Assesments at the National Kapa Haka Festival

Ask a teenager to work relentlessly on seven performance items for months. Demand Māori language skills, physical agility, singing, musicality, teamwork, knowledge of Māori protocol and ancient performance methods. Then put them in front of a crowd of a few thousand and expect them to execute these items with pride and passion.

Thousands of teenagers did just that at the National Secondary School Kapa Haka Festival held in Christchurch in September. They had already been through the regional competitions and had qualified to be among the top secondary school groups in the country.

These students were not just performing for the judges or the receptive crowds. Most of them were also performing for their tutors who were assessing them against elements of the Māori Performing Arts unit standards.

Pukana by Tiana Te Moana from Te Kura Whakapumau i te reo Tuturu Ki Waitaha, Christchurch. Photo: John McCombe

Students were assessed for their stage performance in haka, poi, waiata, waiata a-ringa, whakaraka and haka wahine at levels 2 to 4. While the festival provides a prime opportunity for tutors to assess their students in performance, schools are still required to complete the research components of the unit standards back in the classroom.

It may seem like a novel approach to assessment but kapa haka expert Donna Grant, who helped inform schools about this assessment opportunity, believes the exercise showed tutors how flexible the national qualifications system can be.

"When teachers became aware that Māori Performing Arts standards could count towards NCEA and other qualifications, they seized the opportunity."

	Winners of the National Secondary School Kapa Haka Festival 2002, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hoani Waititi from Auckland. Photo: Fred Timutimu

Donna Grant was pleased with how smoothly the exercise went. "I was thrilled that both students and tutors were keen to do the assessments at the festival. The kids were just as interested in the exercise as the tutors were. When those students found out they could earn credits towards a national qualification for their performance it gave them a real boost. At the end of the day, we want to enthuse them about learning and achieving."

So while Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hoani Waititi in Auckland walked away as the 2002 national secondary school champions, more than a thousand students may have earned some credits towards a national qualification that they will have for the rest of their lives.