression of thanks in Aotearoa. Practise saying it naturally, without performing or exaggerating. Explain: use people’s names as they ask us to use them, pronounce them carefully, and ask respectfully rather than copying a cultural practice. Students rehearse: “How do you say your name?” and “Would you like to tell me about that?”

5. 27–39 min · Our class welcomes everyone collage. Model a collage tile using one word, symbol, or illustration and the sentence, “Our class welcomes everyone by…”. Distribute the welcome collage planning sheet to pairs. Students plan and then create a tile or small section using drawing, writing, or a symbol representing a welcoming classroom practice. They may include greetings from languages represented in the class only when the speaker or a reliable source has given permission and the pronunciation is known. Combine the pieces into one class collage. Circulate and ask, “What does this show?” and “How will it help someone feel they belong?”

6. 39–45 min · Share and reflect. Display the completed collage and return to the reflection and class commitment slide. Students use Think–Pair–Share, supported by the Think Pair Share Poster, to complete: “I learned that cultures can…”, “A respectful question is…”, and “Our class can welcome people by…”. Invite three or four students to share. Revisit the class expectation that names, languages, and practices are treated with care.

Resources

• the Many Ways, One Class slide deck
• the welcome collage planning sheet
• Culturally responsive picture book or short local story
• Large paper or backing card for the collage
• Coloured paper, pencils, crayons, felt pens, scissors, and glue
• Map of Aotearoa New Zealand
• Teacher-selected local mana whenua information
• the Think Pair Share Poster

Assessment

• Listen during partner talk for descriptions of cultural practices without ranking or stereotyping; prompt students to explain their thinking.
• Check whether students can locate Aotearoa, identify the importance of tangata whenua, and use respectful questions during story and greeting practice.
• Use each collage tile and the final reflection to assess whether students can describe a welcoming action and recognise that people may have different ways of belonging.

Differentiation

• Provide picture choices, gesture support, oral recording, and sentence starters such as “I notice…”, “Some people…”, and “I can show respect by…”.
• Pre-teach and display whānau, mana whenua, tangata whenua, culture, and respect; pronounce Māori words carefully and invite guidance from local Māori staff or community members.
• Allow students to draw, dictate, label, or work with a supportive partner. Do not require students to disclose personal cultural information or represent a whole group.
• Extend confident students by comparing two welcoming practices and explaining why both can be fair and respectful in one classroom.