Te Ao Haka

Te Ao Haka is a culturally responsive art form, providing opportunities for all ākonga to engage in Māori culture, language, and traditional practice. Te Ao Haka is founded on traditional knowledge, but is progressive in the development and evolution of the art form.

Intrinsic to Te Ao Haka are culture, language and identity. Te Ao Haka is a vehicle used to wānanga and communicate culture, tikanga, knowledge systems, and iwi traditions. Te Ao Haka is enabling and centres around the importance of family, marae, iwi, hapū, and waka through connection with the past, present and future. This belonging gives ākonga a purpose to strive towards and achieve to their full potential, including empowering them to have fun and enjoy the performing arts.

Ākonga who engage with Te Ao Haka recognise that pride in their culture also comes with a responsibility to create a positive space for others to continue expressing themselves in developing their craft. Therefore, ākonga are able to understand their contributions to the art form.

At Level 6 of the curriculum, students in Te Ao Haka discover, identify, access, and explore foundational knowledge and ideas in and about Te Ao Haka. 

At Level 7, students explore their own creativity, based on their grounding in Te Ao Haka. They innovate and experiment, exploring their own role and connections within Te Ao Haka.

At Level 8, students refine their analysis of Te Ao Haka and their skills in performance. They are able to effectively express narrative and embody their performance.

The Big Ideas capture the essential knowledge of and about Te Ao Haka. The Significant Learning captures the ways in which students engage with these Big Ideas at each level of the curriculum.