Lesson 2: Hard Times, Shared Story
Many Indigenous peoples share a hard chapter — and a strong comeback
Duration: 60 minutes | Year level: Years 7–8 | Subject: Social Studies / Tikanga-ā-Iwi
Lesson at a Glance
"He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata" — What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people.
In Lesson 1 we found out that Māori are part of a big family of Indigenous peoples. Today we learn something those peoples also share: a hard chapter in their story. In many countries, when settlers arrived, Indigenous peoples lost land and were often stopped from speaking their own language. It happened here in Aotearoa too. But this is not a sad ending — because those same peoples held on to who they are, and today they are bringing their languages and traditions roaring back.
⚠️ A note before we start
This lesson talks about real hard times. Some of us have whānau who lived through this. Be kind, listen well, and know it is okay to feel something. Kaiako: preview this lesson and check in with tamariki who may have close connections.
What We Are Learning (Ngā Whāinga Ako)
I am learning to…
- describe one hard thing that many Indigenous peoples share in their history
- give one real example of how a people kept their language and culture strong
- explain why understanding each other's story helps peoples support one another
I will know I can do this when…
- I can name one thing that happened to more than one Indigenous people
- I can describe one way te reo Māori was brought back to life
- I can finish: "Peoples who understand each other's story can ______."
Lesson Structure
Do Now: A Word That Nearly Disappeared (10 minutes)
Read this out loud together: te reo Māori — the Māori language. Not long ago, tamariki at some schools in Aotearoa were punished for speaking te reo. Because of that, many Māori grew up unable to speak their own language.
Talk to a partner: how would you feel if you were not allowed to speak the language of your family? Share one word.
Activity 1: Same Story, Different Places (20 minutes)
The same hard thing happened to Indigenous peoples in different parts of the world. Read these three true stories with your group. On a map, find each place.
Aotearoa — Māori
Māori lost much of their land, and for many years children were punished for speaking te reo Māori at school.
Hawai‘i — Kānaka Maoli
The Hawaiian language was banned in schools for nearly 100 years, and by the 1980s very few children could speak it.
Australia — Aboriginal peoples
Aboriginal peoples lost land, and many children were taken from their families and stopped from using their languages.
Group talk: what is the same in all three stories? Write one sentence together that starts "In all three places, Indigenous peoples ______."
Activity 2: Brought Back to Life (15 minutes)
Here is the strong part of the story. Peoples did not give up — they built ways to bring their languages back. Two of them look almost like twins:
🇳🇿 Kōhanga Reo (1982)
Māori set up "language nests" — places where the very youngest tamariki are surrounded by te reo Māori all day, learning it from kaumātua.
🌺 Pūnana Leo (1983)
Just one year later, Hawaiians started almost the same idea — "language nest" preschools to bring back the Hawaiian language.
Notice: two peoples, on opposite sides of the ocean, had the same clever idea one year apart. That is what being connected looks like.
Whakamutunga — Wrap-up (5 minutes)
Exit ticket — finish these:
- One hard thing many Indigenous peoples share is ______.
- One way te reo Māori was brought back is ______.
- Peoples who understand each other's story can ______.
Next lesson:
Now that we know peoples share hard times, we find out how they stand strong together — helping each other from across the world.
Assessment & Differentiation
How to check learning (formative)
- Same-story sentence: can the group name the shared experience across the three places?
- Language-nest pair: can students describe kōhanga reo in their own words?
- Exit ticket: can they connect "understanding each other's story" to helping one another?
Differentiation (Years 7–8)
- Need more support: read the three stories aloud as a class; give the shared-sentence half-started.
- Ready for more: find one more people who brought back their language and add it to the map.
- Cultural safety: let students step back from the material if they need to; never single anyone out to speak for their people.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Second lesson of the Years 7–8 Global Connections unit. Students learn that the Indigenous peoples introduced in Lesson 1 share not only ancestry and values but a common hard history — loss of land and language — and, crucially, a shared strength in reviving their cultures. The te reo Māori / Hawaiian language-nest parallel is the emotional and factual centre. This sets up Lesson 3 (peoples standing together).
Facts this lesson relies on (all checkable)
- Tamariki were punished for speaking te reo Māori at school within living memory — a documented part of Aotearoa's history.
- Te Kōhanga Reo began in 1982; the Hawaiian ʻAha Pūnana Leo language nests began in 1983.
- The Hawaiian language was restricted in schools for close to a century before the revival movement.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Cultural safety first: preview the lesson, and quietly check in beforehand with tamariki whose whānau may have direct experience. Give everyone the option to engage with the material in the way that feels right for them.
ELL / ESOL: many multilingual students know what it is to have a home language treated as less important — invite (never require) them to connect their own experience.
Mātauranga Māori lens: kōhanga reo is a taonga and a triumph — frame this lesson around resilience and revival, not only loss.
Curriculum alignment
- Social Studies / Tikanga-ā-Iwi — Phase 3 (Years 7–8): how the past shapes the present for groups of people, and how peoples maintain identity and language over time. (Verbatim Te Mātaiaho statement to be confirmed by the curriculum verification lane — cited here at learning-area + phase level.)