The compulsory study of Aotearoa New Zealand history is set to generate strong emotions for some students, a new study warns.

Taita College head of social sciences Dr Michael Harcourt asked 1889 students at 20 high schools around the country for their main feeling after reading a passage about the effects of the land wars on Waikato Māori.

The largest number (39 per cent) chose sadness, followed by anger (11 per cent), frustration (10 per cent), shame (6 per cent), grief, resentment and guilt.

Harcourt said teachers, who will be required to teach NZ history from 2022, should be alert to those emotions and actually draw them out.

He told Tim Dower he found a lot of students aren't being taught much about our history at all.

"I was amazed at how many students I spoke to had never heard of the New Zealand Wars before, including young people in the Waikato."

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