Are We There Yet
125 Suffrage
In 2018 the Auckland War Memorial Museum commissioned a School Kit focussed on the 125th anniversary of the suffrage petition. The kit supported learning around the iconic Are We There Yet? exhibition which examined the progress women of Aotearoa New Zealand had made since we became the first in the world to be able to vote.
Students examined stories and statistics to answer the question Are We There Yet? The kit included copies of items from the exhibition - produced with enough detail and texture to have students believe they were real: a portrait of Meri Te Tai Mangakahia, a Votes for Women, a Māori Women's Welfare League Saucer, A Women against the Tour Badge, a card encouraging women to vote.
A re-imagined Draw a Scientist experiment had students asking their school community to draw a range of professions (doctor, parent, prime minister, lawyer, a school principal etc). Students then analysed the drawings - had participants drawn these professions with a skew to gender representation? What did this mean?
Best of all was a series of empty frames which students had to fill with the stories and portraits of the women from their community whose stories were invisible or untold. One class did school mums, a Taranaki Catholic school interviewed a group of nuns as well as a group of local female engineers. In effect the students created their own mini satellite Are We There Yet? Exhibition.
The Manatū Wāhine Ministry for Women, New Zealand sponsored a second printing of a further 500 kits. In all 32,000 students created 1000 miniature exhibitions celebrating women in communities.
What people said.
“Students are very adamant now that they will be exercising their right to vote and will vote to help others.”
“Students were ignited by gender stereotyping and invisible women tasks, understood real life applications of statistics and researched NZ trailblazers of the past. We will continue to build on the knowledge and skills learned through this amazing resource.”
“I've never really considered myself a Feminist but this kit had me wanting to burn all my bras!! It was thought provoking, challenging, and interesting all rolled into one informative kit.”
