Ōku tāngata tauira – My people of inspiration

The people around us who help us to be our best selves. Who do you look up to? People can inspire us to identify what we value and bring those values to life. Using the My people cards and My people of inspiration activity sheet, explore the people of inspiration from your past, present and future who are important to you. Then choose one to explore further, using the Ata Challenge and Emotion cards, to understand how they help you and make you feel.

Oho – Resource collection 

This activity is part of the Oho resource collection. See the resource carousel below for more.

Read background information

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Learners will 

• Explore the personal and wider cultural connections between place, language, time, events, people, and identity.
• Express and listen to ideas confidently.
• Describe themselves in relation to the groups within their class and to the whole class.
• Explore and discuss similarities and differences and how they contribute to the unique whānau, culture, and identities of each class member.
• Identify personal strengths of theirs and others.
• Develop a deeper understanding of their whānau and personal histories.
• Investigate the factors that shape our identities and how.
• Identify different ways identities, languages, cultures, and values are and could be represented in learning communities.

Ways to use the resource 

• Connect this activity to Enriching Local Curriculum (ELC) by exploring the names of the places you visit.
• Centre these activities around relevant global, national, or community places, events or themes.
• Try the activities as an individual, as a small group and as a whole class.
• Use the resources at home to get a deeper understanding of whānau culture.
• Capture outputs in a format of your choice.
• Use insights from these conversations in your learning design.
• If you don’t have the Ata resource, download and print the cards or use the blank Oho cards to create your own.

Shown here: The My people of inspiration activity sheet with Oho and Ata cards placed on it.

Instructions 

What you will need:

• Oho My people cards
• Ata Challenge and Emotion cards
• My people of inspiration activity sheet: One per person or group

Set up 

1. Prepare cards

This activity uses a combination of Oho and Ata cards. Add or remove My people and Ata Challenge and Emotion cards to suit the context of your classroom.

2. Prepare activity sheets

Print or photocopy one My people of inspiration activity sheet for each person or group.

Using the My people cards and My people of inspiration activity sheet, explore the people from your past, present, and future who are important to you. Then choose one to explore further using the Ata Challenge and Emotion cards.

Place cards on the activity sheet. Discuss why you made each selection. We suggest introducing the card types, one set at a time, as you work through the steps.

Activity

1. My people

Select up to three My people cards to represent people who are important or who you are connected to. Discuss why.

2. My people

Select one of your chosen My people cards to explore further. Place it on the second row.

3. Challenge

Select an Ata Challenge card that represents what makes you connected to them. What do they help you with?

4. Emotion

Select an Ata Emotion card that represents how they make you feel and why.

Discuss and compare

Explore the different perspectives and ideas around people of inspiration and connections. Then, discuss and compare your findings with the group or classroom. 

Downloads

• Oho My people of Inspiration activity sheet (.pdf)
• Oho My people of Inspiration teacher support material (.pdf)
• Oho My people of Inspiration cards (jpgs) (.zip)
• Oho My people of Inspiration cards (printable) (.zip)
• Oho blank cards (printable) (.pdf)

Next steps

Explore other aspects of whānau and identity with activities such as 'My place in time', 'I inspire', 'My unique whānau' and 'My whānau in my place of learning'.