📚 Unit Plans → 🌍 History 2.4: Perspectives → 📄 Self-Check Criteria Sheet — History 2.4 Lesson 9
Year 12 Tikanga-ā-Iwi / Social Sciences
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Self-Check Criteria — Aromatawai Whaiaro

Level 2 History · History 2.4 · Keep on your desk while writing — check each paragraph as you finish it
A
Achieved — Each perspective paragraph must have ALL of these
✓ The group is named specifically — not "protesters" or "the government" but their actual name.
✓ Their perspective (belief/view) is stated clearly — what did this group think or believe about the event?
✓ You have said what the group did — their related actions or responses. The standard treats the action as part of the perspective, not an extra. A paragraph with beliefs but no actions has not met Achieved.
✓ At least one piece of evidence is included — a source with a creator/author name AND a date.
✓ The evidence supports the perspective you described.
M
Merit — Also explain WHY (in addition to Achieved)
✓ Your paragraph explains WHY this group held their view — not just what they believed.
✓ The explanation connects to context, values, identity, or historical experience — the deeper reason.
✓ You have used "because" (or "which reflects" / "this demonstrates") in the explanation.
✓ Your introduction has a thesis — a claim about why perspectives were irreconcilable.
E
Excellence — Also analyse irreconcilability (in addition to M)
✓ Your paragraphs explain perspectives from the inside — you understand why a group held this view, not just that they were wrong or right.
✓ Your conclusion analyses — it names the core value clash or framework difference, not just "they disagreed."
✓ Your conclusion explains WHY agreement was impossible — the deeper framework clash (e.g. sport as political vs. sport as neutral).
✓ Your conclusion makes a significance claim — why does this event matter for Aotearoa today?

Useful sentence starters — Kuputaki āwhina

A "[Group] believed that…" / "[Group] maintained that…" / "[Group] argued that…"
M "…because [explanation of why]." / "This reflects their [identity/values/experience]…" / "This perspective is explained by…"
E "In conclusion, the perspectives were irreconcilable because [groups] operated from fundamentally different frameworks — [Group A] understood [concept] as [X], while [Group B] understood it as [Y]."
E "This event remains significant for Aotearoa today because…"

After each paragraph — pause and check:

1
Have I named the group specifically?
2
Have I stated their perspective clearly?
3
Have I included evidence with an author/creator and date?
4
Have I explained WHY they held this view (not just what they wanted)?
5
Is this perspective genuinely different from my previous paragraph?

📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot

Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions

The desk-side criteria sheet students check each paragraph against as they write, set out as Achieved, Merit and Excellence tiers with sentence starters.

Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria

Differentiation & Inclusion

Scaffold support: Hand this out at the start of the writing block, not at the end — it is a writing tool, not a marking tool. Students below Achieved should work only the A column until it is complete. Extend by requiring the E column to be met in the conclusion as well as in the paragraphs.

ELL / ESOL: The sentence starters are the point of the sheet for ELL ākonga: the analytical move is supplied in English so the historical thinking is what is being tested.

Inclusion: Each criterion is a single tickable line, so a student can self-assess in seconds mid-paragraph without breaking their writing flow.

Mātauranga Māori: The A column requires the group's related actions or responses, not only its beliefs. That requirement protects perspectives that were expressed through action rather than through surviving written statements — which is most often the Māori and Pasifika perspectives in these case studies.

Prior knowledge: Use throughout Lesson 9's 55-minute writing block; keep it on the desk.