Teaching social studies

We begin with an introductory unit that can be adapted by teachers to suit the class level being taught. This allows Kia Mau to be used at one year level specifically or as part of a 3-year teaching and learning programme.

Each curriculum level has a specific unit designed to suit the relevant achievement objective. Curriculum level 6 focuses on social justice and leadership, level 7 on social justice and bereavement, and level 8 on spirituality.

Beginning each unit is a whakataukī (proverb), followed by links to social studies, key concepts, and a focus of learning for the unit.

The social inquiry approach is paramount in the design of the teaching outline. It is expected that teachers will share success criteria with students prior to lessons. These criteria are by no means finite and can be easily adapted to suit the needs and interests of students. As part of their approach to social inquiry, students and teachers would ideally develop the success criteria together.

The activities within each unit provide ideas that teachers can use with students to develop conceptual understandings. They are suggestions only – able to be adapted to accommodate student/community needs.

In addition to the activities set out in this resource, we have listed other suggested activities that you may wish to flesh out in Appendix 2.