Whakapapa of Karanga

Overview

This is lesson 2 of 10 in Sound, Story, Identity. Students investigate the whakapapa of TAWAZ’s “Karanga, Karanga” through artist-approved interviews, programme notes, music videos and reliable cultural sources. They build on prior listening by connecting musical features with people, place, influences and context, while clearly separating verified evidence from personal assumptions.

Learning intentions

• WALT identify people, places, influences and occasions connected to a musical work.
• WALT use reliable, artist-approved sources to investigate musical context.
• WALT distinguish verified information, interpretation and assumption.
• WALT explain how context can shape musical choices and meaning.

Success criteria

• I can record accurate information about “Karanga, Karanga” and name the source that supports it.
• I can describe at least two relevant aspects of the work’s whakapapa.
• I can identify whether a statement is evidence, interpretation or assumption.
• I can explain one relationship between the music and its cultural, social or historical context.

Curriculum links

• Demonstrate understanding of music in relation to contexts: describe significant music concepts and relevant contexts, then explain relationships using examples from the music.
• Music Studies in the refreshed New Zealand Curriculum: develop understanding of how music communicates meaning within cultural, historical and social contexts.
• NZC capabilities and learning dispositions: managing self, participating and contributing, relating to others, and thinking critically about sources and interpretations.
• Te ao Māori learning: engage respectfully with mātauranga Māori, whakapapa and culturally grounded musical practices without treating cultural knowledge as detached facts.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Reconnect and focus. Teacher briefly revisits the previous lesson’s listening observations and opens the hook and learning intention slides, asking: “What might a song carry with it besides sound?” Students write one initial idea, then share with a partner and identify one question they have about the work’s whakapapa.

2. 5–12 min · Establish respectful enquiry. Teacher explains that whakapapa in this enquiry refers to connected people, places, influences, histories, purposes and relationships; it is not a search for a single “meaning”. Teacher models the difference between a source-based statement (“The programme note identifies…”) and an assumption (“The song must be about…”), using the source-checking and evidence slides. Students help classify three prepared statements as verified evidence, interpretation or assumption, giving reasons.

3. 12–17 min · Guided close listening. Teacher plays a selected section of “Karanga, Karanga” and directs students to listen for musical concepts such as vocal practice, texture, repetition, rhythm, melody, instrumentation, language, dynamics and expressive devices. Students add brief sound observations to the whakapapa listening log, avoiding claims about cultural meaning until supported by a source.

4. 17–31 min · Source stations in pairs. Teacher provides three or four short, accessible extracts: an artist-approved interview, programme notes, a music video viewing prompt and reliable cultural information. The six students work in three pairs, rotating or sharing sources so each pair examines at least two. Students complete the listening log by recording the source, exact or paraphrased evidence, the connected person/place/influence/context, and a confidence label: verified, interpretation or question. Teacher circulates, checking that students do not turn guesses into facts and prompting: “What in the source supports that?”

5. 31–39 min · Build the whakapapa connections. Teacher uses the connection-map and discussion slides to display the prompts: Who? Where? What influences or lineage? What occasion or purpose? How does the music communicate this? Students contribute one evidence-backed statement each. The class links statements to musical observations, for example, explaining how a vocal practice, language choice, rhythmic feature or performance setting may relate to the context when the source supports that relationship.

6. 39–45 min · Evaluate and exit. Teacher asks students to complete the final section of the conclusion and exit questions: one verified fact, one supported relationship between music and context, and one question requiring further investigation. Students share one response aloud, then the teacher previews that the next lesson will examine how identity is communicated through selected musical features.

Resources

• Teacher-approved audio or video excerpt of “Karanga, Karanga”
• Artist-approved interview extracts and programme notes
• Reliable cultural source extracts selected and checked by the teacher
• the complete enquiry slide deck
• the whakapapa listening log
• Speakers, projector and stable audio-visual playback
• Headphones if individual or paired listening is preferred
• Highlighters or coloured pens for evidence classification

Assessment

• During classification, listen for students distinguishing evidence, interpretation and assumption, and correct unsupported claims sensitively.
• Check listening logs for named sources, accurate paraphrasing, relevant musical observations and clear links to people, place, influence or context.
• Use the final response to identify whether students can explain a supported relationship between a musical concept and context; record students needing further guidance with source evaluation or musical vocabulary.

Differentiation

• Provide a vocabulary bank on the worksheet, including context, influence, lineage, evidence, interpretation, assumption, vocal practice, texture and expressive device.
• Offer sentence starters: “The source states…”, “This suggests…”, “I can hear…”, and “The relationship may be significant because…”.
• Give students who need support pre-selected short extracts, highlighted evidence and the option to dictate or audio-record responses before transferring key points to the log.
• Extend confident students by comparing two sources, identifying a possible tension or gap between them, and evaluating which source most strongly supports a conclusion.
• Handle Māori knowledge respectfully: use artist-approved and reliable sources, avoid asking students to speak for Māori experience, and allow students to pass on personal disclosure or culturally sensitive discussion.