Mātauranga Māori with Charles Royal - The Shape of Dialogue Podcast #15

The Shape of Dialogue

About Charles Royal - http://www.charles-royal.nz/

In 2021, 7 University of Auckland professors penned a letter to the editor in the Listener, titled In Defence of Science.

The professors' were responding to a Government education report (link below), recommending parity for Mātauranga Māori in the secondary school curriculum, and in particular, in the science classroom.

The report states:

”Our goal is to ensure parity for mātauranga Māori with the other bodies of knowledge credentialed by NCEA (particularly Western/Pākehā epistemologies)."

The report also states:

"Philosophy and History of Science is a unique strand in Pūtaiao [Māori word for Science], with no equivalent in the New Zealand Curriculum. It promotes discussion and analysis of the ways in which science has been used to support the dominance of Eurocentric views (among which, its use as a rationale for colonisation of Māori and the suppression of Māori knowledge); and the notion that science is a Western European invention and itself evidence of European dominance over Māori and other indigenous peoples. Pūtaiao allows opportunities to incorporate Māori perspectives and knowledge about the natural world into the classroom. In this regard, it decentres Western epistemologies and methodologies."

The professors' were concerned by "the disturbing misunderstandings of science emerging at all levels of education and in science funding", which they state encourages a mistrust of science, in the context of the decline in maths and science achievements in New Zealand schools, particularly by Māori and Pacific Islanders.

Their letter stated:

"Indigenous knowledge is critical for the preservation and perpetuation of culture and local practices, and plays key roles in management and policy. However, in the discovery of empirical, universal truths, it falls far short of what we can define as science itself. To accept it as the equivalent of science is to patronise and fail indigenous populations; better to ensure that everyone participates in the world's scientific enterprises. Indigenous knowledge may indeed help advance scientific knowledge in some ways, but it is not science".

The reaction to the "In Defence of Science" by the University of Auckland, the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi, the Tertiary Education Union, and the New Zealand Association of Scientists was not positive, see links

NZ Herald - Scientists rubbish Auckland University professors' letter claiming Māori knowledge is not science

https://tinyurl.com/2p8v2h9s

RNZ - University academics' claim mātauranga Māori 'not science' sparks controversy

https://tinyurl.com/2ybvk3ja

Research Professional News - Public letter from academics sparks Māori science row

https://tinyurl.com/3juc66yc

An open letter in response to the professors' letter by Hendy and Wiles, "An open response to In defence of science" co-signed by 2000 people.

https://tinyurl.com/2p8m65xn

The Royal Society announced a breach of conduct enquiry into 3 of the letters authors, professors Corballis, Nola and Cooper, all fellows of the society. The Society launched the enquiry having publicly criticised the professors. Furthermore, the Society initially included 2 panellists who had signed the Hendy/Wiles letter, and all 5 complainants who sparked the enquiry were anonymous. The Society's role is to "advance and promote research and scholarly activity, the pursuit of knowledge". However, it was blind to their lack of impartiality and due process and to the irony of prosecuting preeminent scholars for academic expression well within the limits of their professional, legal and ethical obligations.

Eventually, the Society dropped the investigation into the "errant" professors. It issued the following mea culpa statement - https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/news/he-panui-statem

Links…

The Government education report

https://tinyurl.com/3yfry76h

“In Defence of Science” - Letter to the editor published in the New Zealand Listener, July 2021

“More In Defence of Science” - Supplementary Note to In Defence of Science letter to the editor published in the New Zealand Listener, July 2021

Briefing document - professors Corballis, Nola and Cooper and the Royal Society of New Zealand.

https://medium.com/@shapeofdialogue

Music: Kyrie from Bach B Minor Mass conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner

Buy it here: https://music.apple.com/gb/album/mass-in-b-minor-bwv-232-cum-sancto-spiritu/1053521016