NZHTA Pānui Term 3, Week 3, 2025

NZHTA Pānui Term 3, Week 3, 2025

Tēnā koutou katoa,

Last Wednesday, NZHTA launched our new website. Not bad for a bunch of historians! In the space of two hours, we had over 320 schools sign up successfully. Thanks for reaching out if you have had difficulties signing up or registering. I have included in this pānui a simple troubleshooting resource which should help. We hope that the NZHTA 2025 exams are useful in assessing your ākonga, and I would like to thank the amazing writing and editing teams who have made these practice exams possible.

Today we also officially launch the 2026 NZHTA Conference. This will be held in the beautiful Te Matau-a-Māui/Hawke’s Bay in the Term 1 April holidays. This conference is run in partnership with Ngāti Kahungungu and Heretaunga Tamatea iwi. A conference flyer is attached to this pānui.

In this pānui:

·      The new NZHTA website is live!

·      NZHTA Practice Exams and NZHTA Membership

·      NZHTA Artificial Intelligence Webinar Series

·      Scholarship series and updates

·      New L1 ‘Historical Concepts’ resource  

·      He Rau Ringa e Oti ai: Many Hands Make History NZHA Conference

·      Collections to Classrooms: Free online education resource

·      What is Symbai?

·      Holocaust Remembrance and Education Tour

·      Ā kō ake nei | Coming up soon

·      Kōrero Mai | We'd love to hear from you!

Ngā mihi

Nick Fitness

nzhtaexec@gmail.com

The new NZHTA website is live!

Your one-stop-shop for everything history related! The main priority was getting this site live for accessing the practice exams. Here is a simple troubleshooting resource if you are still having issues getting onto the new site. We will be working away in the background getting heaps more awesome content on here.

NZHTA Practice Exams and NZHTA Membership

These are now available to access for L1, L2, L3 and Scholarship. They are accessible through the NZHTA website for paid-up 2025 NZHTA members.

If you have any memberships queries, please email me at nzhtaexec@gmail.com

NZHTA Artificial Intelligence Webinar Series

You asked for it, and we have listened! We are excited to announce a fantastic line up of online webinars that will help you and your departments and kura navigate and think about the place of AI in the Social Sciences. All of these sessions will be recorded and shared. There will be time for pātai during these sessions too.

SESSION 1: Tuesday 29 July, 3.30pm - 4.30pm (Term 3, Week 3)***This first session is on tomorrow!

The intersection of AI and Te Ao Māori in the history classroom with Dr. Karaitiana Taiuru, an AI, Data and Emerging Tech Governance, IP and Critical Indigenous Researcher. http://www.taiuru.maori.nz

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86258792842?pwd=bPwVe4kl6Sai470FLO8yiVcyUnVYlL.1

An introduction discussion involving how public AI platforms such as ChatGPT have evolved with New Zealand histories in the past twoyears.AI only knows what is in the data inputted, creating significant gaps in real facts leaving Māori and other communities vulnerable to miss information. Hallucinations and subject matter with real life examples from a te Ao Māori perspective and by trailing unpublished results with NZ/AU/UK Hansard and the inherited bias from AI.

SESSION 2: Tuesday 5 August, 3.30pm - 4.30pm (Term 3, Week4)

GenAI in the History Classroom: Navigating Potential, Pitfalls, and Policy with Eric Persen, TIC E-Learning /TIC History, at Shirley Boys’ High School.

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86349509481?pwd=ycTcuJhgk3xcHbIfPUmqiup9l5pGb3.1

Generative AI is rapidly transforming the educational landscape—but how do we harness its potential while managing the risks? This session explores the role of GenAI in teaching and learning, from classroom innovation to institutional policy. We will examine the benefits and challenges of using AI tools with students, discuss strategies for promoting AI literacy, address issues of authenticity, and unpack the latest developments in education-focused AI technology

SESSION 3: Tuesday 12 August, 3.30pm - 4.30pm (Term 3, Week5)

Hear from four history teachers on their AI journey in their classrooms, what they have tried, what’s working well, with some general discussion on broader themes to consider when developing your own faculty and school policies.

Zoom link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87585486799?pwd=ioKlqbSrYXYrraukwlge5HVnTT7hik.1

Scholarship series and updates

After two teacher-focused sessions with Michael Belgrave in June, these online sessions will now pivot to student-focused sessions. A number of academic and university lecturers have already generously offered their time to lead talks for students. These will occur in late August/early September and once I have finalised the dates and times for these sessions, they will be shared with you all.

Further materials continue to be added to the L4 NCEA Scholarship Folder in He Waka Eke Noa. Thanks again to those who have contributed with putting this together, it certainly reduces the load for many of us!

Scholarship History is now also digital: The following NZ Scholarship subjects have amended assessment specifications to reflect the option of a candidate being able to take the examination digitally- History, standard 93403.

New L1 ‘Historical Concepts’ resource  

NZHTA is super proud to have released a new classroom-ready teaching resource which covers a range of historical contexts 'through the lens' of FIVE key historical concepts: tūrangawaewae, whakapapa, mana, cause, effect. This resource exemplifies engagement with key Māori concepts in the NCEA History Matrix in a way that is consistent with NZHTA Te Tiriti positioning. This resource will provide direct support for AS92026: Demonstrate understanding of historical concepts in contexts of significance to Aotearoa New Zealand.

This link will take you directly to the folder in He Waka Eke Noa. Please closely read through the Teacher Notes in the folder. We hope that this teaching resource will support your L1 history classroom teaching and with preparing your ākonga for the upcoming exams.

It is also worth noting from this year’s L1 specs that the Level 1 concepts definitions will no longer be listed in the resource booklet.

He Rau Ringa e Oti ai: Many Hands Make History NZHA Conference in November

To tell the many and varied stories of our past we need many and varied storytellers in the present. Histories are made and told in multiple ways in Aotearoa today: by and within whānau; families, marae; kura; schools; libraries; museums; archives; public service agencies; wānanga; universities and other communities and institutions. Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato and Waipapa Taumata Rau are excited to be hosting the 2025 Biennial NZHA Conference in Tāmaki Makaurau at Waipapa Taumata Rau. This year the theme of our conference celebrates the many different people, organisations, modes, topics and approaches of history-telling in Aotearoa, and aims to foster connection across our history community. Here is the link to the conference page.