November 30, 2023
Aotearoa history curriculum restoring silenced voices
Kaiārahi Māori for the NZHTA, the NZ History Teachers Association, Kārena Ngata, says National’s promise to return balance to teaching history actually means an outdated colonial-centric curriculum.
Schools have been rolling out the new Aotearoa New Zealand history curriculum which includes working with iwi and hapu to identify relevant local stories.
Kārena Ngata says colonial narratives have dominated textbooks and curricular while marginalising iwi histories and korero tuku iho.
“I think what some people are finding it difficult to grasp is that in the act of restoring the balance, we need to focus intentionally on those voices who have been missing from that dominant narrative. And so to some it feels like those voices have been privileged, but actually, we’re just adding those voices that were missing so that we no longer have that single dominant narrative prevailing,” she says.