title: The politics of being an educational researcher: minimising the harm done by research.

authors: Thrupp, Martin

subjects: research

abstract: Researchers have an obligation to reflect on the politics of their research and of whose interests it serves in order to take steps to minimise it being used in damaging ways. This article uses the problem of the "politics of blame"-- the way governments attempt to construct student or institutional "underperformance" or "failure" as the clear responsibility of schools and teachers--to illustrate the importance of researchers stepping back from specific research agendas to consider the overall positioning of their research. The case of the politics of blame illustrates the importance of researchers taking an independent stance rather than being steered too much by what is fashionable to research or what has political support from government. The article makes some suggestions about how researchers can take steps to pre-empt their research being used in damaging ways.

text: The politics of being an educational researcher: minimising the harm done by research. Researchers have an obligation to reflect on the politics of their research and of whose interests it serves in order to take steps to minimise it being used in damaging ways. This article uses the problem of the "politics of blame"-- the way governments attempt to construct student or institutional "underperformance" or "failure" as the clear responsibility of schools and teachers--to illustrate the importance of researchers stepping back from specific research agendas to consider the overall positioning of their research. The case of the politics of blame illustrates the importance of researchers taking an independent stance rather than being steered too much by what is fashionable to research or what has political support from government. The article makes some suggestions about how researchers can take steps to pre-empt their research being used in damaging ways.

year: 2010

title: Tensile properties of ovine skeletal muscle fibres: Thermal denaturation and selective removal of titin.

authors: Marsh, Julie May

abstract: The stiffness of chemically skinned single ovine skeletal psoas major muscle fibres is affected by many post-mortem events. These same events produce highly variable eating quality attributes in whole meat. This thesis focuses on three aspects of these events; sarcomere length, titin degradation and heat. Each of these factors was experimentally manipulated in vitro and the effect on the stiffness of single muscle fibres was measured. A technique was developed to apply strain to the fibre while recording the corresponding stress output. To study the effect of sarcomere length on single fibre stiffness before and after heating to 80°C (cooking), each fibre was set to one of six sarcomere lengths; 1.6, 1.8, 2.1, 2.7, 3.0, and 4.2 μm. Oscillations of 5 Hz were designed to stretch each fibre by 5 nm/half sarcomere. At sarcomere lengths below resting length (2.1 μm), the stiffness of uncooked fibres remained relatively unchanged, but appeared to increase in cooked fibres in proportion to the sarcomere length prior to cooking. The effect of selective titin degradation on the structural characteristics of single fibres, before and after cooking, was also examined using a low concentration of trypsin to selectively digest titin. The stiffness of raw fibres was unaffected by titin removal, but heating to 80°C caused significant changes in the stiffness of trypsintreated fibres. Two fixed sarcomere lengths were subsequently used to demonstrate the temperature dependence of fibre stiffness; l.6μm and 2.lμm. Although the fibre stiffness response at both sarcomere lengths was similar during heating, when the temperature was reduced from 80°C the response of fibres with a sarcomere length of 2.1 μm exhibited lower stiffness responses to each temperature than fibres with a sarcomere length of 1.6 μm. The length of the I-band appears to be important, especially after cooking. As shown in Chapter 2, the length of the I-band contributed to the final stiffness of the thermally denatured fibres, independent of the number of cross-bridges that had formed prior to cooking. As the I-band increased in length in the raw state, the more compliant the fibres became after cooking. This thesis provides information on, and a better understanding of, the structural and mechanical properties of single muscle fibres as a result of three different postmortem factors. Understanding how these factors affect the meat on a cellular level can help us to better control the environmental and postmortem influences on whole meat quality.

text: Tensile properties of ovine skeletal muscle fibres: Thermal denaturation and selective removal of titin. The stiffness of chemically skinned single ovine skeletal psoas major muscle fibres is affected by many post-mortem events. These same events produce highly variable eating quality attributes in whole meat. This thesis focuses on three aspects of these events; sarcomere length, titin degradation and heat. Each of these factors was experimentally manipulated in vitro and the effect on the stiffness of single muscle fibres was measured. A technique was developed to apply strain to the fibre while recording the corresponding stress output. To study the effect of sarcomere length on single fibre stiffness before and after heating to 80°C (cooking), each fibre was set to one of six sarcomere lengths; 1.6, 1.8, 2.1, 2.7, 3.0, and 4.2 μm. Oscillations of 5 Hz were designed to stretch each fibre by 5 nm/half sarcomere. At sarcomere lengths below resting length (2.1 μm), the stiffness of uncooked fibres remained relatively unchanged, but appeared to increase in cooked fibres in proportion to the sarcomere length prior to cooking. The effect of selective titin degradation on the structural characteristics of single fibres, before and after cooking, was also examined using a low concentration of trypsin to selectively digest titin. The stiffness of raw fibres was unaffected by titin removal, but heating to 80°C caused significant changes in the stiffness of trypsintreated fibres. Two fixed sarcomere lengths were subsequently used to demonstrate the temperature dependence of fibre stiffness; l.6μm and 2.lμm. Although the fibre stiffness response at both sarcomere lengths was similar during heating, when the temperature was reduced from 80°C the response of fibres with a sarcomere length of 2.1 μm exhibited lower stiffness responses to each temperature than fibres with a sarcomere length of 1.6 μm. The length of the I-band appears to be important, especially after cooking. As shown in Chapter 2, the length of the I-band contributed to the final stiffness of the thermally denatured fibres, independent of the number of cross-bridges that had formed prior to cooking. As the I-band increased in length in the raw state, the more compliant the fibres became after cooking. This thesis provides information on, and a better understanding of, the structural and mechanical properties of single muscle fibres as a result of three different postmortem factors. Understanding how these factors affect the meat on a cellular level can help us to better control the environmental and postmortem influences on whole meat quality.

year: 2005

title: Institutional Racism and the Dynamics of Privilege in Public Health

authors: Came, Heather

subjects: Institutional racism

abstract: Institutional racism, a pattern of differential access to material resources and power determined by race, advantages one sector of the population while disadvantaging another. Such racism is not only about conspicuous acts of violence but can be carried in the hold of mono-cultural perspectives. Overt state violation of principles contributes to the backdrop against which much less overt yet insidious violations occur. New Zealand health policy is one such mono-cultural domain. It is dominated by western bio-medical discourses that preclude and under-value Māori,  the indigenous peoples of this land, in the conceptualisation, structure, content, and processes of health policies, despite Te Tiriti o Waitangi  guarantees to protect Māori interests.

Since the 1980s, the Department of Health has committed to honouring the Treaty of Waitangi as the founding document of Māori-settler relationships and governance arrangements. Subsequent Waitangi Tribunal reports, produced by an independent Commission of Inquiry have documented the often-illegal actions of successive governments advancing the interests of Pākehā  at the expense of Māori. Institutional controls have not prevented inequities between Māori and non-Māori across a plethora of social and economic indicators.

Activist scholars work to expose and transform perceived inequities. My research interest lies in how Crown Ministers and officials within the public health sector practice institutional racism and privilege and how it can be transformed. Through dialogue with Māori working within the health sector, fuelled by critical analysis and strategic advice from a research whānau (family) of Māori health leaders and a Pākehā Tiriti worker, and embracing the traditions of feminist and critical race theory  I provide evidence of racism that can invoke strong emotional reactions. More disturbing is its normalisation to nigh imperceptibility within ones personal and professional life. The exposure of racism as a socially created phenomenon is a strength of the research presented here. 

My action orientation is my ethical response. Honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi is a pathway to transforming racism. Such change is likely to be resisted by the Pākehā majority. This anticipated resistance is not a credible reason to weaken responsibility for such necessary change. Transforming institutional racism needs to be driven by senior managers, professional bodies, unions, and by communities. Policies, practices and leadership that enable institutional racism need to be systematically eliminated from the health sector. Crown officials must be supported to strengthen their professional accountabilities and to embrace ethical bicultural practice. Greater transparency could enable more effective monitoring of Crown behaviour and support transformed practice.

text: Institutional Racism and the Dynamics of Privilege in Public Health Institutional racism, a pattern of differential access to material resources and power determined by race, advantages one sector of the population while disadvantaging another. Such racism is not only about conspicuous acts of violence but can be carried in the hold of mono-cultural perspectives. Overt state violation of principles contributes to the backdrop against which much less overt yet insidious violations occur. New Zealand health policy is one such mono-cultural domain. It is dominated by western bio-medical discourses that preclude and under-value Māori,  the indigenous peoples of this land, in the conceptualisation, structure, content, and processes of health policies, despite Te Tiriti o Waitangi  guarantees to protect Māori interests.

Since the 1980s, the Department of Health has committed to honouring the Treaty of Waitangi as the founding document of Māori-settler relationships and governance arrangements. Subsequent Waitangi Tribunal reports, produced by an independent Commission of Inquiry have documented the often-illegal actions of successive governments advancing the interests of Pākehā  at the expense of Māori. Institutional controls have not prevented inequities between Māori and non-Māori across a plethora of social and economic indicators.

Activist scholars work to expose and transform perceived inequities. My research interest lies in how Crown Ministers and officials within the public health sector practice institutional racism and privilege and how it can be transformed. Through dialogue with Māori working within the health sector, fuelled by critical analysis and strategic advice from a research whānau (family) of Māori health leaders and a Pākehā Tiriti worker, and embracing the traditions of feminist and critical race theory  I provide evidence of racism that can invoke strong emotional reactions. More disturbing is its normalisation to nigh imperceptibility within ones personal and professional life. The exposure of racism as a socially created phenomenon is a strength of the research presented here. 

My action orientation is my ethical response. Honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi is a pathway to transforming racism. Such change is likely to be resisted by the Pākehā majority. This anticipated resistance is not a credible reason to weaken responsibility for such necessary change. Transforming institutional racism needs to be driven by senior managers, professional bodies, unions, and by communities. Policies, practices and leadership that enable institutional racism need to be systematically eliminated from the health sector. Crown officials must be supported to strengthen their professional accountabilities and to embrace ethical bicultural practice. Greater transparency could enable more effective monitoring of Crown behaviour and support transformed practice.

year: 2012