He kupu whakataki
Introduction

Te Aho Arataki Marau mō te Ako i Te Reo Māori/Curriculum Guidelines for Teaching and Learning Te Reo Māori is intended to help every English-medium school1 in New Zealand to design and shape a curriculum that includes te reo Māori, alongside other learning areas, and acknowledges its value.

Te reo Māori, the indigenous language of Aotearoa New Zealand, is a taonga and is guaranteed protection under the Treaty of Waitangi. It was declared an official language of New Zealand in 1987.

As a consequence, te reo Māori has a special place in the New Zealand Curriculum. Eight curriculum principles underpin curriculum decision making in New Zealand, and one of these principles is headed “Treaty of Waitangi”:

The curriculum acknowledges the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and the bicultural foundations of Aotearoa New Zealand. All students have the opportunity to acquire knowledge of te reo Māori me ōna tikanga.

The New Zealand Curriculum, p.9

Te reo Māori is included in learning languages, which is one of the eight learning areas in The New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007). This learning area “provides the framework for the teaching and learning of languages that are additional to the language of instruction” (The New Zealand Curriculum, page 24). It emphasises the inseparable links between language, culture and identity. As students learn te reo Māori, they also deepen their knowledge and understanding of tikanga Māori and develop their own personal, group and national identities.

This document, Te Aho Arataki Marau mō te  Ako i  Te Reo Māori  / Curriculum Guidelines for Teaching and Learning Te Reo Māori, provides teachers with a basis for planning programmes for students learning te reo Māori in kura auraki (English-medium schools). It describes, in broad terms, the knowledge and understandings that students need to acquire and the levels of proficiency that they are expected to achieve as they progress through the eight levels of the curriculum. It includes proficiency target statements for levels 1–2, 3–4, 5–6, and 7–8. Other features, at each curriculum level, include:

• between four and seven achievement objectives
• possible sociocultural themes, topics, and text types
• descriptions of what students will learn in the receptive language modes (listening, reading, and viewing) and the productive language modes (speaking,writing, and presenting).

Glossary of English terms
Has definitions for terms that may be unfamiliar to some teachers. 

Glossary of Māori words
Defines vocabulary used in these curriculum guidelines.

Te reo Māori is taught to a highly diverse group of students, in many different contexts, and by teachers with a wide range of language and teaching backgrounds.

These curriculum guidelines reflect a commitment to the vision, expressed in The New Zealand Curriculum, that education must enable all students to develop key competencies in order to become active, lifelong learners. It is essential that teaching and learning focuses on enabling students to achieve worthwhile outcomes, and so the guidelines describe achievement objectives for student learning at each level. However, the guidelines also provide for the flexibility teachers need if they are to respond to and reflect the particular aspirations and needs of all their students.

A suggested teaching as inquiry cycle 
Teachers are encouraged to take an inquiry approach to teaching and learning in their reo Māori programmes.