Setting the scene

Building relationships and creating connections between people requires the ability to understand and value cultural differences. Major sporting events, such as the various world cups we have held in Aotearoa New Zealand, bring countries together from around the globe and provide an opportunity to learn about the different cultures of each of those countries.

Listen closely to Paige Satchell and Adam Paulsen as they discuss how sport contributes to the culture and collective identities of countries all around the world. You can use these ideas to help guide you when you explore different cultures and prepare for your own world cup festival.

Learn about culture and heritage

There are three sets of classroom learning experiences and a set of sport experiences to help build the knowledge and skills you will need to learn about and understand culture and collective identity. Your teacher will decide with you which experiences you are going to use and will tailor these to the phase of schooling that you are currently in (either years 4-6 or years 7-8). Your teacher will also frame with you how the learning intentions for each activity relate to the following key things to know from Te ao tangata | Social sciences (including Aotearoa New Zealand's histories) for your phase of learning. 

Years 4-6

Ngā ahurea me te tuakiri kiritōpū | Culture and collective identity


Culture shapes individual and collective identities and creates diversity within societies. People’s cultural practices and relationships can vary but reflect similar purposes. The stories of groups of people from different periods in our history convey their reasons for and experiences of migration. These stories have shaped their culture and identity in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Years 7-8

Ngā ahurea me te tuakiri kiritōpū | Culture and collective identity


People use different ways to sustain and evolve their culture and identity. Mid-twentieth-century Māori migration to New Zealand cities occurred at an unprecedented pace and scale, leading to new approaches to being Māori and retaining iwi values and practices being created and debated. Over time, people from a wide range of cultures have migrated to and participated in and contributed to Aotearoa New Zealand, while retaining and adapting their distinctive identities.

Regardless of the phase of learning that you are in, the intention is that the activities will help you to explore and deepen your understanding of how interactions change societies.

Using football as a context for learning

If your school wants to use football as a context for this module, please email kotuitui@nzfootball.co.nz. In your message, please include your: 

• name, email and phone number
• school’s name, address and Ministry of Education number.

Sport experiences

Lots of different sports are able to come into your school or kura to provide games from their sport that will support the learning taking place in your classrooms. For example, New Zealand Football and Māori Football Aotearoa have designed a set of football and futsal games that reinforce learning about pūrākau from te ao Māori. Watch the video to see how their games work then contact your Regional Sports Trust and they will connect you with a sport in your area that can provide this kind of sport experiences for your ākonga.

Take action

You will remember when you started on the Kōtuitui learning journey that your challenge was to research cultures of countries involved in a major sporting event and to draw conclusions about how the event might further shape Aotearoa New Zealand’s culture and collective identity. To support your progression toward becoming knowledgeable about ngā ahurea me te tuakiri kiritōpū (culture and collective identity) we have set up two challenges, one each for ākonga in years 4-6, and years 7-8. Regardless of the phase of learning that you are in, the intention is that the challenges will help you progress in building your capability to use the social inquiry process.

Years 4-6

Te kaingākaunui me te hiamo ki te ako | Expanding horizons of knowledge and collaboration

Migration and its impact on culture and collective identity 

Create and share a presentation at your world cup festival that retells the story of the migration of a group of people to Aotearoa New Zealand.  What has been the impact of their arrival on our culture and collective identity? What has been the impact on their own culture since arriving in this country?

Years 7-8

Te mōhio ki tōku tūrangawaewae me te kōkiri kaupapa | Knowing I belong and advocating for self and others

The role of play, active recreation and sport in culture and collective identity

​Create and share a presentation at your world cup festival about the role of play, active recreation and sport on our culture and what they contribute to our sense of collective identity? How might major sporting events further shape and reinforce Aotearoa New Zealand’s culture and collective identity?