← Back to resource

Curriculum Alignment

Traditional Ecological Indicators • for kaiako planning, sequencing, and reporting

4
Key alignment areas
Learning Languages
Primary planning lens
Years 7-12
Most useful teaching range
Strong fit
Ākonga understand that maramataka involves local mātauranga Māori guiding seasonal activities such as planting, fishing, and gathering.

How this handout aligns

The handout gives kaiako a practical way to connect seasonal language and local observation. Students are prompted to record what they notice, not just memorise isolated facts about the environment.

Learning Languages Maramataka Seasonal knowledge

Useful when teachers want environmental learning to stay connected to language, timing, and local practice.

Strong fit
Ākonga recognise that weather and seasons are deeply connected to maramataka and whakapapa.

How this handout aligns

The field-note structure makes it easier for kaiako to discuss ecological change as relational knowledge. It reinforces that tohu taiao are read in context, across time, and with connection to place.

Whakapapa Te taiao Context matters

Strongest when the class can connect observations to a local site or community knowledge source.

Supporting fit
Ākonga compare evidence sources and communicate what they think an environmental pattern might mean.

How this handout aligns

The evidence-check questions help kaiako push students beyond “I saw this once” conclusions. That makes the task useful in both science-style inquiry and teacher-guided discussion.

Evidence Interpretation Student reasoning

Helpful when teachers want a bridge between mātauranga Māori, observation, and cautious inference.

Kaiako use
Use this as a teacher-facing bridge between local environmental inquiry and culturally grounded pedagogy in Aotearoa.

How to use this resource

In Te Mātaiaho terms, begin with a known place and known evidence. Then ask students to talk, record, and compare before drawing conclusions. That sequence supports ako and keeps the task manageable for mixed-readiness classes.

Te Mātaiaho Kaiako planning Practical next step

Best used before teaching so the inquiry is clearly framed as local, relational, and evidence-aware.