Symbols with Meaning

Cultural Design Reimagined – Lesson 2 of 22

Subject: Visual Arts
Year Level: Year 11
Curriculum Strand: Level 6 – Visual Arts (NZC)
Achievement Objective:
Students will investigate visual ideas in response to cultural contexts. They will explore Māori and/or other cultural visual elements and begin to identify meanings in these expressions within art and design practices.

Key NCEA Connection:
Aligned with Visual Arts 1.1 – Use practice-based visual inquiry to explore an Aotearoa New Zealand Māori context and another cultural context (source: ncea.education.govt.nz).

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Learning Intention

Students will learn how to research and interpret traditional cultural symbols, patterns, or motifs from Māori culture and another local or personal cultural context. They will focus on meanings, symbolism, and uses across time and cultures.

Success Criteria

By the end of this lesson, students will:
✔ Locate and document at least two traditional symbols, patterns, or motifs from two distinct cultural contexts
✔ Explain the significance and meaning of each symbol discovered
✔ Begin to make connections between how symbols can influence contemporary design practice

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Resources Needed

• Visual inquiry books or A3 sketchbooks
• A4 reference handouts on Māori and Pasifika motifs (printable, provided by teacher)
• Chromebooks or research devices (1 per pair) with access to pre-approved digital archive materials
• Pencils, fineliner pens, erasers, glue sticks for mixed media collage
• Butcher paper x3 for group symbol mind-map
• Access to printed visuals for students without digital access

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Lesson Breakdown (45 Minutes)

🔍 1. Welcome & Whakataukī – Setting the Kaupapa (5 minutes)

Teacher to say:
"Today we explore traditional cultural symbols that hold meaning. In Māori art, symbols often connect the past with the present, offering insight into identity, whakapapa, and whenua."

Introduce Whakataukī to contextualise the research focus:
"He purapura i ruia mai i Rangiātea, e kore e ngaro."
(A seed sown in Rangiātea will never be lost.)

Purpose: This whakataukī speaks to cultural legacy and the endurance of identity – the heart of our research task today.

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📚 2. Inquiry Mini-Workshop — Understanding Symbolism in Design (7 minutes)

Visual prompt slides: Show 3 examples

• Māori kowhaiwhai from wharenui rafters
• Samoan siapo motifs
• Celtic spirals or other student-submitted motifs (from diverse whānau cultures)

Class discussion questions:

• What do you notice about the shapes and repetition?
• Who are these symbols for?
• Why are they repeated across generations?

Teacher modelling: Show how to start a visual inquiry page – clipping a reference image, annotating meaning ("this shape represents the journey of ancestors"), and connection to culture.

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🧠 3. Independent & Paired Visual Inquiry – Research Practice (20 minutes)

Task:
In pairs, students explore two cultural sources of design:

• One must be from te ao Māori (for example, using the supplied handout of traditional symbols such as niho taniwha or koru)
• The second source may come from another culture important to the student or local community (e.g. Samoan tattoo design, Chinese calligraphy marking, Greek pottery motifs, etc.)

Each student will:

• Collect 2–3 images per culture
• Create a single A3 visual research page (split into two halves)
• Annotate each motif with key features, ideas, or questions (e.g. "Used in traditional weaving", "Seen on my grandmother’s tapa cloth", "Symbol of strength or guardianship")
• Include an initial sketch replication of each symbol using pencil or fineliner

Students are encouraged to share oral knowledge from whānau or quote brief notes.

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🗺 4. Group Mapping – Building Symbol Banks (8 minutes)

Students rotate in groups of 9 around three stations (3 minutes per station). Each station has a piece of butcher paper with one culture:

• Station 1: Māori
• Station 2: Pasifika
• Station 3: Other cultures/local designs

At each station, students add one symbol they researched (sketch or write) along with its meaning or source.

Goal: Begin class-wide “symbol banks” to be used in future design brainstorming exercises.

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🔄 5. Wrap-up – Reflection & Sharing (5 minutes)

Teacher prompts:

• “What surprised you during your research?”
• “How do these symbols reflect identity?”
• “Who are the guardians of these symbols in your family or hapori?”

3 volunteers briefly share one symbol they found and why it interested them.

Homework prompt (optional extension):
Ask a whānau member what symbol or visual pattern they associate with their culture or identity. Sketch or recall its meaning for next class.

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Differentiation & Support

• ESOL & ELL learners: May work closer with visual handouts and image-based resources. Teacher circulates and supports vocabulary identification
• Neurodivergent ākonga: Clear visual examples, open-ended sketch and annotation format, plus breakout peer discussion help scaffold understanding
• Gifted learners: May extend research by comparing symbol use across time or evolve their sketch into a concept thumbnail

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Reflection for Kaiako (Teacher)

• Did students engage with both te ao Māori and another cultural source?
• Was the symbolism discussion meaningful and culturally responsive?
• Which students demonstrated strong visual thinking early on?

Use this data to pair/group students for the upcoming lessons on translating symbols into conceptual designs.

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Next Lesson Preview

Lesson 3: From Symbol to Story
Students will begin developing motifs based on today’s symbol banks and their own cultural narratives. Moving toward abstraction and combination.

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Ka pai to mahi – ngā toi e kōrero ana.