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Mātauranga & Science:
Learnings (& Unlearnings) in
a Local Tertiary Ecosystem
NZAEE 9th Conference, 19.4.18
Dr Ocean Mercier
Te Kawa a Māui / School of Māori Studies
1. Threshold concepts
2. Place-based learning
3. Decolonising ‘methods’
4. ‘TKAM ecosystem’a. Teaching: virtual exchange with Alaska, Te
Kawa a Māui Atlas
b. Research: MBIE, NSC, Ngā Pae
5. Learning and Unlearning
Threshold Concepts…
‘Threshold Concepts’ may be considered to be
“akin to passing through a portal” or
conceptual gateway” that opens up
“previously inaccessible way[s] of thinking
about something”.
Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge:
linkages to ways of thinking and practising. Meyer
and Land (2003)
TCs in Māori Studies
This belief in Māori ways of understanding the world
that do not conform with Western ideologies hs been
criticised in the academy (Webster 1998) but has
nevertheless developed and strengthened over time.
It suggests a potential need for two sets of
threshold concepts for Māori studies, one for the
non-Māori institution and learners and another for
Māori. But…is there an inherent tension between
identifying the threshold concepts (in order to help
Māori studies become more knowable) and the idea
of keeping Māori studies less knowable to those not
meant to know? (Hall et al 2017:101)M Hall, P Adds, M Ross & P Borell, 2017. Understanding the
Uncomfortable kōkako: the challenge of applying threshold concepts in
Māori studies. SOTL 1(1):91-107
Border Crossings
The transition from a student’s life-world into a
science classroom is a cross-cultural
experience for most students… for the vast
majority of students, their movement between
the microculture of their family and the
microculture of school science is not smooth
and often limits their success at science.
Aikenhead and Jegede 1999:271
Western Science Claims
1.Science is the best way to ‘know’
2.Science is ‘Western’ or ‘Euro-American’…
...but there is no such thing as ‘Western science’
3.Science is apolitical
4.Science is objective
5.Science is value-free
6.Science is universally applicable
7.…
Māori have always been scientists !
TCs in Māori Science?
Pinch-points
• Science is acultural and apolitical → “Treaty has
no place in scientific endeavour”
• Mātauranga Māori has limited relevance to
science
• Māori don’t have enough expertise to evaluate
scientific proposals
• “there is no such thing as ‘Māori science’”
• “just myths and legends”
• “calling mātauranga a science demeans it”
Mātauranga Science Research
Environmental science: mauri model (Morgan), GM
(Baker), restoration (Tipa, Harmsworth etc), climate
(Skipper, King, Bargh)
Biology: marine (Wehi et al), neuro (Cheung), animal
(M. Walker; Moller et al)
Physics: astronomy (Mataamua, Harris), maramataka
(Tawhai), geomagnetism of hangi stones (Kinger and
Turner)
Geology: Ngātoroirangi (Hikuroa), tsunami and
tectonics (McFadgen)
Psychology: (Rata), (Te Huia)
Virtual Exchange with
University of Alaska
Fairbanks/AnchorageArchaeological Field
Trips in Poneke
Students building
online Atlas
Cultural Mapping in
Maori Studies
Teaching in TKAM
Mercier, O. R. & Leonard, B. (2018). Indigenous Knowledges and the sciences in global contexts:
Bringing worlds together. In E. McKinley & L. T. Smith (Eds.) Handbook of Indigenous
education. Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. (online version, p. 26).
Learning About and In Place
It was a bit of an eye-opener as well
to see the pa sites in which some
people once inhabited because it
was a whole lot different going
out there standing on top of a cliff
face as opposed to looking at it in
a book. MAOR210 Student
[I learnt about] Māori perspectives on
historical landmarks, perspectives
that aren’t necessarily taught in
mainstream education or society,
little kept secrets that would
otherwise be forgotten. MAOR216
Student.
[I learnt about] the
prevalence of Māori historical
sites and how easy it is to
be unaware of the history of
popular sites. MAOR123
Student
A Learning Ecosystem
[I enjoyed] reading other peoples
representations of Wellington
(& its environs) historical
landmarks – normally you
would only see your own
and I found it fascinating to
see other peoples. MAOR216
student
[I enjoyed] the many significant
places in Wellington with
historical background. From
reading others' work I learnt
about these places.
MAOR123 student.
I believed that we were the
only people who were having
concerns about our people,
our traditions & our
environment. The similarities
are so close that the
indigenous ties were almost
instantaneous. Instead of the
isolation that we experience in
Aotearoa it is exciting to
know our indigenous
brothers & sisters are
available for us & we are
available for them.
MAOR317 Student 2014.
Unlearning
UAA-VUW Online Forum 1 Exchange (Group 3), 2018
Colonising and Decolonising?
Of all the efforts of colonists who
transformed the New Zealand landscape,
those of the land surveyors have been
among the most enduring. Charged with
measuring and marking the soil in
anticipation of European settlement, they
were at the forefront of making new
landscapes, of transforming ‘space’ into
‘place’. (Byrnes 2001:5)
Implications for Learning Ecosystems
If science sees itself as _________, then…
1. the best and only way ‘to know’
2. ‘Western’ or ‘Euro-American’
3.apolitical
4.objective
5.value-free
6.universally applicable…
… it is a colonising epistemology.
Ideal Learning Ecosystems, thus…
1. ... are open to other ways of knowing
2. ... acknowledge and seek out contributions from
‘other’ peoples/cultures
3. ... recognise positionality; not apolitical
4. ... recognise science is one voice, not judge
5. ... identify own values and are open to modify
6. … are connected to local places and people, eg
Aotearoa New Zealand
7. ... see that science has some of the answers,
but not all!
(& Unlearning) …
• ... to decolonise, must recognise the impacts of
colonisation on:
• Places
• Learning institutions
• Minds, beliefs, attitudes (eg Freire 1971)
• The notion of TC’s invites us to identify cognitive
‘pinch points’
• these link with social, cultural, spiritual ‘border
crossings’ and can differ for each person
• → to ensure a happy and functioning social
ecosystem, where might we need to unlearn?
He iti mokoroa
ka hinga pūriri
