Fact sheet 8: Ideas and activities for History years 11-13 

The 28th Māori Battalion and NCEA Research standards
The 28th Māori Battalion provides a worthwhile context for the research standards for all levels of NCEA. There are a number of research activities available from TKI which could be easily adapted to this context. One example is a level 2 activity entitled ‘Bringing Him Back to Life’. It essentially involves researching the details of a soldier who appears on a local memorial and in effect bringing that person back to life by way of a series of biographical questions. Some students might be able to complete this exercise by researching a relative. Another important resource to help with an assignment of this nature is the Auckland Museum's Cenotaph database. Here you can find information about individual New Zealand soldiers killed in war.

Website resources for these activities:

•	http://www.28maoribattlion.org.nz
•	http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/category/tid/216
•	http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/cenotaph/locations.aspx

NCEA Level 1

The Origins of the Second World War remains one of the most popular topics at level 1. In many respects the impact of the war on the lives of New Zealanders is largely overlooked in the history syllabus. Participation in the war had an enormous impact on New Zealand society. It was a significant event in terms of the development of national identity through the effort of our soldiers in a global conflict and of altering the course of New Zealand’s foreign relations. It also had a huge impact on race relations not just because of the 28th Māori Battalion’s service overseas but through the urbanisation of Māori that occurred during the war. A study of the Māori Battalion would be an excellent piece of research for schools studying the Origins of the Second World War topic. 

Of more obvious relevance is the topic Race Relations - NZ Māori and Pakeha 1912-1980
Participation in the war was a turning point in race relations in this country. Not only did the 28th Māori Battalion bring honour upon all Māori by its achievements but through their bravery and sacrifice Māori were seen to have paid ‘the price of citizenship’ in full. Māori migration into the cities during the war also brought Māori and non-Māori into closer contact. The 28th Battalion helped define Māori and gave them a presence on the world stage.

Some suggested activities for incorporating the 28th Māori Battalion into the level 1 topic 

A. Seeing both sides of the argument 

1. Role Play 

Fact Sheet 4: Opposition to Māori going to war will help you with the background to the issue of whether or not Māori should have participated in the Second World War. The following features from NZHistory.net.nz are also useful in helping you complete this activity:

•	Maori and the First World War 
•	Maori and the Second World War

Imagine that it is June 1940. A hui is being held at Tūrangawaewae marae at Ngāruawāhia to discuss whether or not Waikato Māori should be encouraged to enlist for the 28th Māori Battalion. Prominent leaders present for this hui include the Māori King, Koroki, Waikato leader Te Puea Hērangi, Prime Minister Peter Fraser, the Māori MPs Āpirana Ngata and Paraire Paikea, and an officer from the Māori Battalion.

Using the information available from the official site of the 28th Māori Battalion, NZHistory.net.nz and any other source prepare a script for a role play that shows how a debate on this subject between these people may have sounded. You can include fictitious people to help illustrate points for and against.

•	Divide your class into groups of four.
•	Each group must compile a list of at least four reasons for and four reasons against Waikato Māori participating in the war.
•	Each group can now create a script based around these arguments and allocate one point of view to one of the characters present at the hui to develop a script.
•	Each group can now present its script to the class in the form of a role play.

2. Policy advisor

By early 1940 the New Zealand government was faced with the prospect of having to introduce conscription to maintain troop numbers. 

Conscription had been used in the First World War also. When it was applied to Waikato Māori in 1917 it was met with vigorous opposition and highlighted the grievances some Māori held over their treatment by the Crown in the 19th century. 

You are an adviser working in the Army Department in 1940. You have been asked by the Minister of Defence, Frederick Jones, to write a paper for the Prime Minister, Peter Fraser, to take to the War Cabinet outlining the benefits and disadvantages of applying conscription to Māori.

Your task is to:

a. Outline at least three advantages for New Zealand of applying conscription to Māori. You must explain to the Cabinet why you believe this would help the overall New Zealand war effort and indeed the overall benefits for wider New Zealand society.

b. Outline at least three disadvantages for New Zealand of applying conscription to Māori. You must explain to Cabinet why you believe the overall New Zealand war effort would not be greatly helped by this measure. You can also outline what you believe to be some of the potential negative consequences for wider New Zealand society.

c. In no more than 150 words, you must advise Cabinet which argument to support and the reasons why you believe this action should be taken, i.e., to conscript Māori or not. They will be expecting you to give them answers to some possibly tricky questions raised by those who might disagree, so consider this in your final advice. This is where you can make sure they are aware of some of the consequences the last time Māori were conscripted.

B. Describe the perspectives and related actions of people in an historical setting
	
This activity is good practice for completing Achievement Standard 1.4. 

•	Use the official site of the 28th Māori Battalion and the feature Maori and the Second World War from NZHistory.net.nz to help you complete the following activity. 

It is 23 January 1946 – 780 troops from the Māori Battalion have just arrived in Wellington to a warm welcome. You are a journalist who has been sent to Wellington to cover the return of the Battalion. Your editor has asked you to get a response from at least two of the following people:

•	The prominent Māori politician and leader Sir Āpirana Ngata
•	A Māori woman who has been involved in the war effort on the home front
•	One of the returning Māori soldiers

For the two interviewees that you have chosen write what they might have said to you in answering each of the following questions. Make their replies to the questions as convincing as you can. You should aim to write 50 to 80 words for each person in their replies to these questions.

QUESTION ONE
What effect do you think Māori involvement in the Second World War has had on Māori in New Zealand since 1939?

QUESTION TWO
Why do you hold this view about the impact of Māori involvement in the war?

QUESTION THREE
What is one particular action you took during the war that reflects your views about the impact of Māori involvement in the Second World War?

QUESTION FOUR
Why did you take this particular action? 

C. Describe experiences that have been significant to the identity of New Zealanders

This activity is good practice for completing Achievement Standard 1.6. 

•	Use the official site of the 28th Māori Battalion and the feature Maori and the Second World War from NZHistory.net.nz to help you complete the following activity. 
•	See also the tips on good paragraph writing in the Teacher's Toolbox that can be found in the Classroom section of NZHistory.netnz. 

Parcels packed by the Patriotic Fund ready to be sent overseas

During the Second World War, New Zealand developed its identity as a nation through its response to this global conflict. The 28th Māori Battalion became one of the most celebrated and decorated units in the history of the New Zealand armed forces. The contribution and reputation of the Māori Battalion was a source of great pride to the wider New Zealand community.

Write three paragraphs of between 80 and 100 words each, describing: 
•	the ways in which Māori contributed to New Zealand’s Second World War effort  
•	the ways that Māori society was affected by their participation in the war 
•	how the Māori contribution to New Zealand’s war effort changed attitudes towards Māori in New Zealand during the 1940s. 

D. Photo captions

Write a suitable caption for the following photos. The caption must include a statement on the contribution this person/people made to the Māori war effort during the Second World War. It must also outline why this person/people took this particular action. 

Each caption should be no more than 125 words long.

1. Sir Āpirana Ngata

2. Members of the 28th Māori Battalion crowd the deck of the troop ship Dominion Monarch as it arrives in Wellington on 23 January 1946.

3. Māori women welcoming the returning Māori Battalion in Wellington, 23 January 1946.
NCEA Level 2

The story of the 28th Māori Battalion is a key event in the topic Māori participation in international theatres of war in the 20th century. War has been an important part of the development of Māori identity in the 20th century. It has also contributed to a wider sense of New Zealand’s identity and place in the world. The history of the Māori Battalion is therefore also relevant to the topic the growth of NZ identity 1890-1980.

Achievement Standard 2.6. Examine individual or group identity in an historical setting, in an essay

The Second World War was a shared experience for Māori and non-Māori alike. But the organisation of the 28th Battalion on cultural lines made for an experience that was also uniquely Māori. The Battalion was an important factor in the identity of individual Māori as well as of Māori in general. Within the Battalion’s organisation individual iwi and hapu also had the opportunity to express their own identity. The use of haka, waiata and tribal organisation all contributed to a sense of individual and group identity as did the exploits of Battalion companies, platoons and individual soldiers. The investiture ceremony held at Ruatōria in October 1943 to honour the Battalion's Victoria Cross winner, 2nd Lieutenant Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngārimu, was important not only to the Māori Battalion but to the nation as a whole.  It was of even greater significance, of course, to Ngārimu’s whānau, hapū and iwi. 

A sample NCEA essay highlights the value of this topic as a context for this standard:

Describe and explain how culture, values and shared experiences helped shape the characteristics / identity of a specific group or a specific individual. 
Describe and explain how the group or individual expressed their identity. 
Or 
Describe and explain the characteristics of an individual’s or group’s identity, and the factors that helped form it. 
Describe and explain actions taken by the individual or group to express their identity.

Achievement Standard 2.4 Examine perspectives and responses of, and demonstrate empathy for, people in an historical setting.  

•	Māori and the Second World War 

In this activity, the context is attitudes to Māori participation in the Second World War and in particular the formation of the 28th Māori Battalion. It is part of the topic Māori participation in international theatres of war in the 2oth century in the theme Nationalism, International Relations and the Search for Security. 
 
In this activity you must:

•	Comprehensively and convincingly describe and explain perspectives and responses of people in an historical setting
•	Consistently demonstrate empathy with people in the historical setting, in an imaginative manner and with authenticity to the time period

SITUATION
This assignment will examine various perspectives about the involvement of Māori in the Second World War through the experiences of a young Māori man in the 28th Māori Battalion and his family

Task 1: You are to prepare three diary entries that cover different stages of his involvement in the war:

•	After one week of basic training
•	After arriving in Egypt in March 1941
•	After the defeat and evacuation from Crete in May 1941

Task 2: You are to write three separate letters to the young soldier from three members of his family (i.e. nine letters in all). The three family members are:

•	The young man’s mother
•	His grandfather, who served in the First World War
•	A younger brother

These letters are to be written after:
•	One week of basic training
•	Word has been received that the 28th Māori Battalion has arrived in Egypt
•	News has been received of the defeat and evacuation of the Allies from Crete in May 1941

Each person’s set of writing should be approximately 300-400 words in total. 

Description and explanation of perspectives and responses needs to include references to actual historical events and people associated with the historical setting. Ensure that the writing style is authentic (e.g. written in the first person, dated entries). It should display some imaginative understanding of the likely opinions and circumstances of people living at that time.  

The written pieces must:

1.	Comprehensively and convincingly describe and explain the perspective(s) of the person that indicates his/her feelings or ideas at the differing stages of the war. Perspectives may remain consistent throughout the war, or may change over the duration of the war. 
2.	Comprehensively and convincingly describe and explain responses to the impact of the war as it develops, including at least one action taken by the writer or others involved in the dispute.

For Achievement you must:

•	correctly describe three differing perspectives of people on the issue of Māori involvement in the war, and provide a correct reason which relates to each perspective 
•	correctly describe and explain response(s) by each person/group to the involvement of Māori in relation to their ideas, beliefs and actions.
•	demonstrate empathy by ensuring that your writing is presented in an imaginative manner.

For Achievement with Merit you must:

•	correctly describe in detail four differing perspectives of people on the issue of Māori involvement in the war, and provide a detailed explanation of a correct reason(s) which relates to each perspective
•	correctly describe and explain in detail response(s) by each person to the involvement of Māori in relation to their ideas, beliefs and actions.
•	consistently demonstrate empathy by ensuring your writing is presented in an imaginative manner appropriate to the time period.

For Achievement with Excellence you must:

•	correctly describe comprehensively and convincingly four differing perspectives of people on the issue of Māori involvement in the war, and provide a comprehensive and convincing explanation of a correct reason(s) which relates to each perspective
•	provide a comprehensive and convincing description and explanation of response(s) by each person to the involvement of Māori in relation to their ideas, beliefs and actions.
•	consistently demonstrate empathy by ensuring your writing is presented in an imaginative manner and with authenticity to the time period.