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📚 Unit Plans → 📜 Unit 2: Decolonized History → 📖 Lesson 1: Pre-Colonial Innovation
Lesson 1 of 5 50 minutes

Unit 2: Decolonized Aotearoa History - Centering Māori Agency, Resistance, and Sovereignty

Counter-narrative to colonial histories, highlighting Māori perspectives and ongoing fight for tino rangatiratanga

1 Pre-Colonial Innovation
2 The Aotearoa Wars
3 20th Century Rights
4 Fire of Activism
5 Path to Redress
Unit 2 · Lesson 1

🌌 Big Why: Māori innovation is sophisticated science

We open this unit by dismantling the colonial myth of "primitive" technology. Ākonga investigate navigation, engineering, agriculture, and architecture to prove that pre-colonial Aotearoa was a centre of scientific excellence grounded in whakapapa, observation, and collective knowledge systems.

Focus Pātai

  • How did Māori knowledge keepers read the environment to cross Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa?
  • What innovations prove tino rangatiratanga over whenua, moana, and resources?
  • How does challenging "primitive" narratives empower our communities today?

🎯 Learning Intentions

  • Describe how whakapapa, observation, and experimentation guide Māori innovation.
  • Analyse documentary evidence using the navigation companion.
  • Refute deficit narratives with science-based kōrero.

✅ Success Criteria (ākonga-facing)

  • I capture precise evidence about one innovation in my companion.
  • I explain the scientific knowledge behind Māori technology.
  • I connect innovations to present-day responsibilities in my whānau or hapori.

🧭 Te Mātaiaho Threads

  • Tangata Whenuatanga · PS4: Honour whakapapa and stewardship knowledge.
  • Science Capabilities · Pūtaiao: Investigate through observation, modelling, and evidence.
  • People, Places & Environments: Understand sustainable systems and innovation.

Effective from: Term 1 2026 · Review: 15 Paengawhāwhā 2026

Ngā Mahi - Lesson Activities (50 minutes)

1. Do Now: Defining "Technology" (10 mins)

Critical Thinking Starter: Challenge students' assumptions about what counts as "technology" and "innovation."

Activity: In pairs, students list as many examples of "technology" as they can in 2 minutes.

Follow-up Questions:

  • Circle any examples that do not require electricity
  • What patterns do you notice in your list?
  • How might our modern view of technology be limited?
Class Discussion: Reveal how colonial thinking has shaped our understanding of "advanced" vs "primitive" technology. Introduce the idea that all human societies are technological - they just use different tools suited to different environments.

2. Reading & Analysis: Domains of Innovation (20 mins)

Resource: Distribute the Pre-Colonial Māori Innovation handout

Expert Group Topics:

  • Engineering: Pā fortifications, bridges, tools
  • Agriculture: Sustainable farming, food preservation
  • Navigation: Ocean voyaging, star knowledge
  • Architecture: Building design, environmental adaptation

Group Task:

  • Read your assigned domain section
  • Identify 2-3 specific innovations
  • Explain the science behind each innovation
  • Prepare to teach the class why this was sophisticated

👩‍🏫 Teaching Instructions

Distribute the Pre-Colonial Navigation Documentary Companion before you press play.

  • Before viewing: Preview the vocabulary list together and predict what scientific knowledge is needed for trans-Pacific voyaging.
  • During viewing: Pause at 6:00, 14:00, 20:00, and 27:00 to complete the focus questions and evidence chart in the companion.
  • After viewing: Collect the reflection prompt, then transition into the companion’s numeracy tasks (voyage plotting, star compass drill).
  • Formative checkpoint: Use the vocabulary/evidence chart, systems map, and refutation paragraph as Mātainuku/Mātairea progress evidence.

🎥 Video Learning: Waka Odyssey - Māori Navigation & Innovation

📋 Viewing Guide - Before You Watch:

  • Think about what you just read about navigation and engineering
  • Ask yourself: What makes navigation across 2,000+ km of open ocean "sophisticated"?
  • Consider: How would you navigate without GPS, maps, or compasses?

👀 While Watching - Look For:

  • Navigation Techniques: How did Polynesian navigators use stars, ocean swells, bird patterns, and cloud formations?
  • Waka Construction: What engineering knowledge was required to build ocean-going vessels?
  • Scientific Knowledge: What understanding of astronomy, meteorology, and oceanography did navigators need?
  • Cultural Values: How are whakapapa, mātauranga, and collective knowledge embedded in navigation traditions?

💭 Critical Thinking Question:

"The video shows Māori navigators crossing thousands of kilometers of open ocean using only natural signs. How does this challenge the colonial narrative that Māori were 'primitive'? What scientific knowledge was required for this achievement?"

⏱️ Think-Pair-Share: 2 minutes individual thinking, 3 minutes pair discussion, 5 minutes whole class debrief

3. Expert Group Sharing (15 mins)

Presentation Format: Each expert group has 3 minutes to teach the class about their domain of innovation.

Required Elements:

  • Innovation Example: Specific technology or technique
  • Scientific Principles: What knowledge was required?
  • Environmental Adaptation: How was this suited to Aotearoa?
  • Sophistication Argument: Why was this scientifically advanced?
Active Listening: Students take notes on each presentation using the framework: Innovation → Science → Sophistication

4. Exit Ticket & Reflection (5 mins)

Exit Question

"Name one way that pre-colonial Māori innovation demonstrates a deep understanding of science or engineering. Explain why calling this society 'primitive' is both wrong and harmful."

Assessment Criteria:

  • Specific Example: Names a concrete innovation
  • Scientific Understanding: Explains the knowledge required
  • Critical Analysis: Challenges colonial narratives

🧭 Civic Transfer – Innovation Stewardship in Our Hapori

1. Innovation Gallery Walk (20 mins)

  • Groups curate one innovation (navigation, engineering, agriculture, architecture) using evidence from the companion.
  • Create a mini display: scientific explanation, tikanga guidance, modern parallels.
  • Peers circulate, adding sticky-note questions or whānau connections.

Mātainuku evidence: Annotated display panels + question prompts.

2. Hapori Scenario Studio (15 mins)

Introduce a local challenge (e.g., coastal navigation for waka ama, sustainable kai planning, flood resilience). Ākonga adapt historical innovations to propose solutions.

  • Define the issue in today’s context.
  • Select a Māori innovation and map how its principles solve the problem.
  • Identify a whānau or community partner to test or share the idea.

Mātairea: Written or recorded scenario pitch linking mātauranga to present-day action.

📊 Formative Assessment, Mātainuku & Differentiation

Evidence to Gather

  • Ākonga can explain an innovation’s scientific principles using the companion evidence tracker.
  • Ākonga can map environment-based navigation cues (stars, currents, manu, clouds) and justify accuracy.
  • Ākonga can refute a deficit statement in writing or audio using two pieces of historical evidence.
  • Ākonga can transfer innovation principles to a modern hapori scenario (gallery walk artefact).

Moderation & Uploads

  • Scan or photograph exemplar companion pages (vocabulary tracker, systems map) labelled U2L1-matauranga-evidence.
  • Collect one student narration or video reflection per class that demonstrates the refutation prompt.
  • File civic scenario pitches under U2L1-civic-transfer for Mātairea portfolios.

Differentiation

  • Scaffold: Provide sentence stems, icon-supported vocabulary, and partially completed evidence charts.
  • Extend: Invite learners to compare Māori navigation with Micronesian or Polynesian vaka knowledge and create a comparative systems map.
  • Wellbeing: Offer audio summaries and reflection breaks for students processing deficit narratives.

🧺 Resources, Whānau Partnerships & Next Steps

Print & Prepare

  • Pre-Colonial Navigation Documentary Companion (ākonga + kaiako).
  • Innovation domain cards (engineering, agriculture, navigation, architecture).
  • Sticky notes / gallery walk materials, chart paper, markers.
  • Device + speakers; optional planetarium or star compass overlays.

Whānau & Hapori Bridges

  • Send a pānui inviting whānau to share voyaging, engineering, or maara kai stories (oral, audio, artefacts).
  • Organise a visit from local navigators, engineers, or knowledge holders to respond to student pitches.
  • Prompt ākonga to interview kaumātua about innovation in their rohe and add insights to the civic scenario studio.

Cross-Curricular Extensions

  • Mathematics: Model navigation routes using trigonometry or ratios (distance, angle, drift).
  • English: Compose a counter-narrative speech responding to a deficit quote about Māori technology.
  • Technology: Prototype a sustainable design inspired by traditional engineering (water systems, whare structure).

Whakaaro – Reflection

Ākonga finish the lesson recognising that Māori innovation is deliberate, evidence-rich science grounded in whakapapa. This knowledge fuels their responsibility to protect and advance mātauranga Māori in contemporary contexts.

“Ko te pae tawhiti whāia kia tata, ko te pae tata whakamaua kia tina.” – Seek out the knowledge in the distance; hold fast to what is gained.