Year 9 Social Studies Ngāti Paoā Landscapes Tour

On the 29th July, we finally got one of my year 9 Social Studies classes out on our Ngāti Paoā Landscapes Tour led by Matua Harley.

The day before taking them on the trip, our TIC of History Scott Mansell emailed a survey asking students the following questions and the results follow

How important do you think it is to learn about History

Do you think that the history of the local area is important

Do you think New Zealand History is boring

81% know it’s important to learn about our History and but when it comes to our local community 62% say yes whilst 38% say maybe. My thinking is that some are probably unsure as to the importance of the local curriculum.

When it comes to thinking about whether History is boring, just over half said no where just under half saying yes or maybe which I kind of expected.

So knowing this, it was important to get them out and listen to the histories that essentially were not written in text books and to have an authentic relevant perspective such as that of Mana Whenua. Matua Harley represents our local Iwi Ngāti Pāoa and had kindly offered to take our students on a local landscapes walking tour.

The feedback from students after the trip was really positive. I saw engagement and interest and at points they were so quiet, it was strange for me to see. When we talked about it back at school, 100% of the students surveyed believed it was such an important trip to engage in.