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Level 2 History: Kia Mau and the Māori Battalion

Rationale:

This unit of work is designed to complement a history teaching programme at NCEA Level 2. It focuses specifically on the forces and movements that drove Māori to sign up, participate and sacrifice so readily in World War Two. It also asks students to compare the interpretations of different people (including contemporary historians) and groups in history, in relation to the Battalion. The resources in Kia Mau make an ideal accompaniment to these ideas.

Achievement Objectives:

Achievement Objective 7.1

Students will gain knowledge, skills, and experience to:

  • understand how historical forces and movements have influenced the causes and consequences of events of significance to New Zealanders

 Indicators:

  • Identifies and explains the force that influenced a movement
  • Makes links between a force and multiple contexts, for example, nationalism in South Africa compared with New Zealand, Australia, and the US
  • Describes how a movement influenced past events
  • Identifies how a force has influenced the causes of past events
  • Identifies how a force has influenced the consequences of past events

Achievement objective 7.2

Students will gain knowledge, skills, and experience to:

  • Understand how people’s interpretations of events that are of significance to New Zealanders differ

Indicators:

  • Identifies and describes differing interpretations of an event
  • Describes how different perspectives led to different interpretations of an event
  • Describes and explains different interpretations, held by a range of people over time, of past events that are of significance to New Zealanders. (The range of people could include participants, contemporaries, historians, descendants, observers, and people today.)

Prior learning:

Students could have prior knowledge of:

  • Major forces and movements in history, particularly those related to World War Two
  • The origins of World War Two
  • The New Zealand Expeditionary Force and its role in the allied war plans
  • The way waiata and haka are used in the Māori world (see links):

Taipari Munro and Pita Tipene describe a traditional ritual (te tohi) performed on soldiers from Te Taitokerau, prior to their going into battle

Te Keepa Stirling shares his ideas about haka and how students can use the wairua (spirit) of their forebears to empower their performance

Tama Huata explains why Paraire Tomoana wrote E Pari Rā and why it is performed as a waiata poroporoaki (farewell)

Indicators, lesson ideas and resource links

Achievement Objective 7.1: Understand how historical forces and movements have influenced the causes and consequences of events of significance to New Zealanders

Indicators: Lesson ideas - students could: Resource links:
1. Identifies and explains the force that influenced a movement
  • Identify the historical forces and movements associated with the Māori Battalion such as war, nationalism, Kotahitanga, imperialism, Māori Women’s Welfare League.
  •  Create their own definitions and explanations of these forces and movements
2. Makes links between a force and multiple contexts, for example, nationalism in South Africa compared with New Zealand, Australia, and the US
  • Compare and contrast the Māori Battalion and the role other indigenous peoples played in World War Two. For example Gurkhas in India, black American soldiers, Algerian soldiers in France, Polynesian men serving with the New Zealand Armed Forces
3. Describes how a movement influenced past events
  • Identify movements such as the Young Māori Party, and their influence over enlistment
4. Identifies how a force has influenced the causes of past events
  • Identify the role forces such as nationalism, fascism and the Empire played in the outbreak of World War Two
5. Identifies how a force has influenced the consequences of past events
  • Identify how forces or movements influenced consequences for Māori communities after the war. For example urbanisation, Māori Women’s Welfare League, loyalty to the Empire

Achievement Objective 7.2: Understand how people’s interpretations of events that are of significance to New Zealanders differ

Indicators: Lesson Ideas – students could: Resource links:
1. Identifies and describes differing interpretations of an event
  • Identify the differing interpretations of the decision for Māori to form their own battalion, and go to war
2. Describes how different perspectives led to different interpretations of an event
  • Identify the differing perspectives on war, loss and the effect on community; for example kuia, kaumātua, the veterans themselves, and surviving whānau members
  • Describe how the event was remembered in the Māori world; for example, through the waiata “E Pari Rā” where Māori adapted a European tune into a song of remembrance
  • Identify the use of waiata as a means of remembering important people and events, and as a medium for the transmission of knowledge
  •  Extension: Was World War Two remembered differently in the mainstream media/non-Māori world? If so, why?
3. Describes and explains different interpretations, held by a range of people over time, of past events that are of significance to New Zealanders (The range of people could include participants, contemporaries, historians, descendants, observers, and people today)
  • Describe and explain how the actions of the Māori Battalion were interpreted through waiata and haka. For example, by contemporaries (the haka “E te Hokowhitu a Tū” to specifically acknowledge Ngarimu’s VC) and by people today (the haka taparahi “Haane” to specifically acknowledge Manahi’s bravery)

Assessment

Students could:

  • Complete an internally assessed perspectives task (Achievement Standard 90468), describing and explaining the views of three figures and their views of the Māori Battalion. Examples could include the perspectives of: a soldier in the battalion; a New Zealand general (for example Freyberg); a German general (for example Rommel); Sir Apirana Ngata; a conscientious objector from the Māori community; contemporary politicians such as Phil Goff; Prince Andrew (who gave taonga on behalf of the Crown to honour Haane Manahi in 2007); historians such as Paul Moon and Monty Soutar; whānau members, for example widows and descendants.
  • Plan and carry out an historical inquiry (Achievement Standard 90465) on an aspect of the Māori Battalion and their involvement in World War Two. Topics could include researching a specific event, battle, person or company. In particular, students should incorporate research that includes the way the Māori Battalion is remembered through waiata and haka.

Sample assessment: Level 2 history

Attached is a sample assessment activity based on Achievement Standard 90465 - “Plan and carry out an historical inquiry”:

Teaching and assessment links:


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