NZ Wars, colonisation up for discussion as consultation begins for new history curriculum

Cannon fire signalled a change to what we learn about our own nation’s history during an event today at Ruapekapeka Pa, once the site of fierce fighting.

The teaching of New Zealand's history in school is a step closer, with the content now up for public consultation.

"In practice, learners across New Zealand will explore the stories that are unique to us," Education Minister Chris Hipkins said today. 

He gave the examples of students in Waikato learning about the invasion led by Governor George Grey, in Otago they may learn about the region’s Māori and Chinese heritage and in Porirua the students could learn about how Pacific people had influence on the area’s culture. 

Hipkins also said students in Te Tai Tokerau may be interested in learning about the battle that took place in Ruapekapeka during the Northern Wars in the 1800s. 

A service was held today to mark the 175th anniversary of the battle, where about 20 Māori and twelve British fatal casualties were remembered. 

The Battle of Te Ruapekepeka is seen as the beginning of the New Zealand Wars.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spoke at today’s service, saying there was “a tendency in New Zealand to underplay our history, to say that ours did not happen on the scale of other countries around the world, and that somehow scale has some bearing on significance”. 

“That view is wrong.”

“Let us teach it, let us learn it and let us remember it. Let us share our history with every student in every school and kura so that students are aware of how our country and identity have been shaped by key moments in our past, moments such as this, the Battle of Ruapekapeka.”

National’s education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith said the proposed new history curriculum lacked balance and needed revision. 

“The themes are mainly about identity and identity politics. How did we make a living as a country and grow to attain one of the highest living standards in the world?  

“Those basic questions don’t feature prominently. They deserve much more than a passing reference.”

The curriculum will be updated in 2022, with an expectation Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories would be taught as part of the local curriculum and marau ā-kura throughout compulsory curriculum from 2022.

It would be a part of history in social sciences, which is already compulsory from Years one to 10. It would be optional from Year 11. 

The seven themes agreed by the Government last year were; the arrival of Māori to New Zealand, first encounters and early colonial history, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, immigration and colonisation of New Zealand and the New Zealand Wars, national identity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, New Zealand’s role in the Pacific and Aotearoa New Zealand in the late 20th century and the evolution of a national identity with cultural plurality. 

The Government announced in September 2019 that every school and kura would teach New Zealand history by 2022.

Ardern said at the time the current rules left too much to chance regarding whether Aotearoa's history is taught.

"It makes sense for the National Curriculum to make clear the expectation that our history is part of the local curriculum and marau ā kura in every school and kura."

Feedback and the draft framework can be found here. 

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