Abstract
In 2015, a student-led petition called for creating a history curriculum that taught about the New Zealand Land Wars. As a result, under the Ardern government, the Aotearoa New Zealand Histories curriculum (ANZHC) was drafted in early 2021, implemented, and taught in schools nationwide since 2023. Initially, there was a bipartisan agreement for the curriculum, but ever since the drafting, there have been ongoing disputes on the content of the curriculum. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern originally announced that the ANZHC aims to commit “to a better New Zealand that we can all be proud of, and which recognizes the value of every New Zealander” and to cover a “full range of New Zealanders’ experiences.” With the change in government came the calls for a “rebalancing” of the ongoing political and ideological debates surrounding history education in New Zealand. This article examines the ANZHC through the lens of national identity construction, drawing on modernist theories of nationalism and the role of education in shaping collective memory. ANZHC exemplifies what Gellner highlighted as the specialized, state-sponsored education constructed by the nation’s elites that seek to unify the people. The article finds that while the ANZHC represents a significant step towards a bicultural history, there are serious omissions in what is not being taught in the curriculum, and amendments necessary to ensure a more balanced and impartial portrayal of the nation.
Author Information
Jung June Huh, Sungkyunkwan University, Republic of Korea
Paper Information
Conference: IICAH2025
Stream: Immigration
This paper is part of the IICAH2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Huh J. (2025) Aotearoa New Zealand Histories: A National Narrative, a National Identity ISSN: 2432-4604 – The IAFOR International Conference on Arts & Humanities – Hawaii 2025 Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 75-90) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2432-4604.2025.7
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2432-4604.2025.7
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