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

This Achievement Standard assesses ākonga understanding of the reasons why a community that shares religious or spiritual beliefs has developed in a certain way over time.

This Achievement Standard relates to the Significant Learning where ākonga learn about characteristics of religious or spiritual traditions, and how they have changed over time. It also relates to the Significant Learning about exploring Māori and Pacific understandings of religion and spirituality, including pūrākau. Ākonga are provided with the opportunity to explore local religious and spiritual communities. It is connected to the Big Idea that Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific’s unique history and diversity leads to distinctive ways of understanding religious and spiritual traditions. There is also the opportunity to explore connections to the Big Idea that religious and spiritual traditions draw on historical experiences that are interpreted over time.

This Achievement Standard provides the opportunity for ākonga to develop an understanding of te ao Māori and Pacific worldviews and develop whakaetanga (acceptance) and whakanui (respect) of diversity. Ākonga will learn about how and why diverse religious and spiritual traditions have developed over time and may explore the significance of these developments for diverse communities in Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific.

Making reliable judgements

Ākonga will explore the development of a community that shares religious or spiritual beliefs, identifying significant factors that have influenced the development of the community. Significant factors may include migration, conflict, secularisation, politics, environmental changes, or natural disasters. Significant factors should consider how historical, cultural, and social contexts have contributed to the development of a religious or spiritual community over time. Higher levels of achievement require ākonga to examine the reasons why the significant factors have influenced development of the community over time. Ākonga will address significant factors that have contributed to the community’s early development and the community as it exists today.

Collecting evidence

Kaiako may guide ākonga to engage with local religious or spiritual communities, or research a community in another part of the world, in order to collect evidence on the development of a community. Examples may also be drawn from relevant narratives connected to a religious or spiritual tradition. Ākonga may draw on other written or oral sources documenting the historical development of a religious or spiritual community.

Depending on what is local to ākonga, it may be appropriate to engage with religious or spiritual communities that have links to te ao Māori or Pacific religious or spiritual traditions. Ākonga can draw on local knowledges to develop an understanding of how te ao Māori and Pacific religious or spiritual communities have developed across time, place, and space.

Possible contexts

Kaiako may encourage ākonga to consider how the community they are describing would react to their presentation. Ākonga are encouraged to bring their own cultures and identities into this space, whether it is through the religious or spiritual community they choose to explore, or how they choose to engage with the learning and assessment.

By exploring this learning, ākonga will gain insight into why groups of people come together to form communities. For example, they can learn about the significant role that religious or spiritual communities play in the identity of many young Pacific people and families, where the religious or spiritual community is seen as a safe space.

Literacy and Numeracy Requirements

This Achievement Standard has been approved for literacy in the transition period (2024-2027). 

Full information on the co-requisite during the transition period: Standards approved for NCEA Co-requisite during the transition period (2024-2027).