Pacific Migration and Change

Overview

Students investigate Pasifika migration to Aotearoa New Zealand from the 1950s–1970s, considering diverse reasons for migration, urban settlement, contributions, and the impacts of the Dawn Raids. They work with short, attributed source excerpts and evaluate how government enforcement affected different communities. Handle Dawn Raids content sensitively and avoid treating Pasifika peoples as one homogeneous group.

Learning intentions

• WALT describe patterns and reasons for migration from Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, the Cook Islands and Niue.
• WALT interpret qualitative evidence about settlement experiences and contributions.
• WALT explain and evaluate the causes and consequences of the Dawn Raids.
• WALT recognise that Pasifika communities have diverse identities, languages, histories and perspectives.

Success criteria

• I can identify at least two push or pull factors and one intervening obstacle affecting migration.
• I can use evidence from two sources to explain settlement experiences or contributions.
• I can explain why immigration enforcement increased during the 1970s economic downturn.
• I can make a supported judgement about one consequence of the Dawn Raids.

Curriculum links

• History — Protest and social change: migration, enforcement, the Dawn Raids and Operation Pot Black.
• Geography — Impact of migration: Māori settlement, colonisation, and Pacific and Asian migration.
• Geography — Reasons and types of migration: push, pull, voluntary and forced migration.
• Geography — Interpreting maps, flow diagrams and qualitative data to show migration patterns and impacts.

Teacher background notes and vocabulary

Pacific migration to Aotearoa has a long history and should not be presented as a single experience. From the 1950s to the 1970s, people migrated from several Pacific nations and territories for varied reasons, including employment, education, family connections, changing colonial relationships and opportunities for improved living standards. Many settled in Auckland and other urban areas, contributing through workplaces, churches, music, sport, education, business and community organisations.

During the 1970s economic downturn, unemployment and public concern about immigration increased. Although people from several countries overstayed visas, Pasifika peoples were disproportionately targeted by police checks. The Dawn Raids, beginning in 1974, involved early-morning searches and immigration enforcement. Operation Pot Black was a 1976 police operation targeting overstayers. These actions caused fear, family disruption, shame and mistrust, and were later widely criticised as discriminatory. In 2021 the Government formally apologised to Pasifika communities.

Use: Pasifika as a broad term while naming specific communities where possible; migration, diaspora, push factor, pull factor, intervening obstacle, overstayer, enforcement, discrimination, settlement, contribution and qualitative data. Clarify that people’s legal status did not justify unequal or harmful treatment.

Inquiry question

How did Pasifika migration change Aotearoa New Zealand, and how did government enforcement affect Pasifika communities?

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–7 min · Culturally sustaining starter. Open with the visual hook and migration map showing a map of the Pacific and invite students to silently notice place names, languages or connections without requiring anyone to disclose personal whakapapa. Students share one observation and one question with a partner; explain that Pacific communities are diverse.

2. 7–15 min · Build the context. Use the timeline and key vocabulary to establish migration from the 1950s–1970s, urban settlement, the economic downturn, the Dawn Raids and Operation Pot Black. Students complete the first section of the Pasifika migration source inquiry by classifying examples as push, pull or intervening factors.

3. 15–32 min · Source inquiry. Distribute the Pasifika migration source inquiry to pairs. Provide four short, clearly attributed teacher-selected excerpts: a government or census source about migration and employment; a community or church account of settlement; a Pasifika oral-history or interview excerpt about family and community life; and a reliable historical source describing the Dawn Raids or Operation Pot Black. Students record the source type, whose perspective is represented, two key details, and what the source does not tell us. Remind students not to assume one account represents every Pasifika person.

4. 32–42 min · Evidence sort and discussion. Pairs compare responses and identify evidence of reasons for migration, settlement experiences, contributions, and enforcement impacts. Facilitate a discussion using the prompts on the source-analysis and discussion slides: “What changed?” “Who benefited?” “Who held power?” and “What evidence supports your view?” Students distinguish evidence from inference.

5. 42–53 min · Continuum activity. Display the statement: “The Dawn Raids were mainly a response to economic pressure.” Students position themselves on a classroom continuum from strongly agree to strongly disagree, or indicate privately if movement feels uncomfortable. Students must give one reason using a source. Discuss alternative explanations, including racialised enforcement, government policy, media influence and the experiences of targeted families. Emphasise that disagreement must address ideas, not people.

6. 53–60 min · Plenary and exit ticket. Return to the inquiry question and reflection slide. Students complete the final section of the Pasifika migration source inquiry: “One migration factor was…”, “One contribution or settlement experience was…”, and “One consequence of enforcement was… My evidence is…”. Collect responses to plan the next lesson.

Resources

• Pasifika migration and Dawn Raids teaching deck
• the Pasifika migration source inquiry
• Four short teacher-selected, attributed source excerpts
• Pacific map and 1950s–1970s timeline
• Board or display for the classroom continuum
• Highlighters or coloured pencils
• Optional headphones and text-to-speech access
• Official curriculum page: New Zealand Curriculum Online, Social Sciences Phase 4 (Years 9–10)

Assessment

• Listen for accurate use of push, pull and intervening obstacle during pair work.
• Check source tables for perspective, relevant evidence and distinction between evidence and inference.
• Use the exit ticket to assess explanation of migration, contributions and enforcement consequences; reteach concepts shown to be unclear.

Differentiation

• Provide a dyslexia-friendly version of the worksheet: clear sans-serif font, 14-point text, generous spacing, short excerpts, numbered lines and one question at a time. Offer audio or text-to-speech versions of sources.
• Pre-teach vocabulary with a word bank, icons and sentence starters: “This source suggests…”, “The perspective is…”, and “This matters because…”.
• Allow students to respond through speech, typed notes or a visual evidence map. Pair strategically and read excerpts aloud without requiring public reading.
• For EAL learners, provide a map, timeline, bilingual glossary where available, and sentence frames. Avoid asking students to speak for a culture or disclose family migration histories.
• Advanced learners compare two sources that disagree, evaluate reliability and explain how the 2021 apology relates to the consequences of the Dawn Raids.

Next-step inquiry

Students ask a family, community or library source-based question about one Pasifika community’s migration or contribution to Aotearoa. They bring one attributed source or carefully recorded oral-history note, with consent and no requirement to share sensitive personal information. Next lesson, the class will compare community perspectives with government evidence.