Many iwi and schools are now working together to implement the Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories curriculum (ANZH), and leaders of the New Zealand History Teachers Association (NZHTA) believe these relationships will grow, despite the policies of the current government.
“Once teachers become aware of how to teach Māori histories, and are informed about the unjust impacts of colonisation, more conscientised, you can’t just turn that around and suddenly become de-conscientised,” says Kārena Ngata (Ngāti Porou), former Kaiārahi Māori with NZHTA and now a member of the executive. Put simply: “Once the penny drops, it’s hard to pick it back up and pretend it didn’t drop.”
Since the curriculum was gazetted in 2022, Kārena says there are many initiatives occurring around the motu that indicate stronger engagement of schools and teachers with local whānau, hapū and iwi, with te reo me ōna tikanga, and with local taonga tuku iho (treasures, such as traditional narratives passed down through generations). Some began earlier, and many plan to continue despite the position stated by National and ACT in the coalition agreement that they aim to ‘restore balance’ to the curriculum.
“This is a really confusing statement from Government and the Ministry,” says Kārena, “because ANZH was about decentralising dominant historical discourse by including previously missing voices. It was also about taking an approach to studying history that improves a student’s ability to understand the past through various lenses, including a kaupapa Māori lens. It was literally about creating balance. As an Association, we have asked for clarity around this comment, but this has yet to be forthcoming.”
Content for ANZH and Te Takanga o Te Wā (the histories curriculum for Te Marautanga o Aotearoa) were made available in 2022 and rolled out in 2023 when it was made compulsory for Years 1 to 10.
“The new curriculum content will support ākonga to be critical thinkers and understand the past in order to make sense of the present and inform our future. It will incorporate learning from a range of perspectives at a local and national level,” stated the Education Gazette in April 2022.
At Riverview School in Te Tai Tokerau, primary teacher Samantha Roessler has found the changes hugely beneficial. “I get so excited about the Aotearoa New Zealand History’s curriculum because it’s so much less restrictive. There’s a timeline that makes you understand so much more than just ‘The Treaty of Waitangi was signed, and then they had ANZAC and now we’re living in 2024.’ Because that’s what it felt like to me as a teacher.”
“The impact of the Aotearoa Histories Curriculum is a huge, huge improvement,” says Matua Taua Kemp (Ngāti Rēhia), a teacher and kaumatua at Kerikeri High School. “It really does open many doors.”
Samantha and Taua are representatives on a partnership initiated in 2022 between local schools, history experts and Ngāti Rēhia. The rōpū, called Te Pūherenga, are developing curriculum units focusing on pūrākau from the rohe to be shared by all schools in Kerikeri. You can read more about Te Pūherenga, here.
Te Ahu o Te Reo
Another successful initiative helping teachers to get alongside mana whenua has been Te Ahu o Te Reo – a te reo Māori course for kaiako, funded by the Ministry of Education.
“The course gives tangata whenua the chance to interact directly with kaiako from all over their region, to not only teach te reo, but to also tell their own narratives their own way – to train the trainer if you like,” says Kārena (who recently graduated Level 5 through the programme). “After watching hundreds of teachers in the programme over the last two years present their amazing feedback, I see that many who have started their journey are committed to continuing. They understand the crucial role they can play in decolonising their classrooms and support the indigenising of our curriculum.
“The result is not just more te reo in state school classrooms, but more authentic engagement with iwi and with mātauranga Māori – factors that will genuinely help facilitate the aspiration of Māori achieving educational success as Māori.”
Raeleen Walker-Hulme (Te Whakatōhea, Ngāti Patumoana) is a kaiako at Te Rangihakahaka Centre for Science and Technology in Rotorua for tamariki in years 1-10. She reflects on how Te Ahu o Te Reo Māori has reignited her passion for te reo, inspiring her and others to pursue further learning, with two primary schools she knows establishing Rumaki classrooms as a result.
“We have been so lucky to have been involved with this wānanga not only for our own personal growth but also that of our ākonga,” she shares. “It’s been a win-win situation for kaiako and ākonga in our classes, as we get to use and pass on not only te reo, tikanga, whakapapa o Te Arawa but pūrākau to them. It is uplifting for ākonga to see how passionate their kaiako are for Te Ao Māori.”
It is therefore with great disappointment that we note the Ministry has diverted $30 million from the Te Ahu o Te Reo programme to fund the development of maths resources, says Kārena. “This makes absolutely no sense in light of the heightened level of te reo Māori and knowledge of Te Ao Māori required of kaiako if they are to teach the mandated ANZH and Level 1 curricula confidently.”
The decision to end the funding for Te Ahu o Te Reo Māori was despite an independent report finding high demand, overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants and “outstanding programme providers”.
With around 30,000 language acquisition opportunities created the report stated that the programme’s investment should not be underestimated due to the influence teachers have.
“Consider the flow-on effect, when each teacher who participates in Te Ahu o te Reo Māori then teaches what they have learned to an average class size of 25 students per year. Then consider how that compounds when they also share their learning with their colleagues, as our data indicates they are. The potential overall contribution of Te Ahu o te Reo Māori to the goal of one million speakers increases exponentially.”
“It will be a terrible loss for all when Te Ahu o Te Reo Māori ends,” says Raeleen. “I will treasure all that I have learnt and will continue to use what I have added to my kete to promote Te Ao Māori in my akomanga.”
The report also found that teachers in English medium benefitted most from the programme. With 97% of Māori students in English medium schools, Kārena says it is vital that their teachers are equipped with the knowledge to “support ākonga to connect with what should have been their cultural inheritance but wasn’t, due to colonisation.”
Kārena goes on to say that “if we value mātauranga and te reo Māori, facilitate connection and support them to develop a sense of pride and belonging, perhaps they will, when the time comes, make kaupapa Māori education choices for their own tamariki.”
What’s threatening progress?
Some are opting out. While the ERO report found that primary schools are most likely to be teaching the new histories curriculum, Kārena is aware from various online teacher forums that, after the change of government in 2023, some secondary schools and teachers are opting not to teach the critical Level 1 NCEA programmes that feature mātauranga Māori content.
“Rather than taking up the challenge to learn content they are unfamiliar with and leaning into a Tiriti-honouring relationship with mana whenua, some have opted to drop the entire level. For some, the rationale behind their thinking is that under this government, ‘we might not have to do that’”. She sees this as a missed opportunity. “Teaching Māori history through a mātauranga Māori lens requires kaiako and ākonga to deepen their understandings so that historical events can be examined from diverse perspectives, instead of being dominated by Eurocentric discourse.”
Kārena goes on to explain further. “Understanding concepts such as rangatiratanga, whakapapa, whanaungatanga, mana and tūrangawaewae in the context of the 1975 Land March, for example, supports learners to understand that far from being ‘trouble makers’ and ‘radicals’, from a te ao Māori perspective, Land March leaders and participants were ‘visionaries’ and ‘protectors’. The teaching and learning of key Māori concepts allows our history students to better understand the motives and actions of key historical Māori figures which addresses the ‘whitewashing’ of New Zealand history”.
Loss of Ministry staff and the narrow focus on literacy and numeracy have impacted on implementation of the histories curriculum. “No-one’s talking about the histories curriculum anymore,” says Kārena. “It’s been pushed to the side. I see it as a deliberate strategy to disempower it. The irony is that critical literacy and numeracy learning could easily be contextualised through the ANZH, as supported by decades of evidence of what best practice can look like in Aotearoa New Zealand.”
Charter schools are also a threat says Kārena. “What charter schools enable this government to do is to circumvent any obligations they have to the nationally mandated direction of the curriculum refresh and to Te Tiriti o Waitangi in terms of addressing the legacy of inequity in educational outcomes.” Kārena states in her submission to the Government on the Amendment Bill: “Te Tiriti will not go away. It is time we started to learn how to honour it if we want to escape this age-old cycle of harm and create a better future for our tamariki and mokopuna.”
More Government support needed, says the NZ History Teachers’ Association
Kārena’s views are supported by the Chairperson of the NZHTA, Craig Thornhill. After a petition led by ākonga of Ōtorohanga College in 2015, the NZ History Teachers’ Association was a key advocate for the inclusion of local and Māori historical perspectives in the curriculum. Craig emphasises positive findings in the ERO report released in April: “At the time of the report, which was after less than a year of implementation, just over half of students were enjoying learning about Aotearoa NZ Histories and two-thirds of teachers have seen positive impacts on student participation.”
Craig continues, “Critics have said the [ERO] report shows the curriculum is flawed, but my view is that it shows that the curriculum itself is good, but ministry/government support has been insufficient.”
If the Government wants local history to be put into national and global contexts, it needs to support the creation of resources to do that. Currently, it is local and Māori histories which are most accessible, with people nearby who can share their kōrero and knowledge.
“The problems teachers are facing now are with the immense scale of change – implementation of ANZH, followed by the wider curriculum changes – an issue particularly for primary teachers, who have to be generalists and therefore have to absorb all of the curricula.”
There is a lack of resourcing, advice and guidance from the Ministry. Craig quotes the ERO report: “Developing a school curriculum is a big ask of schools.”
The ERO report also comments on the limited capacity of some hapū and iwi to support the ANZH, which is sometimes an issue of resourcing. Kārena explains, “This is about meeting a Te Tiriti obligation: the Ministry of Education and Boards of Trustees need to step up its resourcing directly to mana whenua to support their capacity to tautoko local history inclusion in our schools, so that mana whenua can tell their own stories their way and on their own terms. This truth telling would go a long way towards healing and ultimately, reconciliation – an outcome that would benefit all who call Aotearoa New Zealand home.”
The NZHTA and ASSEN have developed He Pā Harakeke, a socio-ecological process to support the critical implementation of the ANZH curriculum. View HPH here. Teachers of ANZH are invited to subscribe to the NZHTA for additional support and information.
