📚 Unit Plans → 🌍 HIS 2.3: Perspectives → 📄 SOAPSTONE Worksheet — HIS 2.3 Lesson 2
Year 12 Tikanga-ā-Iwi / Social Sciences
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SOAPSTONE — He Tātaritanga Tūmomo Puna

Level 2 History · HIS 2.3 · Lesson 2 · Analyse the source before asking "what does this tell us about perspectives?"
 
 
Source to analyse — read carefully before you begin
"The Government of New Zealand must now proceed to take into its own hands the whole of the country between the Waikato River and the sea as far north as the Mokau River... The Waikato tribes have committed acts of rebellion against the Queen's authority, and Her Majesty's Government has consequently determined to proceed against them with the forces now at its disposal..."
— Governor George Grey, Proclamation to the Waikato people, 11 July 1863. New Zealand Gazette.
S
Subject
What is it about?
What is this document literally about? Summarise in one sentence — not your interpretation, just what it states on the surface.
O
Occasion
Historical context
What was happening in 1863 that led to this document? Consider: the Kīngitanga movement (Māori King), the 1860 Waitara land dispute, and growing Crown anxiety about Waikato. Why July 1863 specifically?
A
Audience
Who was meant to read it?
Who was the intended reader? (The Waikato people? The Colonial Office in London? Settler newspapers? All three simultaneously?) How does the audience change the language used?
P
Purpose
What did it do?
What did Grey want this document to achieve? (Justify military action? Issue a legal warning? Create an official record? Appeal to settlers?) There may be more than one purpose.
S
Speaker
Who wrote it?
Who was Governor Grey? What was his role, background, and prior history in NZ? (He had been Governor 1845–53 before returning. He signed early Land Purchase Acts.) Why does knowing this matter for reading the document?
T
Tone
Feeling + language
What feeling does the language create? Choose three adjectives — then back each up with a specific word or phrase from the text.
Adjective
Evidence from text

Synthesis — putting it together

1. What perspective does this source represent? Whose view of the NZ Wars does it express?
2. What perspective does this source NOT show us? Whose voice is absent?
3. What would a Waikato rangatira say in response to this proclamation? (Write 1–2 sentences from their perspective.)

Pātai Hōhonu — Bias check questions to ask of any source

Who created this? · Why did they create it? · Who was their audience? · What do they leave out? · How might someone else tell this story differently?

📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot

Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions

Students will engage with this resource to develop NCEA Level 2 historical thinking skills — examining how and why different groups held distinct perspectives on significant events in Aotearoa New Zealand's past, and constructing analytical essays using the PEE (Point–Evidence–Explanation) framework.

Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria

Differentiation & Inclusion

Scaffold support: Provide PEE sentence frames and perspective analysis templates for entry-level access. Students new to historical essay writing benefit from annotated exemplars showing the difference between describing and explaining a perspective. Extend capable writers by asking them to explain the enduring significance of the perspective clash — why does it still shape Aotearoa today?

ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key historical vocabulary (perspective, corroboration, reliability, significance, agency) with visual glossaries. Allow oral explanation of perspective analysis before written essay drafts. Sentence starters and argument frames lower the language barrier without reducing the historical thinking demand.

Inclusion: Essay writing is cognitively demanding — chunk the process across multiple sessions with formative checkpoints. Neurodiverse learners benefit from explicit essay structure guides and colour-coded paragraph planning. Oral history discussion forums are a valid alternative assessment pathway for students who need them.

Mātauranga Māori lens: This achievement standard centres events where Māori perspectives have historically been marginalised or misrepresented. Placing tangata whenua perspectives as the primary lens — not as "the other side" — is an act of historical justice. Whakapapa provides a framework for understanding why events like the NZ Wars, land confiscations, and the Dawn Raids were not isolated incidents but linked expressions of colonial power. Tino rangatiratanga and mana motuhake frame what was at stake. Students develop empathy and critical historical consciousness together.

Prior knowledge: Students should have foundational knowledge of the relevant historical events (NZ Wars, Treaty of Waitangi, Dawn Raids, or other case study). Familiarity with the PEE structure supports engagement with essay-focused resources.

Curriculum alignment