Histories are constructed by individuals and groups, and reflect the ideas, contexts, and prejudices of their constructors. Construction of histories in the present is limited by the sources that are bequeathed to us from the past. In this way, histories are always partial but also dynamic as new sources of evidence, and new constructions, challenge existing narratives.

Histories are constructed for different purposes and audiences, and across different media. They are not simply a record of what happened in the past. Histories can be inclusive, exclusive, general, or specific. Histories can and do develop and change over time.

These characteristics of history are demonstrated by pūrākau and pakiwaitara, which are integral to mātauranga Māori. These historical narratives, which are often delivered orally and collectively, offer self-aware and sometimes metaphorical constructions of the past.

Understanding that history is constructed gives ākonga permission to partake in the construction and deconstruction of histories themselves. Ākonga will learn to recognise the contexts, ideas, sources, privileges, and prejudices that influence the construction of histories they encounter. They will come to value the complexity and diversity of history, and reach conclusions that are grounded in evidence.

Contestability is at the heart of history – the debates it leads to enhance our understanding of the past and the present. Individuals and groups will agree and disagree on interpretations of and perspectives on histories, and the evidence that supports these interpretations. Interpretations, such as those of historical significance, may also change over time.

Students of History will develop skills to engage critically with historical narratives and sources from a variety of perspectives, origins, and world views. Students of History will evaluate and acknowledge the strengths and limitations of both the supporting evidence and the various narratives about the past derived from it, while also accepting that finding a single truth or consensus is unlikely. They will recognise that narratives vary between and within groups of people, such as the differences in point of view of iwi and hapū within an Aotearoa New Zealand context. By recognising that narratives vary, our ākonga will come to appreciate diversification of voice, of ways of knowing, and of understanding. History students celebrate difference because they understand we do not need to agree.

Students who can understand how and why histories are contested will be able to participate more actively in society as informed citizens. The ability to think critically about information and its origins, purposes, and limitations is increasingly important in an age of misinformation, disinformation, and ‘fake news’. Engaging critically with historical sources and narratives involves knowing how to evaluate evidence as a historian.

Historical events and change are influenced by the way that individuals and communities compete for power and control over resources. Power can be exercised militarily, constitutionally, socially, culturally, personally, and politically. Power can be used to sustain or challenge inequalities, to debate conflicting ideas, to exercise control over others, and to promote change or to suppress it. Changes in control over resources have influenced the rise and fall of different communities, and have been the subject of extensive political, military and social conflict.

While History has at times been overly focused on the powerful, more recently it has recognised and examined the ways in which power is exercised, resisted, and experienced across whole populations and between groups. It recognises that these relationships are dynamic. History is now concerned with the ways in which power has been experienced and exercised intersectionally – across the lines of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, and more.

It is through places that we know and interpret history. Historical narratives bring places to life, and places give significance to historical narratives. Certain places hold certain mana. While responses to places can change over time, histories always take place somewhere, and every place has histories to tell. Both the events and retellings of history are emplaced.

Place may anchor a sense of identity, and connection to place may create a sense of belonging for people across time. In mātauranga Māori, this can be expressed as tangata whenua, a group of people who, through their habitation of and long-standing relationship with a particular place, have authority over and responsibility for it.

Place is central to history because it affects the ability of peoples to record and pass on their histories. This is not a one-way or deterministic relationship, and the advantages and disadvantages of places tend not to be fixed. Places can be remembered differently, and people have changed and been changed by the environment over time.

Resource-rich places confer benefits on occupants but may also become the subject of contests for control over the resources associated with the area.

Titiro whakamuri kia anga whakamua – History is inextricably linked to the identities of people in the past, as well as to those of people in the present. Understanding this interwovenness of the past, present, and future is crucial to building, shaping, developing, and changing identities. It also gives us insight into how our own identities influence our perspectives and the way we interpret the significance of events, peoples, movements, and places.

For many peoples, relationships with others – who lived in the past, live today, or will live in the future – are central to understanding their histories. Tangata whenua carry their tūpuna with them, meaning that history is not linear, but relational and interwoven. History's non-linear movement shapes our identities, including those we cannot choose, and those we actively choose, when seeking relationships and community. In this way, exploring identity is not only valuable for the personal development of ākonga but also for their development of an understanding of the choices and decisions made by individuals and groups in the past.