Best for
Social studies, Aotearoa histories, Treaty inquiry, or English analysis of persuasive historical writing and protest.
Social Studies • Aotearoa histories • Years 9-12 • Print-ready tomorrow
Arguments of Tino Rangatiratanga
Use this handout to help ākonga read the 1975 Land March as a carefully built political argument, not just a dramatic event. Students identify the claim, evidence, values, and action demanded, then explain why the hīkoi mattered in Aotearoa.
Free historical analysis, premium adaptation path
This version is ready to print as-is. Te Wānanga becomes useful when you want the same structure rebuilt around a local claim, iwi-specific history, or a simpler text set for additional scaffold.
- Swap in local hīkoi, petitions, or iwi submissions from your rohe.
- Generate supported, core, or extension question sets from the same historical source.
- Save your adapted copy to My Kete and refine it later in Creation Studio.
Kaiako planning snapshot
- Use length: 35-45 minutes as a stand-alone analysis task or a bridge into a longer Treaty and protest sequence.
- Grouping: Whole-class context first, then pairs for argument sorting and individual written response.
- Prep: Decide whether to stay with the national Land March example or add a local whenua issue or iwi perspective.
- Teaching move: Keep asking “What is the evidence for that claim?” so the task stays historical and analytical.
- Support / stretch: Use the sentence starters for support; ask students to evaluate the movement's audience and strategy for stretch.
Resources already provided
- A concise historical context reading on the 1975 Land March
- An argument-sorting sequence with claim, evidence, values, and action
- Structured write-on space for historical explanation
- Sentence starters for lower-floor access
- A matching curriculum companion for teacher planning
If the lesson mentions analysis prompts or response space, those things are already on the page. Kaiako should not need to build an extra worksheet after hours.
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions
- We are learning to identify how a political movement builds an argument.
- We are learning to connect evidence, values, and action in an Aotearoa historical context.
- We are learning to explain why tino rangatiratanga was central to the Land March.
Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria
- I can identify the main claim made by the 1975 Land March.
- I can describe at least one piece of evidence or historical reasoning used to support that claim.
- I can explain why the movement mattered for debates about land, power, and Te Tiriti.
Curriculum integration / Te Marautanga alignment
The companion page makes the English and social studies links explicit around discursive non-fiction, historical evidence, and rights, responsibilities, power, and fairness in Aotearoa.
Why this matters in Aotearoa
The 1975 Land March was not simply a protest march to remember. It was a powerful public claim about whenua, Treaty promises, and tino rangatiratanga that shifted national conversation.
Through a mātauranga Māori lens, students should read this movement with respect for mana whenua, whānau experience, and the ongoing significance of land, belonging, and self-determination.
Read first: the 1975 Land March
In 1975, Dame Whina Cooper and many supporters led a hīkoi from Te Hāpua to Parliament in Wellington. The march challenged the continued loss of Māori land and made a national demand that the Crown stop treating Māori land as disposable.
The movement's message was often remembered through the line “Not one more acre of Māori land”. But the argument was bigger than a slogan. It drew on historical land loss, Te Tiriti obligations, and the belief that land is tied to identity, whakapapa, and future generations.
Strong historical reading asks not only what happened, but how people built their case and what action they wanted.
Break the argument into parts
Claim
What was the central statement the movement wanted the public and government to hear?
Evidence
What historical facts, examples of land loss, or Treaty concerns gave the claim weight?
Values
Which ideas mattered most: justice, whenua, whakapapa, tino rangatiratanga, future generations, or Crown responsibility?
Action requested
What change did marchers want from government and the wider public?
Source-to-claim check
Statement A: “Land loss was not just about property. It damaged cultural continuity and collective wellbeing.”
Statement B: “The march showed that historical grievances were still shaping people’s lives in 1975.”
Statement C: “Walking the length of the motu turned a legal and political issue into a public moral challenge.”
Choose one statement and explain which kind of argument it represents: evidence, values, or action. Justify your choice with historical reasoning.
Your historical response
Write a short paragraph explaining why the Land March was persuasive. You may use this frame: “The Land March was persuasive because...”, “Its evidence included...”, “Its strongest value claim was...”, “This mattered because...”
Support: highlight one idea from each box above. Stretch: explain which audience the movement was trying hardest to influence and why.
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
English — Te Reo Pākehā
Level 3–4: Read and interpret a range of texts for meaning and purpose; identify author intent, text structure, and language choices; write clearly for specific audiences and purposes using appropriate conventions.
Social Sciences — Tikanga ā-Iwi
Level 3–4: Understand how texts construct knowledge and perspective; evaluate the credibility and purpose of different sources; communicate ideas and findings effectively in written and oral forms.
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
In te ao Māori, language — reo — is a taonga: a treasure that carries culture, identity, and whakapapa across generations. The ability to speak clearly, to argue persuasively, to read critically, and to write with purpose are not simply academic skills — they are forms of mana in action. Māori oratory (whaikōrero) has always valued precision, evidence, and the ability to locate one's argument within a broader cultural and ancestral context. Students who develop strong literacy skills are developing the same capacities that made great orators powerful: the ability to be heard, understood, and taken seriously in any room they enter.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Support Materials
This handout is designed to be used alongside the broader unit resources available at Te Kete Ako handouts library. Related resources from the same unit are linked in the unit planner. All resources are provided — no additional preparation is required to use this handout in your classroom.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will engage with this resource to develop te whakaaro māramatanga — critical and analytical thinking skills — examining claims, evaluating evidence, identifying bias, and constructing reasoned arguments. This unit frames critical thinking through both Western analytical traditions and the kōrero-based reasoning of Te Ao Māori.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Students can identify a claim, evaluate the evidence supporting it, and detect potential bias or fallacy.
- ✅ Students can construct a reasoned argument using evidence, acknowledging counter-perspectives.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Provide argument frames (claim → evidence → reasoning → counter-argument) for entry-level access. Use structured controversy activities where students argue assigned positions. Offer extension tasks requiring students to analyse a real media article or policy document using the lesson's critical framework.
ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach argumentative language structures ("I argue that…", "The evidence suggests…", "However, one might counter…"). Allow oral argument as a first step before written production. Sentence frames and argument maps lower the language barrier while maintaining cognitive demand.
Inclusion: Structured debate and discussion formats benefit all learners — particularly neurodiverse students who thrive with explicit rules and clear roles. Affirm that disagreement done respectfully is a high-value academic and civic skill. Allow quiet processing time before group discussion. Offer written alternatives for students who find oral argument challenging.
Mātauranga Māori lens: Te whakaaro māramatanga — enlightened thinking — reflects a long tradition of reasoned debate in Te Ao Māori. The whare (meeting house) is a place of kōrero, where multiple perspectives are heard before decisions are made. Tikanga requires that arguments be made with integrity and respect (mana). Māori oratory (whaikōrero) is a sophisticated critical tradition — whakataukī encode compressed wisdom that often challenges surface-level thinking.
Prior knowledge: Best used within a sequence building critical thinking skills progressively. No specialist knowledge required for entry-level engagement with structured tasks.
Curriculum alignment
- Do — Social Studies: Explore perspectives, use evidence to form conclusions, and share ideas — compare viewpoints, evaluate claims, and present reasoned arguments.
- Speaking, Writing, and Presenting: Construct and deliver clear, reasoned arguments drawing on evidence and acknowledging multiple perspectives.