Here is a brief update on what is happening with science in New Zealand. I have three things.
There has been a lot of debate about the way to teach science in New Zealand, with the indigenous Mori and their supporters arguing that mtauranga Mori is a stew of knowledge gleaned from their ancestors. All my posts are here. This is required by treaty obligations. Seven University of Auckland professors signed a letter in the magazine The Listener arguing that mtauranga Mori isn't the same as modern science, and that it would be a disaster if it were taught in anthropology or sociology classes.
Two professors were elected to New Zealand's Royal Society, but one of them died, and they are still subject to an investigation. The University of Auckland and the University of New Zealand issued statements against the group I call The Satanic Seven. New Zealand is a great country with lovely and progressive people, but it is also a very Woke country, with the Mori regarded as almost an inerrant group of people whose "ways of knowing" produce truth simply because they come from there.
Outside of New Zealand, people are appalled by the disapprobation raining down on these two and the other five. People in the country are pretty evenly split between the two.
The disapprobation from New Zealand was inspired by a petition started by two U.A. professors. They started a petition that got 2,000 signatures. There are a few logical errors or instruements of distorted reasoning in the petition.
The New Zealand Listener published a letter signed by seven University of Auckland Professors/Professors Emeritus that claimed to be in defence of science.
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We categorically disagree with their views. Mtauranga is not lesser to other knowledge systems. Mtauranga has always included methodologies that overlap with Western understandings of the scientific method.
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Mtauranga is more than just an equivalent of Western science. It has ways of viewing the world that are different from other knowledge systems.
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The seven Professors describe efforts to reexamine and revise the significance of Mtauranga in NCEA, as well as acknowledging the role western science has played in rationalising colonisation as contributing to disturbing misunderstandings of science.
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The Professors claim that science does not colonise, ignoring the fact that colonisation, racism, misogyny, and eugenics have each been championed by scientists wielding a self-declared monopoly on universal knowledge.
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The Professors fail to acknowledge that science has long excluded indigenous peoples from participation, preferring them as subjects for study and exploitation. Diminishing the role of indigenous knowledge systems is a tool for exploitation.
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The Professors fail to acknowledge the ways in which science has contributed to the creation of these challenges, as they present a series of global crises. We can't solve these crises if we put science on a pedestal.
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They believe that this kind of critique increases distrust of science. We believe that distrust in science is caused by science's ongoing role in perpetuateing scientific racism, justifying colonisation, and continuing support of systems that create injustice. There can be no trust in science if the community is not active in changing.
The Satanic Seven were demonized because of this petition, including having their jobs threatened, receiving harassing emails, and so on. I don't know if the University of Auckland supported them. It helped criticize them.
The main authors of the petition, Sean Hendy and Siouxsie Wiles, have been subject to harassment for different reasons, and aren't getting support from the University of Auckland. It is laid out in a Guardian piece.
An excerpt.
Two of New Zealand's most prominent Covid experts are taking legal action against their employer, the University of Auckland, over what they say is its failure to respond adequately to harassment from a small but venomous sector of the public.
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The Employment Relations Authority ruled last week that they should proceed directly to the Employment Court because of the high public interest in their Covid commentary.
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According to the ruling, the scientists say that as a result of their work, they have been harassed via email, social media and video sharing platforms, which has had a detrimental impact on their physical safety.
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Wiles had been the victim of doxxing, in which personal information is published about a person online, while Hendy had been physically confronted by a person who threatened to see him soon.
I don't like threats or doxxing, which are reprehensible behaviors. Wiles and Hendy are beefing about the behaviors that their own petition instigated against the Satanic Seven, which is a foreseeable consequence of their actions. I have to add that the Satanic Seven have not complained of victimhood, nor have they sued the University of Auckland. None of these nine people did anything to deserve public disapprobation, but only two of them instigated a climate of hatred that affected the others.
There is item #2. If you want to see how far down the rabbit hole the mtauranga Mori have gone, here is an article from a popular magazine, Spinoff. Click on the tHe tHe tHe tHe tHe tHe tHe tHe tHe tHe tHe tHe tHe tHe tHe tHe tHe tHe
The funding is very small.
This is not journalism.
There are two features that this piece shares with other defenses of mtauranga Mori. It seems like it's a way of showing off, as if one were describing a kerfuffle about science in France by using French words. I will give examples.
The one bit of knowledge that mtauranga Mori is said to have is below. This is in an English-language magazine, so good luck following it.
The arrival of a Pkeh scientist at Te Rau Aroha marae wasn't received well. He said he was seen as the face of the Pkeh institution by many whnau.
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When the scientists wanted to place radio trackers on the manu, they were opposed by the tt. The scientists found that the trackers disrupted their attendance at the colony. It was an example of how mtauranga Mori can improve science.
The indigenous people said putting a gps tracker on a manu would disturb the colony or the birds. They were correct. This doesn't mean that there isn't another way to track these birds.
And that is all. It would take just two minutes to teach this in a class. This example is a good example of the way of knowing.
The lack of mtauranga Mori in modern science is often defended in articles.
There are a few bits of dual linguistics.
The associate professor in genetics is the most senior Mori academic in his field.
Wilcox has been creating research frameworks for the last 20 years. He was part of the team that created Te Mata Ira: Guidelines for Genomic Research with Mori.
This time, it was a backhanded slap at modern genetics.
One of the papers he teaches at the university is about Mori concepts of hereditary inheritance.
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Wilcox says that whakapapa is a central part of te ao Mori culture, and that genetics is pushed off the side to breeding programmes or for "recreational" purposes.
Pushed off to the side for breeding programs. Does Professor Wilcox not know how modern genetics works, how to reconstruct human migration and ancestry from ancient DNA, or how genes create phenotypes? I am sure whakapapa is looking at these and other matters. Wait, there is more! My bold.
There are similarities between the two approaches. There are hereditary locators and environment locators. Wilcox says this is the same as the first equation in quantitative genetics, which is the sum of my genetics and the environment I live in.
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Wilcox says pepeha is a different way of looking at it.
Yeah, right? Does pepeha encompass Fisher's fundamental theorem of genetics or the breeder's equation? I am guessing that is not true. There is interaction between genes and environment, which is why phenotype is not the "sum of genetics and environment." The effects of genes and environments are not just the same. I would love to give Professor Wilcox a quick quiz on genetics. May his whakapapa help him.
We will pass on more linguistic preening and virtue signaling.
He wanted to protect the whakapapa of his iwi and hap research participants.
There is a sensible defense of how to reduce educational inequalities in New Zealand and one that doesn't involve introducing MM into science class. New Zealand has abysmal educational achievement in the field of science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM, compared to other countries. All sentient New Zealanders agree with this article. How to fix it?
The NZ magazine Stuff has a picture of a screenshot. There is also a video. Gaven Martin is a professor of mathematics at a university and he is going to get into trouble for writing this.
There are quotes.
There has been a lot of debate about the intersection of science and mtauranga Mori. It is not the right debate.
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I chaired a review of mathematics education for the Royal Society of New Zealand and the Ministry of Education.
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The current debate is underpinned by slogans and little if any evidence, like many of the significant shifts we have seen in education over the last few decades.
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The teaching of science, technology and mathematics in our national curriculum delivers cruel results.
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Our 13-year-olds scored their worst ever results in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (60 countries), while 15-year-olds had their worst ever Programme for International Student Assessment results in reading, mathematics and science.
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We have been in decline for more than 20 years. The impact on individuals of the economic costs to the nation is truly appalling. An empirical portrait of New Zealand adults living with low literacy and numeracy skills was published by an AUT study group.
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. The current education system is the worst thing that can happen to us. The relative performance of Mori and Pasifika peoples in science education is a stain on our nation.
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Many Mori are disengaged from science because they don't see their culture reflected in it.
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There is no evidence to support the claim. The issue isn't about people seeing themselves in the curriculum. The knowledge and skills teachers bring into the classroom are what it is about.
You can read the article, but Martin indicts several aspects of New Zealand education that disadvantage Mori students. He doesn't see teaching MM as "science" as one of the remedies.
It's ridiculous to assume that students from lower socio-economic background are not as smart as students from Mori and Pasifika. The opportunities to those who might benefit are denied by our system.
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levating the status of mtauranga Mori is not about messing with science. It's about incorporating useful indigenous knowledge into science.
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My view is that that is a very generous interpretation of what the NCEA changes actually offer. The real problems are not going to be solved by tinkering with some NCEA standards.
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The debate reflects a cynical ploy by the Ministry of Education, pretending to address the seriously inequitable outcomes of our system. There is no quick fix for the real issues.
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. There has been no political will to fix the mess for the last two decades. The Productivity Commission believes that we should import those with the skills our economy needs, and that our children can look after the tourists.
I don't think he means "the science skills our economy needs."
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