Years 7-10
Strongest teaching range
Dual knowledge systems
Primary teaching fit
Teacher-only planning note
This activity requires real relationship and real preparation. If you do not have access to a
kaumātua willing to engage, an iwi environmental officer, a kuia with local knowledge, or a
recorded oral history from a local hapū may work as a starting point. The key curriculum move is
treating mātauranga Māori as a legitimate knowledge system that
produces environmental evidence — not as a cultural supplement to the "real" science. Make that
parity explicit with students before and after the interview.
Strong fit
SCIENCE-5de489ecf9: Indigenous knowledge systems, such as
mātauranga Māori, are often founded on long-term observations of environmental patterns. For
example, ngā tohu o te taiao can be used to monitor seasonal changes and ecosystem health.
How this handout aligns
The kaumātua interview is the primary vehicle for accessing long-term local environmental
observation that no government dataset captures. Kaumātua knowledge of change over decades —
what was in the awa, what birds were heard, how flooding patterns shifted — is exactly the
kind of environmental pattern monitoring this curriculum statement describes.
Mātauranga Māori
Long-term observation
Ngā tohu o te taiao
This is the clearest fit because the handout is specifically designed
to elicit this kind of knowledge from a primary source.
Strong fit
SCIENCE-502f4d6974: Observing local ngā tohu o te taiao, such as
flowering of certain plants or bird migrations, and explaining why these indicators can be used
to understand and predict other environmental changes using an ecosystem model.
How this handout aligns
The interview questions ask kaumātua to describe what environmental indicators they use and
how they know when things have changed. Students who record those responses carefully hold
primary data about local ecosystem indicators — the starting material for building an
ecosystem model grounded in place.
Environmental indicators
Ecosystem model
Local knowledge
Useful for connecting the interview data to the scientific inquiry
that follows in weeks 2–5 of the unit.
Aotearoa lens
In Aotearoa, engaging with kaumātua requires
tikanga — appropriate protocol, genuine reciprocity, and
acknowledgment that the knowledge shared belongs to the community, not the researcher. This is
not merely cultural courtesy; it reflects an epistemological position that knowledge is relational.
How to use this resource well
Prepare students to listen rather than just record. Ask them to notice when the kaumātua
explains not just what changed but why it matters — that distinction between observation and
meaning is central to understanding mātauranga Māori as a knowledge system. Follow up the
interview by asking students: "What did we learn that we could not have learned from a
science report?"
Tikanga
Relational knowledge
Reciprocity
This keeps the activity from being tokenistic and positions
mātauranga Māori as a primary, not supplementary, knowledge source.
Puna Kōrero — Sources
Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Learning Media.
Ministry of Education. (2021). Te Mātaiaho: The Refreshed New Zealand Curriculum. Ministry of Education.
Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand. (2021). Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners. Teaching Council.