From Darkness into the Light by J. Wiremu Kane is an informative historical text that explores changing attitudes toward disability in Aotearoa New Zealand. Beginning with traditional Māori perspectives reflected in pūrākau about Murirangawhenua and Mahuika, the text shows how disability was often associated with wisdom and valued knowledge in te ao tawhito. It then traces the shift to colonial and medical views in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when disabled people were often excluded from education, work, and immigration. The text follows the development of disability rights movements and organisations such as the Disabled Persons Assembly, highlighting how disabled people have worked to improve equality and inclusion. Rich in historical detail and real-life examples, From Darkness into the Light supports students to understand how attitudes toward disability have changed over time in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

The text is well suited to integrated literacy and social sciences learning, supporting inquiry into social change and human rights in Aotearoa New Zealand.

This pack contains wide range of response activities including:

• A guided reading plan exploring key literacy elements including inference and deduction, language use, making connection and text organisation, along with key questioning to promote emotional intelligence, metacognition and compassionate inquiry. 
• An independent learning contract complete with explainer videos for activity clarity
  
• A wide range of response activities to support developing and embedding key literacy skills including sentence and word work, spelling, and cloze activities. 

English: Reading for meaning and key ideas, Making inferences about perspectives and attitudes, Understanding explanatory and historical texts, Analysing how information is organised, Exploring topic vocabulary and key concepts

Social Sciences - Aotearoa New Zealand Histories: Traditional Māori perspectives in te ao tawhito, Changing attitudes toward disability over time, Colonial policies and ableist immigration laws, Disability rights movements in Aotearoa New Zealand, Social change and inclusion

Text Type: Informational historical text that combines explanation and historical examples to trace the development of attitudes toward disability in Aotearoa New Zealand from traditional Māori society to the present day.

Key words include: Aotearoa New Zealand histories, ableism, accessibility, attitudes to disability, belonging, change over time, colonial New Zealand, community, disability, disability rights, Disabled Persons Assembly, equality, historical perspectives, human rights, inclusion, mātauranga Māori, Māori perspectives, New Zealand Sign Language, pūrākau, social change, social model of disability, te ao tawhito, traditional knowledge, wellbeing