Case study: Designing and making wharenui panels 

Students in the year 13 class at Wellington High School designed and created individual hanging panels for the wharenui at the school marae. These were created as samplers to demonstrate some of the textile manipulation techniques they had practised in class. Students had to consider intellectual property and values, and make design changes in response to stakeholder concerns over an issue. 

Learning Intentions could be: 

Students will: 

• identify key and wider stakeholders connected with the issue 
• seek and critically analyse relevant stakeholders’ views in developing a brief to address the issue 
• evaluate design ideas, taking account of stakeholder ideas and feedback, to select those that best meet the requirements of the brief 
• undertake functional modelling to inform design and construction decisions 
• present and justify a design concept for a technological outcome 
• create a technological outcome that meets the requirements of the brief 
• evaluate the final outcome, identifying and justifying its fitness for purpose in the intended social and physical environment.  

Teacher guidance could focus on

• Developing textile skills 
• Intellectual property 
• Values 
• Integrating stakeholder concerns over an issue 

At the time of this case study, all year 9 students at Wellington High School participate in a term of fashion technology. Fashion technology is also offered as an option in year 10. In years 11–13, students can continue in the fashion textile design technology course.

A number of students transfer to Wellington High at senior level, as it is the only city secondary school that is co-educational and does not have a school uniform. This often means senior classes are of mixed skill levels and experience. Teache,r Kylie Merrick's year 13 class, for example, included students who had mastered fashion and textile knowledge and skills at an exceptionally high level and those who hadn't taken the subject before, as well as international students working on a non-exam course.

Pre-planning: Formulating the idea for a programme of learning

While sitting in the school wharenui, Taraika, at the annual beginning-of-year staff meeting, Kylie contemplated the aesthetics of the building. She says that in her experience, wharenui are colourful, decorative places with really beautiful interiors and exteriors. In contrast, Taraika is a young wharenui (built in 1994) and its whānau is constantly moving on.

Consequently, she notes, there has been limited opportunity for "gifting" decoration, and the interior "looked quite plain". Over the year, she thought about how it might be brightened up and decided that creating some kind of decoration for Taraika would make a great project with a client for a year 13 class.

Developing the idea with students

Kylie discussed the possibilities with her class and suggested that a project like this would provide them with an opportunity to give something back to the school. The students could leave a little part of themselves behind for future generations.

The students were enthusiastic about the idea. Kylie proposed a set of hanging panels to add colour and interest to the wharenui, and the students were keen to work on these. She notes that this sort of project allows the more experienced students to be extended and also caters to those new to the subject or who still need to develop more advanced skills.

Students would design their panels as an artistic piece for a client, and also as samplers to display a variety of textile manipulation techniques.

Identifying stakeholders

Students had to consider a number of stakeholders. These included all the students and staff in the school, as well as community groups that used the wharenui for hui. Kylie identified HOD Māori Matua Ben (Ben Tangaere) and Principal Prue Kelly as the main clients. Other key stakeholders were teachers and staff who were Māori or had strong links, and kapa haka students.

The programme of learning started with a visit to Taraika. This gave new students a more in-depth look at the wharenui and provided an opportunity for others to observe it in a new context.

The class discussed the opportunities and practicalities around hanging panels and sketched ideas for installing the panels. One constraint was that they couldn't be placed on the back wall, which is reserved for photographs commemorating those who died while attending or working at Wellington High School.

The students also had to think about any other cultural considerations while discussing how they might approach their brief. Kylie says she directed the class to work out their own solutions, rather than imposing hers, and that their brainstorming sessions resulted in some interesting ideas.

The students agreed that a common theme would unify the individual panels and decided to incorporate the school tikanga using words from it on each panel to make them learning tools as well as decoration. They researched the meaning and background of the tikanga and chose key words for the panels.

Each student was randomly assigned a word. Several students linked the tikanga to their school environment and its location on Mt Cook, overlooking the city, and spent a lot of time thinking about how they would integrate everything into their designs. They walked around the area, sketching or taking photographs, and interviewed teachers and fellow students about their viewpoints and the values they associated with the school.

It proved too difficult to meet with non-school users of the wharenui, so students acknowledged their role but didn't consult them.

Iterative brief development with stakeholders 

The class discussed their brief with Matua Ben. He suggested some ideas and pointed out that Taraika is for everyone involved with the school, so that representing different cultures within the Māori context was acceptable.

Planning for practice – Cultural implications

The students researched traditional Māori crafts, particularly tukutuku (panel weaving) and kōwhaiwhai (rafter paintings) commonly seen in wharenui, as well as contemporary Māori art.

Students also looked at the commercialisation of Māori culture and its artistic use by non-Māori, both within New Zealand and internationally. This led to a discussion about intellectual property and how this might apply to traditional indigenous art. The class visited the wharenui at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand to observe the decoration and sketched particular features or made rubbings of patterns which might be suitable to adapt and use in the panels.

Stakeholder consultation 

Stakeholder consultation was an important part of the design process. The students made up a survey asking for feedback from some of their other key stakeholders – the principal and deputy principals, and teachers who were Māori or had strong links. They also met with wider stakeholders – kapa haka students, general teaching staff, auxiliary staff, and fellow students – to discuss their ideas.

The class practised a variety of fabric manipulation techniques that they might choose to use in their work. This included a variety of pleating, weaving and gathering methods, freehand stitch sketching, fabric painting, screen-printing, cross-stitching, appliqué, and Kylie demonstrated photographic screen-printing.

Students used some of these techniques in their panels and included other skills they had learnt at school or home, such as knotting and plaiting.

Each student was given plain calico and allocated $15. Students had to plan carefully and sometimes compromise. For example, one student could only use a few dye colours rather than the assortment she would have preferred.

As the students designed their panels, they had to think about how they might represent their theme and what techniques they could use to do this, such as representing waves by pleating blue fabric. They trialled different sections before beginning construction of the panel to ensure that features worked and fitted as planned, and to allow for any changes if something wasn't right or didn't look as effective as imagined.

After completing their trials and selecting their final designs, the class started to make their pattern pieces. They also carried out techniques like dyeing fabric and hooking wool. They presented their designs to a meeting of eight teachers and received positive feedback, but, as in the real world, controversy did arise.

One participant questioned the placement of the Māori word on the panel, suggesting that its location below the English version implied an inferior status.

The students explained how their positioning would have the Māori word at eye level and why they thought it should be in English as well. They agreed to call the principal and deputy principal into class to adjudicate and, after listening to an explanation as to why the wording should be in Māori, understood the reasoning. This was an important learning experience for the students; although a technologist might be fully involved in creating something, it is the client who makes final decisions. 

The panels were successful both as works of art designed for a particular location and in demonstrating student expertise in textile manipulation.

It was decided that it would be appropriate to hang the panels on the back wall of Taraika, above the photographs of the deceased.

Stakeholder feedback on outcomes 

We are fortunate to have the wharenui – named after an ancestor of this area called Taraika. The students' work has certainly enhanced the embrace of this ancestor, for all who enter him. The panels promote many of the positive ideals of Wellington High School. The photographs of people who have been associated with Wellington High School and who have unfortunately passed away, they too look proud of the additions. Tena koutou ki a koutou i whakakākahu i a Taraika. Greetings to you all who dressed Taraika. 

- Ben Tangaere, HOD Māori

The year 13s have done a great job of encapsulating key aspects of Wellington High School and of tikanga Māori, in great designs that present a strong statement about the school and which place it firmly in Wellington, New Zealand. The panels complement and enhance Taraika and make me proud to be where I am! 

- Prue Kelly, Principal

Nancy's Embroidery, a Wellington store that exhibits work by members of the Embroidery Society (City and Guilds of London Institute), displayed four of the panels. Owner, Mary Self, said the panels were fantastic and praised the creativity, innovation, materials manipulation, and finish shown in the works, stating, "The panels were something special".

See Materials that come with this resource to download:

• Robyn's Student Workbook (.pdf)
• Meg's Student Workbook (.pdf)
• Katie's Student Workbook (.pdf)

This case study showcases an authentic local context providing relevance and convenient access to multiple stakeholders. Observing and seeking out potential opportunities in your school or local community can provide similarly authentic contexts.

Seek local iwi input with respect to particular contexts to strengthen student understanding and empathy in regard to the context and their subsequent technological practice.

• Case study: Using tāniko to introduce design 
• Tāniko and tukutuku - Te Ara 
• House of the People by R. Bacon 
• Whare Māori - the Wharenui video NZ On Screen 
• Taniko: Collections online - Museum of NZ Te Papa Tongarewa