Aotearoa NZ's Histories - Progress outcomes for years 4-6

Years 4 to 6 Progress Outcomes for Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories. This curriculum content is part of the statement of official policy relating to teaching, learning and assessment of social sciences in all English medium state and state-integrated schools in New Zealand.

Drawing of three matariki lying on the grass above a bay, reading a book together.

About this resource

This page sets out the Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories Progress Outcomes for Years 4 to 6. These are part of the social sciences learning area in the New Zealand Curriculum, the official document that sets the direction for teaching, learning, and assessment in all English medium state and state-integrated schools in New Zealand.

An overview of the Understand, Know, Do (UKD) content structure for Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories and Progress Outcomes for other year levels are provided on companion pages.

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Aotearoa NZ's Histories: Progress outcomes for years 4–6

See The New Zealand Curriculum - Social sciences for more learning area information.

Understand
Know
Do

Through building knowledge about contexts and drawing on inquiry practices, I have a deeper understanding that:

Māori history is the foundational and continuous history of Aotearoa New Zealand

Māori have been settling, storying, shaping, and have been shaped by these lands and waters for centuries. Māori history forms a continuous thread, directly linking the contemporary world to the past. It is characterised by diverse experiences for individuals, hapū, and iwi within underlying and enduring cultural similarities.

Colonisation and settlement have been central to Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories for the past 200 years

The settlement of Aotearoa New Zealand has contributed to an increasingly diverse population, with many languages and cultures now part of its fabric. Colonisation began as part of a worldwide imperial project. It has been a complex, contested process, experienced and negotiated differently in different parts of Aotearoa New Zealand over time. Aotearoa New Zealand has also colonised parts of the Pacific.

The course of Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories has been shaped by the use of power

Individuals, groups, and organisations have exerted and contested power in ways that improve the lives of people and communities and in ways that lead to exclusion, injustice, and conflict.

Relationships and connections between people and across boundaries have shaped the course of Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories

People in Aotearoa New Zealand have been connected locally, nationally, and globally through voyaging, discovery, trade, aid, conflict, and creative exchanges. This has led to the adoption of new ideas and technologies, political institutions and alliances, and social movements.

I have explored the diverse histories and experiences of the peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand.

I have built my knowledge of stories about the people, events, and changes that have been important in my local area, including knowledge of the stories iwi and hapū share about their history in the rohe.

For the national contexts, I know the following:

Whakapapa me te whanaungatanga | Culture and identity

Origins, voyaging, and adaptation

The stories of groups of people from different periods in our history convey their reasons for and experiences of migration. These stories have shaped their culture and identity in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Key questions

Origins, voyaging, and adaptation

What stories do different groups of people tell about their experiences of migration?
When did they come, who did they come with, and why did they come?
How did these stories shape who they are now?

Learning experiences

Explore examples of:

stories of journeys to Aotearoa (for example, by waka and sailing, steam, and motor-driven ships; on early and later flights; as boat people; involving the challenges of travel and different journey lengths over time)
stories of journeys by different groups at different times (for example, by early British, Irish, Chinese, and Indian migrants; by Pacific and Asian communities and communities from continental Europe, the Americas, and the African continent; and by refugee and minority communities)
experiences of arriving in a new and different land – the different climate, food, culture, and language
how these experiences have shaped identities (for example, as iwi and as distinctive communities).

Related resources

Māori origins, voyaging, and adaptation

Māori voyaging through the Pacific was deliberate and skillful and brought with it Pacific whakapapa and cultural identities. These identities were transformed over the centuries through adaptations to and relationships with the environment, and through the formation of hapū and iwi that eventually occupied Aotearoa New Zealand.

Key questions

Māori origins, voyaging, and adaptation

What stories do hapū and iwi tell about their whakapapa and their voyaging and exploration?

Learning experiences

Explore examples of:

stories from iwi about their point of origin, why they left, and whakapapa connections to their waka, its captain, and its landing site(s)
aspects of the natural world that guide oceanic navigation: the flight paths of migratory birds, the sun and stars, ocean swells, changes in wave patterns, the presence of certain fish and birds, flotsam, and cloud formations
how Māori would have adapted in this new land: from customary societal structures in the Pacific (not immediately viable given small numbers and the priority to survive) to the gradual formation of more recognisable iwi and hapū structures, to strengthened iwi identity, and to working collectively in more settled agricultural communities, protected through the development of fortified kāinga.

Related resources

Responses to war

Individuals and communities have responded to international conflicts in a range of ways for a range of reasons.

Key questions

Responses to war

How have different groups of people in our community responded to the international conflicts that Aotearoa New Zealand has been involved in?
What kinds of jobs were these people doing?

Learning experiences

Explore examples of:

responses that reflected personal or public views, such as volunteering, conscription, the Māori Battalion, Cook Islands and Niue contributions to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the First World War, Chinese and Indian Anzacs, realm country contributions, and fundraising (for example, by Khaki Corps for the South African War)
essential jobs in Aotearoa New Zealand and who did them them: nursing, auxiliaries, military intelligence, the home front, and peacekeeping
objections to participation (for example, conscientious objection, and protests)
views about participation (for example, by Sir Apirana Ngata and Te Puea Hērangi).

Related resources

Tino rangatiratanga me te kāwanatanga | Government and organisation

Te Tiriti o Waitangi | The Treaty of Waitangi

Te Tiriti o Waitangi | The Treaty of Waitangi was signed in different places. The two versions of the Treaty say different things about who would have authority. Māori understandings were based on the version in te reo Māori, which the vast majority of Māori signed.

Key questions

Te Tiriti o Waitangi | The Treaty of Waitangi

How did iwi and hapū in our rohe participate (or not) in the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi | The Treaty of Waitangi? Who was present and what was debated? How was participation similar or different elsewhere?
What were the range of views expressed by Māori rangatira at the signings of Te Tiriti o Waitangi?
What are the differences between the English language and te reo Māori versions of the Treaty | Te Tiriti? What is the significance of these differences?

Learning experiences

Explore examples of:

the range of views among rangatira Māori. Some expressed strong reservations, including the possible effects of the Treaty on chiefly authority, land, and trade. Some were supportive, seeing Te Tiriti as a means of curbing Pākehā lawlessness and of ensuring ongoing, mutually beneficial trading relationships.
the places where Te Tiriti | the Treaty was signed. While approximately 500 people signed at various locations, not all had the opportunity to sign.
the differences between the English language and te reo Māori versions. Differing key words and phrases and their meanings (for example, sovereignty, kāwanatanga, and tino rangatiratanga) and how they relate to the assurances the missionaries at Waitangi offered Māori about who would have authority and what they would have authority over.

Governing and equity

Governments have selectively supported or excluded people through processes associated with voting rights, access to education, health, and welfare provision, reflecting prevailing public attitudes of the time. Often, equitable treatment has been sought by people, including Māori, Chinese, women, children, and disabled people.

Key questions

Governing and equity

How, over time, have various New Zealand governments restricted voting rights?
How have people advocated for their rights?
How did the government respond to the hardships of the Great Depression?

Learning experiences

Explore examples of:

restrictions on representation and voting: the initial basis of property possession and individual title (as derived from British law), which privileged male Pākehā (Māori men and women still owned land, but communally rather than by individual title); the disproportionate allocation of Māori seats compared to Pākehā; the denial of the vote to women (based on British law); the exclusion of Chinese from voting until 1952
seeking equitable treatment:
- women and the vote: the formation of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) after the visit of Mary Clement Leavitt from the US in 1885; the establishment of the Women’s Franchise Leagues; the leadership of Kate Sheppard and of Meri Te Tai Mangakāhia (in speaking in the Kotahitanga parliament, calling for the right for women to vote and be elected to that parliament)
- wahine Māori leadership: the distinctive contributions of Meri Te Tai Mangakāhia, Te Puea Hērangi, the Māori Women’s Welfare League, Te Kõhanga Reo, Dame Whina Cooper, Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan, and Georgina Beyer
- minority community responses: through petitioning the Crown (for example, the 1901 Chinese anti-opium petition, and the 1947 petition for refugee Chinese women and children to remain in New Zealand), through advocacy and support (for example, CCS Disability Action, and advocacy by IHC), and through activism (for example, the Disabled Persons Assembly and the Deaf community’s lobbying for recognition of New Zealand Sign Language as an official language)
government policies to support people: for example, the 1930s "cradle to grave" welfare state reforms, which marked a change from selective support for the "deserving poor" through charities and government relief schemes to a significant ideological shift in the state’s views of its responsibilities (for example, through the provision of state housing, family benefits, free education and dental care to secondary school level, more generous pensions, free milk in schools, and children’s health camps).

Related resources

Tūrangawaewae me te kaitiakitanga | Place and environment

Adapting to new environments

People adapted their technologies and tools to the new environment of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Key questions

Adapting to new environments

What are the origin stories of mana whenua?
What technologies and tools did Māori bring to Aotearoa New Zealand?
What adaptations did early Māori make to enable them to survive and thrive in a new environment? How did these differ across Aotearoa New Zealand?
How did mana whenua, early resource seekers, and settlers impact on the natural environment?
How did mana whenua engage with early newcomers?

Learning experiences

Explore examples of:

the technologies and tools Māori brought to Aotearoa New Zealand (for example, hunting and fishing tools and techniques, weapons, clothing, food and gardening practices)
adaptations to the very different climate and resources of Aotearoa New Zealand (for example, of language for new phenomena such as hail, technologies, food, shelter, and clothing)
food production: for example, a phase of hunter-gathering, then the resumption of gardening as the main source of food production (adapted to the new environment, based around kāinga, and following a lunar calendar with the new year beginning in winter when the stars of Matariki rose before dawn)
early European use of the environment (for example, the harvesting of seals and whales, the felling of timber, and trading for flax).

Related resources

Kōwhiringa ohaoha me te whai oranga | Economic activity

Local economies and trade

Traditional Māori economies were finely tuned to the resources within each rohe, which provided the basis for trade between iwi. There were complicated economic relationships between iwi and early newcomers as newcomers sought resources.

Key questions

Local economies and trade

How were iwi and hapū economies shaped by the particular resources of their rohe?
How did specialisation create opportunities for exchange between iwi?
What was the basis of this exchange?
What was exchanged, why, and with whom?

Learning experiences

Explore examples of:

iwi economies based on unique local resources: for example, inland North Island iwi hunting birds and fishing for tuna across wide areas; the exploitation of thermal resources by Te Arawa and Ngāti Tūwharetoa; river iwi catching tuna; the access of coastal iwi to rich kaimoana; the extensive gardens developed in some parts of the country; in much of the South Island, the gathering of resources on seasonal heke, including mutton birds from the Tītī Islands
exchanges between iwi (for example, of preserved foods, tools, weapons, taonga, whalebone, argillite, obsidian, and pounamu)
economic relationships between coastal iwi and early newcomers such as sealers, whalers, and traders: hapū began to engage more fully with new economic activities, due to a desire to access European trade goods and as an expression of manaakitanga; this in turn linked Māori into a globalising economy, with some joint ventures between Māori and Pākehā (for example, whaling stations, and the shipyards at Hōreke).

In my learning in Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories, I can:

Identifying and exploring historical relationships

I can construct a historical sequence of related events and changes, show how long ago they happened, and say how other people might construct the sequence differently.

Identifying sources and perspectives

I can use historical sources, giving deliberate attention to mātauranga Māori sources, to gather evidence to answer my questions about the past. I can identify views that are missing and note how this may affect my answers.

Interpreting past experiences, decisions, and actions

I can identify the attitudes and values that motivated people in the past and compare them with attitudes, and values of today.