Why decolonised history? | He aha te take

For over a century, New Zealand history was widely taught from a colonial perspective: Māori appeared as passive victims or as "rebels", land confiscation was framed as the price of progress, and Māori agency, resistance and sovereignty claims were left out of the story. That framing was never neutral. It did political work.

This unit takes the other road. It centres Māori perspectives and sources, names colonial narratives so students can recognise them, shows Māori as strategic actors rather than victims, and connects the historical record to what is happening now. Lesson 2 models the method exactly: instead of telling students the two texts of te Tiriti differ, it puts the exact words of both texts in front of them, verbatim from the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975, and lets them find the gap themselves.

The unit's essential question: how does centring Māori perspectives change our understanding of Aotearoa's history?

What students will be able to do | Ngā hua ako

• Historical knowledge: describe the sophistication of pre-colonial Māori society; explain what the exact words of both Tiriti texts say and where they part ways; trace resistance from the nineteenth century through to contemporary movements.
• Critical thinking: identify colonial narratives and the purposes they served; check provenance before content; evaluate sources for perspective; build counter-narratives from evidence and state the limits of each claim.
• Cultural competency: use te reo Māori terms accurately (tino rangatiratanga, kāwanatanga, raupatu, mana motuhake); engage with difficult histories with care and humility.
• Communication: write evidence-led arguments that cite primary sources properly and keep claims inside what the evidence supports.

Cultural safety and tikanga | Te noho haumaru

Before you begin

• Build relationships. Connect with local iwi or Māori cultural advisors where you can. Learn whose whenua your school stands on. Invite kaumātua to open the unit with karakia or kōrero if the relationship supports it.
• Prepare yourself. Acknowledge your own positionality and the gaps in your knowledge, and commit to ongoing learning — see the reading and viewing list below.
• Communicate with whānau. Tell parents and caregivers what the unit covers and why. Offer to meet with anyone who has concerns, and make space for Māori whānau to share family histories if they choose to.

In the classroom

• Karakia: open lessons with karakia where appropriate. If you do not know an appropriate karakia, ask Māori colleagues rather than improvising; a whakataukī and a moment of reflection is a respectful alternative.
• Te reo Māori: use Māori terms correctly, give pronunciations and translations, and model that you are still learning. Invite Māori students to share knowledge, but never require it.
• Sensitive content: give content warnings before discussing violence, trauma or racism, and offer genuine opt-outs. Check in with Māori students privately — "how is this unit landing for you?"
• Respecting mana: never single out Māori students to speak for all Māori, expect them to be experts on Māori history, or leave them defending their perspectives. Centre Māori voices from the historical sources, not from the students in the room.

Trauma-informed teaching | Te whakaako tūpato

This unit discusses colonisation, violence, land loss, cultural suppression and racism. For some students, especially Māori students whose whānau carry these histories directly, that is not abstract content. Four principles keep the room safe:

1. Safety first. Establish classroom agreements before the first lesson, give content warnings, and make support pathways visible (school counsellor, pastoral staff).
2. Centre agency, not just trauma. Balance stories of harm with stories of resistance, strategy and innovation. Māori history is not a history of victims.
3. Validate emotions. Anger, sadness, guilt and defensiveness are all normal responses to this material. Build in processing time and do not rush past it.
4. Move toward action. Connect the learning to present-day justice work and end with hope and solidarity, not despair.

Classroom agreements to establish in week one

• Respect: all perspectives are heard, and Māori voices are centred.
• Honesty: we engage with difficult truths, even when uncomfortable.
• Confidentiality: what is shared in class stays in class.
• Right to pass: anyone can opt out of sharing without explanation.
• Good intent: we are all learning; mistakes are expected.
• Challenge ideas, not people: critique colonial narratives, not classmates.
• Cultural safety: we protect the mana of Māori students and perspectives.

The unit arc | Te huarahi o te wāhanga

Five source-first lessons are live, and together they close the unit's evidence chain — from pre-Crown governance through to the Crown's language of redress. Each lesson is built the same way: exact words, provenance before content, claims that keep their limits.

Where next | Ā muri ake: this unit stops in 1996 by design — it builds the method. The obvious extension inquiry runs from Ngā Tamatoa, the 1975 Land March and Bastion Point through to Ihumātao and the settlement era, following the through-line of Māori agency. That is a separate inquiry your class is now equipped to do, not an unshipped stage of these five lessons.

The assessment arc that sits across these lessons — pre-assessment, exit tickets, essay checkpoints and the counter-narrative essay — is gathered in the Assessment Companion.

Prepare yourself: reading and viewing | He rauemi mōu

You do not need to be an expert to teach this unit well, but you do need to have done some honest homework. These are the places to start:

• Read: Vincent O'Malley, The Great War for New Zealand (Bridget Williams Books, 2016) · Claudia Orange, The Treaty of Waitangi · the writing of Moana Jackson on constitutional transformation and justice.
• Watch: Bastion Point: The Untold Story (1999, NZ On Screen) · The Price of Peace (2015, dir. Kim Webby).
• Primary sources: the unit's own source labs draw on the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 Schedule 1 (both Tiriti texts, verbatim) — start with the Ngā Tuhinga e Rua source lab.

Whānau communication | Te whakapā ki te whānau

Before the unit begins, send whānau a short letter covering what the unit teaches, why the school teaches it, and how sensitive content is handled (content warnings, opt-outs, support pathways). Invite questions and offer to meet. Being ahead of the conversation is itself a cultural-safety practice: it protects students from carrying the explanation home alone. A ready-to-adapt letter, home activities and a straight-answer FAQ are gathered in the Whānau Engagement Kit.