Hauora is connected
Whenua and the four taha are not five separate checkboxes. A change, barrier, or strength may move through the system.
He Kete Hauora · What ākonga do
Ākonga begin by constructing Te Whare Tapa Whā as a connected system. They investigate whenua, taha wairua, taha tinana, taha hinengaro, and taha whānau through place maps, values decisions, access design, kai contexts, movement trials, recovery patterns, regulation tests, and help-seeking rehearsal. Each lesson leaves one piece of evidence in a workbook. In the final lesson, ākonga use that evidence—or labelled extracts from the fictional pack—to build, test, and refine a personal, fictional, or community Whare action plan.
The unit never assesses disclosure. Every personal task has an equal fictional or community route.
Three big ideas
Support is designed
Useful action matches evidence, access, relationships, place, and real-life constraints. “Try harder” is not a design.
Mana and choice matter
A plan can only be strong if it protects privacy, avoids diagnosis, and leaves the person or community with agency.
How the learning works
Build and model
Ākonga make the system visible with structures, arrows, maps, and scenario cards before moving to abstraction.
Test with evidence
Every lesson asks learners to compare, trial, sort, rehearse, or peer-test something and record what the test shows.
Learn through reciprocal feedback
Reviewers test the design and learn from the designer's reasoning; designers decide what to change and explain why.
Learning Intentions | Ngā Whāinga Ako
- Explain Te Whare Tapa Whā as a connected model grounded in whenua and four interdependent taha.
- Use investigation evidence to explain how context, access, relationships, and support may shape hauora.
- Build, test, and refine a realistic action that protects mana, choice, and privacy.
Success Criteria | Paearu Angitu
- I connect whenua and at least two taha accurately without ranking or diagnosing people.
- I use labelled evidence, name its limits, and avoid claims it cannot prove.
- I show an accessible action, support beyond willpower, a meaningful test, and a visible revision.
Lesson pathway
Lesson 1 · Foundations
Te Whare Tapa Whā as a System
Build the model, stress-test connections, and match a support to evidence.
Workbook evidence: system map Lesson 2 · FoundationWhenua & Tūrangawaewae
Map belonging, access, barriers, and support around a real or fictional place.
Workbook evidence: place/support map Lesson 3 · Taha wairuaWairua, Values & Purpose
Test a values conflict and design a response that protects mana.
Workbook evidence: values compass Lesson 4 · Taha tinanaTinana Foundations
Analyse physical-wellbeing access and adapt options around fictional learners.
Workbook evidence: access/adaptation table Lesson 5 · KaiKai, Belonging & Choice
Investigate the contexts shaping food choice and redesign shared kai for inclusion.
Workbook evidence: kai context investigation Lesson 6 · MovementMovement & Wellbeing
Trial or observe accessible movement and build an adaptable micro-routine.
Workbook evidence: movement experiment log Lesson 7 · RecoveryRest, Sleep & Recovery
Analyse fictional patterns and prototype support without personal surveillance.
Workbook evidence: recovery pattern lab Lesson 8 · Taha hinengaroHinengaro & Emotion Language
Notice evidence, build precise language, and connect a scenario to safe support.
Workbook evidence: notice–name–connect map Lesson 9 · RegulationStress Regulation Toolkit
Test strategies as options and justify which context each one may fit.
Workbook evidence: strategy test Lesson 10 · Help-seekingHelp-seeking & Manaaki
Rehearse notice–ask–listen–connect without turning peers into counsellors.
Workbook evidence: conversation pathway Lesson 11 · Taha whānauWhānau & Resilience
Weave people, places, practices, and formal pathways into reciprocal support.
Workbook evidence: protective-factor weave Lesson 12 · SummativePersonal Whare Action Project
Build, peer-test, and materially refine an evidence-based action plan.
Summative evidence: tested project + rationaleSummative · Personal Whare Action Project
Ākonga choose a personal, fictional, or community route. They use at least three labelled workbook entries or fictional-pack extracts, show connections across the whare, design a specific accessible action, test it against evidence/mana/feasibility criteria, and explain one material revision.
Ready-to-use unit resources
Personal Whare Workbook
Model cards, activity sheets, one evidence page per lesson, and the final project canvas.
Open printable workbookFictional Evidence Pack
Three complete composite profiles and a selection sheet for the equal-status, no-disclosure project route.
Open fictional evidenceVerified curriculum map
Exact Phase 3 statements, source IDs, lesson-to-activity mapping, and honesty boundaries.
Open curriculum companionAssessment and moderation
Equal-status personal/fictional/community routes, criteria, rubric, and accessible submission options.
Open assessmentSafeguarding first: have school pastoral and disclosure pathways ready. Learners may use composite scenarios throughout. Peers notice, listen, and connect to trusted adults or services; they do not diagnose, promise secrecy, or carry risk alone.
Teacher Planning Snapshot
🎯 Curriculum Links | Te Hononga ki te Marautanga
Health and Physical Education · Phase 3. The unit teaches stress, regulation, boundaries, relationships, kai, movement, sleep, recovery, and help-seeking through practical evidence work.
Stress responses are often part of how the brain and body react to challenge, and understanding these responses helps people manage them by reframing thoughts, setting boundaries, and maintaining supportive relationships.
See all five exact statements and the lesson-to-evidence map.
📈 Entry, on-level, and extension routes
- Entry / scaffold: use the pre-completed fictional profiles, model the evidence-to-inference distinction, and teach the eight-lesson core named in pacing.
- On-level: complete the 12-lesson arc and require three labelled evidence sources, connected model reasoning, a tested action, and visible refinement.
- Extension: add a second test condition, an implementation sequence with permissions and resources, and a justified stop/adapt rule.
📚 Research Base | Te Pūtake Rangahau
The unit's build–test–refine structure draws on three complementary evidence bases in Te Whare Ako, our pedagogy library:
- John Dewey · experiential learning: ākonga learn the model through construction, movement trials, scenario rehearsal, and project testing rather than passive recall.
- Russell Bishop · culturally responsive relationships: reciprocal feedback, learner agency, and mana-enhancing choices shape the way evidence is discussed and assessed.
- Wally Penetito · place-based education: whenua and tūrangawaewae are investigated through real or carefully chosen community places, with local knowledge used only under local authority.
📅 Pacing and preparation
Suggested pacing
- 12 × 70–75 minute lessons.
- Or run Lessons 1–3, one tinana/kai/movement investigation, Lessons 8–10, and Lessons 11–12 as an eight-lesson core.
- Print workbook pages lesson by lesson, or bind the complete portfolio.
Before starting
- Check school HPE, pastoral, and disclosure procedures.
- Identify trusted adults and current local referral routes.
- Decide where private workbook lines will be stored and which sections will be collected.
- Invite local mana whenua advice for local examples; do not invent iwi-specific tikanga.
🪶 Cultural integrity
- Teach Te Whare Tapa Whā as a Māori health model developed by Tā Mason Durie, not a generic wellbeing graphic.
- Use whenua and the four taha accurately and relationally; do not call one wall “more important”.
- Wairua may include faith, values, meaning, heritage, environment, or wider connection. Do not prescribe one experience.
- Local pūrākau, karakia, and iwi-specific tikanga require local authority. The unit supplies the learning structure, not invented local knowledge.
Core sources: New Zealand Ministry of Health and Mental Health Foundation.
🛡️ Privacy, safety, and inclusion
Privacy
- Never require disclosure of health, faith, whānau, trauma, disability, puberty, sleep, or mental-health information.
- Personal, fictional, and community routes receive equal assessment status.
- Do not collect pages labelled private.
Inclusion
- Frame disability and neurodivergence through access, adaptation, strength, and support—not a damaged wall.
- Offer seated, low-impact, observation, and non-competitive movement options.
- Avoid body measurement, food moralising, public wellbeing scores, or peer diagnosis.
📊 Assessment snapshot
Formative evidence accumulates in the workbook. The summative evaluates five things: evidence quality, connected use of the model, action/access/mana, testing/refinement, and safe communication. A polished poster without tested reasoning does not meet the bar; a clear annotated model can.
🧺 Ngā Rauemi Katoa | All Resources in this Collection
Lesson 1: The Whare as a System
Interconnectedness of the four walls and whenua foundation.
Open Lesson 1Lesson 2: Whenua & Tūrangawaewae
Land connection, place-based identity, and environmental roots.
Open Lesson 2Lesson 3: Taha Wairua — Values & Purpose
Spiritual wellbeing, personal values, heritage, and sense of purpose.
Open Lesson 3Lesson 4: Taha Tinana Foundations
Physical health foundations, bodily awareness, and vitality.
Open Lesson 4Lesson 5: Kai, Belonging & Choice
Nourishment, cultural kai practices, and mana-enhancing food choices.
Open Lesson 5Lesson 6: Movement for Mauri
Movement, physical activity for life energy, and joyful expression.
Open Lesson 6Lesson 7: Rest, Sleep & Recovery
Restorative sleep hygiene, physiological recovery, and downtime.
Open Lesson 7Lesson 8: Taha Hinengaro — Emotional Literacy
Mental and emotional wellbeing, feeling vocabulary, and regulation.
Open Lesson 8Lesson 9: Stress Regulation Toolkit
Physiological stress responses, reframing, and calming toolkits.
Open Lesson 9Lesson 10: Help-Seeking & Manaaki
Navigating support systems, trusted adults, and mutual care.
Open Lesson 10Lesson 11: Taha Whānau Resilience
Social wellbeing, whānau relationships, boundaries, and belonging.
Open Lesson 11Lesson 12: Personal Whare Action Project
Summative capstone: building, testing, and refining a personal whare plan.
Open Lesson 12📦 Wāhi Ako | Choose Your Approach
This unit has two versions of the same 12-lesson sequence. Both cover all four walls of Te Whare Tapa Whā — choose the approach that fits your class, or draw from both.
This version — Action Plan Builder
ākonga build, test, and refine an evidence-based Whare action plan across 12 lessons. Each lesson produces workbook evidence and feeds a summative capstone. Best for teachers who want structured, assessable hauora learning.
Start here →In development — Cultural Journey
A second route through the same 12 lessons, being developed toward an immersive cultural emphasis — whakapapa, tikanga, whenua and the cultural foundations of each wall. Right now its lesson bodies are the same as this route’s, so choose it only if you prefer its framing; the distinct version is still being written. We would rather tell you that than promise a difference you would not find.
Preview Cultural Journey →