šŸ“š Unit Plans ā†’ šŸŒ Year 8 Critical Thinking: Te Whakaaro Māramatanga ā†’ šŸ“– Lesson 7: Group Decision-Making
Years 7ā€“10 Tikanga-ā-Iwi / Social Sciences

Lesson 7: Hei Whakatau Tikanga

Group Decision-Making

Year 8 Critical Thinking Unit | 45 minutes

Collaborative problem-solving using Māori values & consensus-building

šŸ‘Øā€šŸ« Learning Objectives

Key Vocabulary:

Resources Needed:

šŸ¤ Starter: Quick Decision Challenge 8 minutes

Group Scenario (Groups of 4-5):

Your group has won a pizza party for the class! You have 3 minutes to decide: Catch: Everyone in the group must be happy with the final decision!

Process Observation:

  1. Round 1 (3 mins): Groups attempt to decide quickly
  2. Reflection (3 mins): What was difficult? What strategies emerged?
  3. Share (2 mins): Groups report their experience

Key Debrief Questions: "Which groups reached consensus? What helped? What hindered the process? How did you handle disagreement?"

šŸ’° Main Activity: The $10,000 Community Grant Decision 25 minutes

Collaborative Problem-Solving Challenge

The Situation:

Your class has been selected to allocate a $10,000 community grant from the local council. Three worthy causes have applied, but you can only fund ONE project. Your decision must be made as a class using fair and inclusive processes.

Option A: Kaitiaki Environmental Project

Request: $10,000 to restore native bush area behind school

Option B: Rangatahi Sports Equipment Program

Request: $10,000 for sports equipment available to all local schools

Option C: Creative Arts Hub

Request: $10,000 to establish community arts space in unused building

Māori-Inspired Decision Process: Whakatau Rangapū

Step 1: Whakatōhea (Respectful Discussion) - 8 minutes

Step 2: Whakaaro Tawhiti (Deep Thinking) - 8 minutes

Step 3: Whakatau (Decision) - 6 minutes

Step 4: Whakapuaki (Share/Present) - 3 minutes

Teacher Facilitation Guidelines:

šŸ’¬ Cultural Learning: Traditional Māori Decision-Making 7 minutes

Understanding Hui and Consensus Processes

Key Elements of Traditional Māori Decision-Making:

Reflection Questions:

šŸ“Š Digital Democracy: Final Class Decision 5 minutes setup

Google Forms Class Survey

Individual Reflection Survey (Complete after class):

  1. Which project would you personally support? (Environment/Sports/Arts)
  2. Rate how well your group used collaborative decision-making (1-5 scale)
  3. What was the most challenging part of reaching group consensus?
  4. Which Māori value was most helpful in your discussion?
  5. How confident are you in your group's decision process? (1-5 scale)

Class Process:

šŸ“‹ GROUP DECISION-MAKING REFLECTION - PRINT SECTION

Community Grant Decision Process

Group Members: _________________________________________________

Date: _________ Final Decision: ā˜ Environment ā˜ Sports ā˜ Arts

Part 1: Decision Process Tracking

1. How did your group start the discussion?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

2. What different opinions emerged initially?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

3. How did you handle disagreement or conflict?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Part 2: Applying Māori Values

4. Give an example of how your group showed whanaungatanga (connection/relationship building):

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

5. How did you work toward kotahitanga (unity/consensus)?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

6. Did everyone's voice get heard? How did you ensure this?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Part 3: Decision Evaluation

7. What were your group's main reasons for the final choice?

a) _____________________________________________________________________

b) _____________________________________________________________________

c) _____________________________________________________________________

8. What concerns or drawbacks did you identify?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

9. How satisfied is your group with the decision? (Rate 1-5, explain)

Rating: _____ Explanation: _______________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Part 4: Process Reflection

10. What worked well in your group's decision-making process?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

11. What would you do differently next time?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

12. How was seeking consensus different from just taking a vote?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Part 5: Personal Learning

13. What did you learn about yourself as a group member?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

14. When could you use these decision-making skills outside school?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

15. What's one thing you want to improve about your collaboration skills?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

šŸ“Š Assessment Rubric

Collaborative Participation (4 points):

Cultural Values Application (4 points):

Decision-Making Process (4 points):

šŸ  Extension Activities

šŸ”— Curriculum Connections

šŸ’” Differentiation Strategies

šŸ“‹ Teacher Planning Snapshot

Ngā Whāinga Ako ā€” Learning Intentions

Students will engage with this resource to develop te whakaaro māramatanga ā€” critical and analytical thinking skills ā€” 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 AngitÅ« ā€” Success Criteria

Differentiation & Inclusion

Scaffold support: Provide argument frames (claim ā†’ evidence ā†’ reasoning ā†’ 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 thatā€¦", "The evidence suggestsā€¦", "However, one might counterā€¦"). 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 ā€” 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 ā€” enlightened thinking ā€” 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 ā€” whakataukÄ« 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