Years 7–8
Tikanga-ā-Iwi / Social Sciences
🏠 Local Movement Examples
🔍 Research Task: This station requires you to investigate what's happening in YOUR community! Use your phones/devices to research local youth organising.
Common Youth Organising Issues:
• Education: School funding, mental health support, curriculum changes
• Environment: Climate action, local conservation, sustainable transport
• Housing: Youth homelessness, affordable housing campaigns
• Justice: Police accountability, prison reform, restorative justice
• Cultural: Language preservation, cultural centre funding
• Digital Rights: Privacy, online safety, digital access
Where to Research:
• Local council meeting minutes and submissions
• Community Facebook groups and social media
• Local newspaper archives (online)
• Youth council websites
• Community organisation websites
• Local radio station websites
Example Success Stories (National):
• Youth-led mental health advocacy in schools
• Student campaigns for climate education
• Young people organising for housing affordability
• Youth cultural festivals receiving council funding
🎯 Research & Analysis
Find Local Examples:
- What issues do young people in our community organise around?
- Which youth organisations or groups are active locally?
- What campaigns or actions have happened in the past 2-3 years?
Power Building Analysis:
- How do they build power to create change?
- What organising strategies do local youth use?
- How do they work with or challenge adult-led organisations?
Barriers & Challenges:
- What barriers do young organisers face in our community?
- How do they overcome being dismissed because of their age?
- What resources or support do they lack?
Success & Impact:
- How successful have their campaigns been?
- What specific changes have they achieved?
- How do they measure success beyond just policy wins?
📚 Teacher Resource Notes
Purpose: Use this station card to explore local youth organising as an example of civic participation and systems change at the community level.
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will engage with this resource to build understanding of systems, governance, and civic action in Aotearoa New Zealand, connecting to Te Ao Māori principles.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Students can describe one example of youth-led community action.
- ✅ Students can identify the systems thinking concepts at play in the campaign.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Differentiation: Provide sentence starters or word banks for students who need scaffold support. Extend capable learners by asking them to find a real-world NZ example connected to this resource. Support ELL students with vocabulary pre-teaching. Adapt for neurodiverse learners by offering choice in how they record their thinking.
Prior knowledge: Best used after the relevant lesson or as an introductory hook. No specialist prior knowledge required.
Curriculum alignment
- Te Mātaiaho (2025) · Social Sciences · Phase 3 (Years 7–8) · Civics and Society (Knowledge): “Pressure groups influence decision-makers outside of elections.”
- NZC (2007) · Social Studies · Level 4: “Understand how people participate individually and collectively in response to community challenges.”