Mātauranga Māori constitutes concepts and principles that are richly detailed, complex, and fundamental to Māoridom. It is important to remember that the practice of these are wider and more varied than their use within the proposed NCEA Achievement Standards and supporting documentation.

We also recognise that the cultures, languages, and identities of the Pacific Islands are diverse, varied, and unique. Therefore the Pacific concepts, contexts, and principles that have been incorporated within NCEA Achievement Standards may have wide-ranging understandings and applications across and within the diversity of Pacific communities. It is not our intention to define what these concepts mean but rather offer some ways that they could be understood and applied within different subjects that kaiako and students alike can explore.

The intent of the Standard

The intent of this Achievement Standard is for ākonga to focus on applying key conventions of established art making practice, in order to resolve their own artwork. Ākonga can draw from their own cultural context, personal experiences, and skills. Ākonga will be given adequate scope and time to complete a resolved artwork to a high technical finish. Artworks will be reflective of the scale and duration required to produce a significant outcome. They can explore areas of practice that move outside the context of the folio. It is an opportunity for ākonga to investigate works that are rooted in cultural practices. 

In this Achievement Standard, ākonga will use established processes, materials, and techniques to create effects and communicate an idea or narrative. Ākonga will use creative thinking processes and demonstrate understanding of creative intent through purposeful art making. 

Making reliable judgements

Ākonga must focus on the key conventions related to the artwork being studied. For example, zines will consider imagery and text that moves across pages, installations will consider space, place, and audience, and murals will consider features such as scale and location. The assessment allows ākonga to explore different media or contexts in their own artwork. For example, ākonga looking at traditional raranga may then choose to explore contemporary practices and select different materials, scale, or presentation methods when resolving their final outcome. 

For higher levels of achievement, ākonga should focus on communicating their artistic intent through purposeful selection of visual imagery. For example, ākonga exploring mātauranga Māori concepts such as tūrangawaewae should weave imagery, symbolism, and pictorial conventions that communicate this concept. For higher levels of achievement, ākonga will be demonstrating controlled management of media and techniques relevant to chosen art making conventions. Completed works will reflect a sustained approach from ideation through to resolution. 

Collecting evidence

Ākonga may not use the significant resolved artwork submitted for this Achievement Standard as evidence for Achievement Standard 1.4 (Create a sustained body of related artworks in response to an art making proposition). 

Each ākonga will produce an artwork using a related set of appropriate conventions.  

Evidence should be submitted in a mode that uses a clearly defined set of conventions. For example: 

• whakairo 
• raranga 
• kōwhaiwhai 
• site specific installation 
• large scale works such as painting or print 
• digital formats and rendering 
• 2, 3, or 4 dimensional 
• digital recording. 

 Photographic evidence must be accompanied by short captions, provided by the student, that explain the context and identify the design and production conventions (characteristics and constraints). 

Specific design and production conventions could be identified by photographing the artwork: 

• in situ (for example, in the context of an exhibition) 
• being engaged with by an audience 
• being worn or used by a recipient (such as taonga being gifted and engaged with appropriately). 

Submissions must include evidence to show the research and development (decision-making) involved in producing the artwork. The evidence is not directly accessed in this Achievement Standard, however it is necessary to show intentionality and inform the resolved artwork. Selection of evidence for submission is to be carried out by the student. 

Possible contexts

Established practice encompasses the manner in which an artwork is created, viewed, experienced, and valued. Engaging with established practice allows ākonga to engage with the stylistic intent, processes, materials, and techniques unique to the artwork. Ākonga should also consider presentation, space, place, and audience. 

In this assessment, ākonga may draw upon their own ahurea tuakiri, national, racial, or ethnic identity. They may also consider wider contexts of different groups, communities, or subcultures they may identify with, or even artistic movements that each have their own established cultures.  

Standard Exclusions

This Standard has one or more exclusions, or Standards that assess the same or similar learning. These Standards are excluded against one another to prevent assessing the same learning twice. You can only use credits gained from one of these standards towards your NCEA qualification.

Find out more about the NCEA Level 1 Exclusions List.