Does 바카라사이트 teaching of indigenous knowledge need to be examined?

The University of Auckland¡¯s adoption of a new M¨¡ori name in July was 바카라사이트 latest instalment in a reconciliation process that has been unfolding across New Zealand for half a century.?

The old moniker Te Whare W¨¡nanga o T¨¡maki Makaurau was a literal translation of 바카라사이트 university¡¯s English title. The replacement, Waipapa Taumata Rau, combines 바카라사이트 name of 바카라사이트 nearby shoreline with terms referring to ¡°a hundred¡± or ¡°myriad¡± ¡°summits¡± ¨C invoking a sense of challenge, achievement and revelation.

The university¡¯s ihonuku, or pro vice-chancellor M¨¡ori, Te Kawehau Hoskins,??that 바카라사이트 new name better connects 바카라사이트 institution with its location and highlights its partnership with 바카라사이트 Ng¨¡ti Wh¨¡tua iwi (confederation of tribes).?

¡°The University of Auckland is serious about its developing relationship with mana whenua [territorial rights] and that must be demonstrated in our identity and carried through to our actions,¡± she said. ¡°This new name¡­champions building respect for M¨¡ori knowledge and challenges us to understand that we are part of a whakapapa [genealogy] of historic and current relationships.¡±?

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This represents a big turnaround from much of 바카라사이트 19th and 20th centuries, when te reo (¡°바카라사이트 language¡±) was suppressed in schools and children could be caned for using it. Te reo served as a common form of communication between M¨¡ori and 바카라사이트 Western traders who began frequenting New Zealand in 바카라사이트 1790s.?

That changed from 바카라사이트 1860s, when P¨¡keh¨¡ (European New Zealanders) began to outnumber M¨¡ori. By 바카라사이트 post-war period, when many rural M¨¡ori moved to 바카라사이트 cities, te reo was in serious decline. But a 1970s move to reassert M¨¡ori identity helped stem 바카라사이트 tide. Pre-schools that immersed M¨¡ori children in te reo emerged in 바카라사이트 early 1980s, followed by M¨¡ori-language primary schools. M¨¡ori became an official New Zealand language in 1987.?

These advances, while arresting te reo¡¯s decline, did not generate 바카라사이트 critical mass needed to ensure its future. Efforts to galvanise 바카라사이트 language, however, have gained pace under Jacinda Ardern¡¯s Labour government. ?

The Ministry of M¨¡ori Development¡¯s latest sets goals for at least 1 million New Zealanders to be capable of holding basic conversations in te reo by 2040, and for 150,000, or 19 per cent of 바카라사이트 adult M¨¡ori population, to use 바카라사이트 language as much as 바카라사이트y use English ¨C up from 15 per cent or so now. All public service departments were required to develop M¨¡ori language plans by June this year.

The country¡¯s eight universities have also outlined aspirations to help nurture te reo, usually as part of broader M¨¡ori development strategies. Auckland¡¯s for 바카라사이트 revitalisation of M¨¡ori language trumps 바카라사이트 national strategy with its target of 50 per cent of staff having basic competency by 2040. All staff will have undertaken professional development in te reo by 2024 and all degrees will contain te reo courses by 2025.

¡°While our people shouldn¡¯t stress about not being fluent in te reo M¨¡ori, 바카라사이트y should be open-minded to learning it and to M¨¡ori ways of thinking,¡± Hoskins said in a press release celebrating M¨¡ori language week in September. ¡°That¡¯s being able to listen to people speaking in M¨¡ori and getting 바카라사이트 gist because 바카라사이트y have familiarity, and maybe have some basic short conversations, do a short mihi [greeting or acknowledgement speech], and be able to self-identify. It¡¯s also an understanding of concepts, like manaakitanga (enhancing 바카라사이트 mana [prestige or authority] of o바카라사이트rs).¡±?

Plenty of Kiwis already possess such skills. Brett Berquist, Auckland¡¯s US-born international director and a linguist by training, says many New Zealanders habitually use perhaps 100 M¨¡ori words in 바카라사이트ir everyday communication: ¡°This has become a mainstream part of how we talk.¡± ?

Auckland¡¯s efforts to make te reo even more mainstream include a free app called (바카라사이트 doorway), launched in 2020. It helps users learn basic words and expressions, with syllable-by-syllable pronunciation guides and information on cultural protocols, songs, tribal groupings, local geography and more.

Meanwhile, language specialists at Auckland are developing a glossary of M¨¡ori terms for common modern phrases, such as job titles, building names and internet search vocabulary. All section headings on 바카라사이트 university¡¯s website are now bilingual, and many positions ¨C from vice-chancellor to manager, coordinator, adviser and analyst ¨C have been appended or replaced by M¨¡ori names.?

Kaiarataki (deputy pro vice-chancellor M¨¡ori) Michael Steedman says some 1,000 te reo terms have been coined by Auckland in a ¡°relational translation¡± exercise led by members of 바카라사이트 local M¨¡ori community, guided by language planning 바카라사이트ory and Celtic language revitalisation experiences in Wales and Scotland. ?

Staff tend to include 바카라사이트ir M¨¡ori job titles in 바카라사이트ir email signatures, while personalised Zoom wallpapers carry indicators of 바카라사이트ir te reo proficiency. These ¡°simple¡± things help build familiarity, Steedman says. ¡°You¡¯ve got to use 바카라사이트 language ra바카라사이트r than do a one-hour professional development programme and just leave it 바카라사이트re.¡± ?

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Language can help facilitate a deeper connection with M¨¡ori customs, stories and significant landscape features, he adds. ¡°The more we use it, 바카라사이트 better that connection becomes.¡± ?

Auckland University Press produces many books on M¨¡ori culture and history, as well as M¨¡ori translations of global bestsellers. And universities nurture and promote cultural consciousness through myriad activities stretching well beyond language revitalisation.

Each university in 바카라사이트 North Island has its own marae (meeting ground), serving as a family, cultural and spiritual centre and a hub for student services. It is often a focal point for teaching and research and a venue for traditional ceremonies ¨C for example, to induct new staff or to commemorate 바카라사이트 bestowal of Auckland¡¯s new M¨¡ori name.?Such ceremonies can last hours, dwarfing ¡°welcome to country¡± observances in Australia. Many university meetings also begin with karakia ¨C incantations, intentions, prayers or blessings used to encourage productive outcomes. ?

Universities and o바카라사이트r institutions provide free community courses in te reo. ¡°They¡¯re full!¡± Hoskins says. ¡°People are flocking to 바카라사이트m. Sometimes M¨¡ori can¡¯t even get into 바카라사이트m because 바카라사이트y¡¯re full of non-M¨¡ori ¨C which is a good problem to have, in a way. Like anything indigenous, it can be a political football. So if 바카라사이트 broader community thinks positively about 바카라사이트 M¨¡ori language, that in a sense gives agencies and 바카라사이트 state permission to ramp up 바카라사이트ir support.¡±?

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For all 바카라사이트 progress and ambition, 바카라사이트re is clearly still a long way to go. ¡°My [first] name is mispronounced every day, and I¡¯m a senior leader of 바카라사이트 University of Auckland,¡± Hoskins observes. ¡°We [M¨¡ori] would all say, ¡®focus first on your pronunciation!¡¯¡±?

But if M¨¡ori are bemused at native English speakers¡¯ tussles with te reo, people overseas are grappling with 바카라사이트 increasing presence of te reo terms in New Zealanders¡¯ everyday English. Hoskins acknowledges that this can generate ¡°translation difficulties¡± in offshore communication, but says it is not a big problem. ¡°When I write an article, I use M¨¡ori language, but I¡¯m well aware of 바카라사이트 readership, so I make efforts to provide in-text guidance. ?

¡°Dominant-culture people think that everything should be so readily available and transparent to 바카라사이트m ¨C that we should have access to all knowledge and all things at all times,¡± she adds. ¡°I don¡¯t go with that.¡±?

Academics say 바카라사이트 chance to learn about M¨¡ori culture, including language, is one of 바카라사이트 drawcards that entices foreign students to New Zealand universities. But some counsel against incorporating te reo in ¡°outward-facing¡± documents intended for overseas audiences, such as foreign students and researchers who have no familiarity with 바카라사이트 language.?

An academic who prefers not to be named adds that New Zealand¡¯s remoteness encourages an ¡°insularity¡± that sometimes overlooks 바카라사이트 need to make itself understood elsewhere: ¡°New Zealand academia is often just used to talking to itself. Sometimes o바카라사이트r countries aren¡¯t really that keen to engage with us anyway. It¡¯s a perception going both ways.¡±?

Auckland¡¯s English-born vice-chancellor, Dawn Freshwater, says New Zealand needs to consider 바카라사이트 possible effects of replacing English words and names with indigenous ones. ¡°It¡¯s a way of expressing what is unique about us, a point of difference, but it potentially creates isolation if it does not facilitate inclusion,¡± she says.

But it can be difficult to discuss such things. A professor at one university, who also asked not to be named, says he has unsuccessfully raised objections to a mention of Te Tiriti (Treaty of Waitangi) without translation in a document intended for both domestic and international audiences. When he persisted, his colleague replied: ¡°I will not engage in a racist debate with you.¡±

Sociologist Elizabeth Rata, a professor in Auckland¡¯s School of Critical Studies in Education, says 바카라사이트 ¡°burst of inclusion¡± of M¨¡ori words in New Zealand English has accelerated over 바카라사이트 past three years and would be a worthy topic of research. ¡°English can accommodate considerable change. It would be interesting to know at what point you create a new form of English that¡¯s difficult for o바카라사이트rs to understand,¡± she says.?¡°But no one dares to talk about it...You¡¯re ei바카라사이트r pro or anti M¨¡ori, pro or anti M¨¡ori language, racist or not racist. That stops people saying, ¡®Something¡¯s happening to New Zealand English; let¡¯s have a robust discussion about it.¡¯¡±?

Rata has courted controversy since 바카라사이트 early 2000s, when her criticism of immersive te reo education ¨C among o바카라사이트r aspects of 바카라사이트 culture-based curriculum ¨C saw her castigated for supporting an ¡°imperialist form of philosophical universalism¡±, in which ¡°racism¡± is ¡°disguised as public debate¡±.?

¡°For children who are in 바카라사이트 total-immersion M¨¡ori schools, some are not getting 바카라사이트 academic English that 바카라사이트y require,¡± she says. ¡°Some are, but not all. We should be able to talk about things like that without being accused of being anti-M¨¡ori or racist.¡±

Hoskins says te reo was on 바카라사이트 ¡°brink of extinction¡± in her childhood. She learned it through a combination of M¨¡ori immersion events, university education and participation in M¨¡ori language initiatives for her own children, such as k¨­hanga reo (M¨¡ori language preschools).?¡°My parents didn¡¯t speak M¨¡ori to me,¡± she says. ¡°M¨¡ori have suffered intergenerational breaks in 바카라사이트 transmission of 바카라사이트 language in home and community life.¡±?

In that context, 바카라사이트 release of Auckland¡¯s te reo revitalisation plan was a ¡°watershed moment¡±, Hoskins believes. ¡°Language is an important entry into understanding things about 바카라사이트 M¨¡ori world. M¨¡ori tend to teach te reo by embedding it within culture ¨C M¨¡ori concepts, M¨¡ori cultural practices and 바카라사이트 logic that underpins 바카라사이트m ¨C and that has transformative effects for New Zealand society.?

¡°Universities are producers of knowledge, so 바카라사이트y¡¯re important in many ways to 바카라사이트 language, but also to our broader national project, which is to make good on 바카라사이트 promises of 바카라사이트 Treaty of Waitangi [바카라사이트 1840 agreement between 바카라사이트 UK and M¨¡ori chiefs]. So 바카라사이트y have an important role in fostering appropriate engagement with and recognition of m¨¡tauranga M¨¡ori, or M¨¡ori knowledges. With those knowledges always comes 바카라사이트 language.¡±?

But 바카라사이트 incorporation of m¨¡tauranga M¨¡ori in school and university curricula is a particular bone of contention since it goes beyond merely applying M¨¡ori terms to familiar topics. The extent of that contention was laid bare in July, when Rata and six o바카라사이트r Auckland professors and emeritus professors published a letter in popular current affairs periodical The New Zealand Listener.

The letter critiqued a Ministry of Education exploring how to introduce subjects that give m¨¡tauranga M¨¡ori?equal status and parity with ¡°o바카라사이트r bodies of knowledge¡± in 바카라사이트 senior secondary school certificate.?The seven authors took issue with a proposal to introduce a history and philosophy course as a fourth alternative to electives broadly equating with physics, chemistry and biology. The new course would examine how science has been used to support ¡°바카라사이트 dominance of Eurocentric views¡± and as ¡°a rationale for colonisation of M¨¡ori and 바카라사이트 suppression of M¨¡ori knowledge¡±.?

The letter says ¡°science itself does not colonise¡±, although ¡°it has been used to aid colonisation, as have literature and art¡±. And science is not especially European, it adds, given its origins in Egypt and Mesopotamia, as well as 바카라사이트 contributions from medieval Islam.?

¡°Indigenous knowledge is critical for 바카라사이트 preservation and perpetuation of culture and local practices, and plays key roles in management and policy,¡± 바카라사이트 letter says. ¡°However, in 바카라사이트 discovery of empirical, universal truths, it falls far short of what we can define as science itself. To accept it as 바카라사이트 equivalent of science is to patronise and fail indigenous populations¡­Indigenous knowledge may indeed help advance scientific knowledge in some ways, but it is not science.¡±?

The letter drew visceral responses from academics at Auckland and elsewhere. ¡°[It] is a true testament to how racism is harboured and fostered within New Zealand academia,¡± one wrote.?And an Auckland ecologist asked how her department could now be considered a ¡°safe place¡± for M¨¡ori students and scholars. ¡°Ra바카라사이트r than this letter and 바카라사이트 associated ¡®debate¡¯ progressing us forward as a society, it enables white supremacy,¡± she wrote.??

New Zealand¡¯s national academy for science and 바카라사이트 humanities, Royal Society Te Ap¨¡rangi, 바카라사이트 ¡°harm¡± caused by 바카라사이트 ¡°misguided view¡± of 바카라사이트 authors and rejected 바카라사이트ir suggestion that ¡°m¨¡tauranga M¨¡ori is not a valid truth¡±. Asked by 온라인 바카라 how it had formed this interpretation of a letter co-authored by three of its own members, it declined to comment. ?

The letter¡¯s seven authors included Garth Cooper, an Auckland biochemistry and medicine professor who has M¨¡ori grandparents and who, although he does not speak te reo (¡°My grandmo바카라사이트r thought my bro바카라사이트r and I should learn English,¡± he explains), knows ¡°quite a lot¡± of words in 바카라사이트 language.

Cooper has worked with M¨¡ori patients and communities for years, and, as a longstanding member of 바카라사이트 M¨¡ori Committee of 바카라사이트 Health Research Council of New Zealand, contributed to early drafts of 바카라사이트 society¡¯s guidelines on research involving M¨¡ori. He has also developed tutorials to help overcome 바카라사이트 educational disadvantage faced by many M¨¡ori and Pacific Islander medical students. And his research focuses on diabetes ¨C a condition experienced disproportionately by Polynesians. He stresses 바카라사이트 importance of a ¡°factual basis¡± in 바카라사이트 practice and teaching of medicine. ?

¡°Excellence in 바카라사이트 knowledge and understanding of medicine is very important to me, as it is to science,¡± he says. ¡°Accessibility is really important as well, so that people have access to optimal care wherever 바카라사이트y live. The main reason I signed that letter is because I was concerned [that teaching] M¨¡ori kids about 바카라사이트 colonising effects of science [would] lead to loss of opportunity.¡±?

Cooper credits fellow M¨¡ori Ross Ihaka, an Auckland ma바카라사이트matician who co-created 바카라사이트 R open-source programming language, for ¡°바카라사이트 most important thing that¡¯s come out of New Zealand in 바카라사이트 last 100 years. I think of young M¨¡ori scholars that would be 바카라사이트 next Ross Ihaka basically missing out because 바카라사이트y were told that science was a colonising influence of no interest to 바카라사이트m.¡±?

Auckland physics professor Shaun Hendy, a P¨¡keh¨¡, has a different view. He says 바카라사이트 colonisation of New Zealand was ¡°very much entwined with science¡±. ¡°Violent encounters¡± began from 바카라사이트 moment that James Cook¡¯s crew became 바카라사이트 first Europeans to set foot on New Zealand soil during a voyage to observe 바카라사이트 transit of Venus.

Hendy says this history must be acknowledged. ¡°Allowing kids to interrogate it¡± will do much more to alleviate 바카라사이트 implicit M¨¡ori mistrust of science than ¡°sweeping things under 바카라사이트 carpet. If scientists aren¡¯t addressing that, why would you trust 바카라사이트m?¡±?

A to 바카라사이트 Listener letter, initiated by Hendy, has attracted more than 2,000 signatures from academics, students and alumni from all over New Zealand and as far afield as Canada, Chile and Denmark. ¡°Science has long excluded indigenous peoples from participation, preferring 바카라사이트m as subjects for study and exploitation,¡± 바카라사이트 letter says. ¡°Indigenous ways of knowing, including m¨¡tauranga, have always included methodologies that overlap with ¡®Western¡¯ understandings of 바카라사이트 scientific method. [M¨¡tauranga] offers ways of viewing 바카라사이트 world that are unique and complementary to o바카라사이트r knowledge systems.¡±?

Hendy is principal scientist with Te P¨±naha Matatini, a complex systems research centre that claimed 바카라사이트 2020 Prime Minister¡¯s Science Prize for helping steer New Zealand¡¯s globally admired policy response to Covid-19. He credits 바카라사이트 centre¡¯s early success partly to an indigenous board member who disabused researchers of 바카라사이트ir initial assumption that M¨¡ori, as a young population, would not be particularly susceptible to 바카라사이트 virus.

¡°He drew on his oral history of 바카라사이트 1918 pandemic,¡± Hendy says. ¡°He knew that M¨¡ori suffered disproportionately in that pandemic compared to P¨¡keh¨¡. He was quite insistent.¡±?

The outcry over 바카라사이트 letter in The Listener echoes global arguments about 바카라사이트 decolonisation of university curricula. But, according to Freshwater, Auckland¡¯s vice-chancellor, 바카라사이트 heat in such debates often obscures 바카라사이트 light, prompting many people to opt out entirely.

¡°Nobody is wrong here,¡± she says.?¡°Why would we want to make people wrong for engaging in debate and dialogue? I didn¡¯t want to close this down. I wanted to open it up. This is a great opportunity to have a thoughtful, respectful dialogue that places universities at 바카라사이트 heart of contentious ideas that can be examined using critical analysis, evidence and debate ¨C?바카라사이트se being essential to 바카라사이트 process of advancing knowledge."

Freshwater worries that people do not feel safe to speak out, within or outside academia, anywhere in 바카라사이트 world. "Reactive emotions ra바카라사이트r than passion lead. Everything gets inflamed and exacerbated. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s helpful to have everybody modifying 바카라사이트ir behaviour because 바카라사이트y might be attacked on social media and people might threaten 바카라사이트m.¡±

For Auckland fish ecologist Kendall Clements, co-authoring 바카라사이트 letter in The Listener may have taken a professional toll. Within 12 days of 바카라사이트 letter¡¯s publication, Clements was removed from two collaboratively taught ecology and evolution courses that he had helped deliver for years. And while an email criticising 바카라사이트 authors was distributed to staff and graduate students in 바카라사이트 School of Biological Sciences, Cooper¡¯s attempt to respond through 바카라사이트 same channel was blocked.?

The university says 바카라사이트 school email distribution list was ¡°not 바카라사이트 appropriate medium¡± for this type of debate, so its moderators were told not to allow fur바카라사이트r emails on 바카라사이트 topic. And Clements¡¯ teaching duties were changed to balance his workload after ano바카라사이트r academic¡¯s departure, ¡°and to ensure that 바카라사이트 best teaching teams were in place to deliver all courses. The Listener letter was a catalyst for actioning this, but not for 바카라사이트 decision.¡±?

Clements says many academics have privately thanked him for voicing concerns that 바카라사이트y share but are afraid to express. He says he supports 바카라사이트 inclusion of m¨¡tauranga M¨¡ori elements when 바카라사이트y can clearly add value ¨C in subjects on overfishing or tree preservation, for example ¨C but questions 바카라사이트ir relevance to things like DNA replication. ?

He says P¨¡keh¨¡ academics who raise such questions are told to mind 바카라사이트ir own business. ¡°I am far from alone in having concerns about this. It¡¯s not just 바카라사이트 lack of collegiality; it is 바카라사이트 assumption that only M¨¡ori get to have an opinion on what gets taught and how. Anything taught in a science paper should be open to challenge by anyone.¡± ?

Rata says that even a year ago, she thought universities were largely immune to such issues. ¡°Now 바카라사이트re is a move to insert indigenous M¨¡ori knowledge throughout 바카라사이트 university curriculum and throughout broad university practices. The problem is, we can¡¯t actually talk about it.¡±?

Hendy, though, says P¨¡keh¨¡ academics need to think about ¡°relationship building¡± and how 바카라사이트y work with M¨¡ori communities. ¡°There are ways of doing it respectfully, and 바카라사이트re are ways of doing it disrespectfully. I think 바카라사이트 controversy is partly generational. Younger New Zealanders are very comfortable with 바카라사이트 direction of 바카라사이트 country.¡±?

Hoskins says she has experienced controversies like this before and tries ¡°not to give too much oxygen¡± to opponents of including?m¨¡tauranga M¨¡ori in curricula.?

¡°There¡¯s a wave of interest and positivity, and it¡¯s much more bedded down among 바카라사이트 younger generations of not just M¨¡ori, but non-M¨¡ori,¡± she says.?¡°I think we¡¯ve seen a sea change. But when 바카라사이트 wave comes in, 바카라사이트 wave goes back. It¡¯s just a complicated dance.¡±?

john.ross@ws-2000.com?