Haka Expression Companion
Haka Expression Companion · Years 7–10
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga · Learning Intentions
- Understand and apply key concepts from te ao Māori to learning and life
- Engage with te reo Māori vocabulary and cultural frameworks with accuracy and respect
- Connect Māori values and concepts to contemporary issues and personal identity
- Recognise the significance of Māori cultural knowledge as a living, relevant system
Paearu Angitu · Success Criteria
- I can explain at least three te ao Māori concepts accurately in my own words
- I use te reo Māori vocabulary with correct meaning and appropriate context
- I can connect a Māori concept to a real contemporary situation or personal experience
- My engagement with this material demonstrates genuine curiosity and cultural respect
Video Companion · Haka Expression Companion
Use this handout before, during, and after viewing.
Before You Watch
Brainstorm: What do you already know about haka? Where have you seen it performed? What purposes does it seem to serve?
While Watching
Observe: (1) What emotions and messages are expressed? (2) How do the words (kupu), movements (kori), and expressions (āhua) work together? (3) Who is the audience, and how do they respond?
After Watching
Reflect: Haka is described as "our strength is not as an individual but as a collective" (Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini). How does this whakataukī apply to what you observed?
Critical Thinking Questions
1. Purpose and context
Haka can be used to welcome, to challenge, to grieve, or to celebrate. What purpose does the haka in this video serve? What clues tell you this?
2. Collective expression
How does performing haka as a group create something different from an individual performance? What does this tell us about Māori values around community and shared identity?
3. Respect and protocol
What tikanga (cultural protocols) should people follow when observing or participating in haka? Why do these protocols matter?
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Level 3–4: Understand how Māori cultural practices, values, and whakapapa shape identity and community; recognise the significance of te Tiriti o Waitangi and the contribution of Māori culture to Aotearoa New Zealand's national identity.
Level 3–4: Use te reo Māori to express cultural concepts, identity, and relationships with accuracy and respect; understand the significance of Māori language as a taonga and its role in sustaining mātauranga Māori.
Tuhia ōu whakaaro · Write Your Thoughts
Reflect on your learning. What was the most important idea? What question do you still have?
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
This resource engages directly with te ao Māori as its subject — the values, practices, language, and worldview that have sustained Māori communities across centuries of challenge and change. Mātauranga Māori is not a supplement to this learning: it is the source. Students approaching this material are invited to engage with it not as outside observers studying a foreign culture, but as people in relationship with a living knowledge tradition that shapes the place they live, the language they may speak, and the obligations they carry as tāngata o Aotearoa — people of this land.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Resources already provided
- Te ao Māori concepts glossary — key terms and their meanings
- Whakapapa framework — for understanding relationships and connections
- Contemporary application guide — connecting traditional concepts to modern contexts
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will develop algebraic thinking and pattern recognition (tātai tauira) through te ao Māori contexts, connecting mathematical reasoning to cultural and real-world problem-solving in Aotearoa.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Students can identify, describe, and extend patterns using algebraic notation.
- ✅ Students can explain their mathematical reasoning and connect it to real-world contexts.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Provide concrete materials and visual representations before moving to abstract notation. Offer entry-level tasks using number patterns, and extension challenges involving proof or generalisation for capable learners.
ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key mathematical vocabulary (variable, expression, equation, pattern). Allow diagrams and tables as alternate representations. Bilingual glossaries recommended.
Inclusion: Neurodiverse learners benefit from structured step-by-step templates and multiple representations (visual, numeric, algebraic). Avoid time pressure on procedural tasks.