title: Henri Lefebvre on education: Critique and pedagogy

authors: Middleton, Sue

subjects: Henri Lefebvre

abstract: The ‘spatial turn’ in education policy studies fuelled interest in Lefebvre’s work: initially, in his work Production of Space and, more recently, Rhythmanalysis and Right to the City. Yet, although in these texts Lefebvre critiques universities and schools and introduces original pedagogical concepts, their educational strands have attracted little attention. Lefebvre’s other works available in English have been largely overlooked in education literature. As France’s first Professor of Sociology, Lefebvre was passionately engaged with education: in particular, teaching, competing for government grants and leading student activism. Critiques of education are threaded through Lefebvre’s three-volume Critique of Everyday Life, his writings on architecture and anthologies. Lefebvre’s work, The Explosion, is surprisingly neglected. A critique of French universities, it analyses student protests across Paris in 1968 – events in which Lefebvre was a leading activist. In geography and philosophy there are burgeoning secondary literatures on Lefebvre. Laying groundwork for such a literature in education, I survey Lefebvre’s references to education in all the works available in English. Arguing that Lefebvre was an educational thinker in his own right, this paper sketches a ‘roadmap’ for educational readings of Lefebvre’s prolific and largely sociological writing. This paper falls into three parts. The first uncovers core Marxist and phenomenological foundations of Lefebvre’s critiques of universities and schools. Building on these, it introduces Lefebvre’s pedagogical concepts. The second part contextualises these in relation to ‘New’ (or ‘Progressive’) education movements at ‘critical moments’ of 20th-century history. It includes a case study of one such moment – the 1968 Parisian student uprising – then outlines Lefebvre’s summation of education in the late 20th century. The third part draws together four ‘Lefebvrian’ pedagogical principles and considers their relevance today. Educational readings of Lefebvre, I suggest, can help educationists identify ‘cracks or interstices’ in ‘technocratic rationality’, suggesting strategies for resisting contemporary neo-liberal regimes.

text: Henri Lefebvre on education: Critique and pedagogy The ‘spatial turn’ in education policy studies fuelled interest in Lefebvre’s work: initially, in his work Production of Space and, more recently, Rhythmanalysis and Right to the City. Yet, although in these texts Lefebvre critiques universities and schools and introduces original pedagogical concepts, their educational strands have attracted little attention. Lefebvre’s other works available in English have been largely overlooked in education literature. As France’s first Professor of Sociology, Lefebvre was passionately engaged with education: in particular, teaching, competing for government grants and leading student activism. Critiques of education are threaded through Lefebvre’s three-volume Critique of Everyday Life, his writings on architecture and anthologies. Lefebvre’s work, The Explosion, is surprisingly neglected. A critique of French universities, it analyses student protests across Paris in 1968 – events in which Lefebvre was a leading activist. In geography and philosophy there are burgeoning secondary literatures on Lefebvre. Laying groundwork for such a literature in education, I survey Lefebvre’s references to education in all the works available in English. Arguing that Lefebvre was an educational thinker in his own right, this paper sketches a ‘roadmap’ for educational readings of Lefebvre’s prolific and largely sociological writing. This paper falls into three parts. The first uncovers core Marxist and phenomenological foundations of Lefebvre’s critiques of universities and schools. Building on these, it introduces Lefebvre’s pedagogical concepts. The second part contextualises these in relation to ‘New’ (or ‘Progressive’) education movements at ‘critical moments’ of 20th-century history. It includes a case study of one such moment – the 1968 Parisian student uprising – then outlines Lefebvre’s summation of education in the late 20th century. The third part draws together four ‘Lefebvrian’ pedagogical principles and considers their relevance today. Educational readings of Lefebvre, I suggest, can help educationists identify ‘cracks or interstices’ in ‘technocratic rationality’, suggesting strategies for resisting contemporary neo-liberal regimes.

year: 2016

title: Geochemical, Spatial, and Temporal Drivers of Microbial Community Heterogeneity in the Meltwater Ponds of Antarctica

authors: Archer, Stephen David James

subjects: microbial

abstract: Antarctic meltwater ponds are an abundant, dynamic and sensitive yet poorly understood ecosystem. In this thesis, bacterial communities from surface waters, the water column and benthic zone in geochemically variable meltwater ponds in the Ross Sea Region of Antarctica were investigated. The primary objective of this research was to provide a detailed description of the community composition and to determine the temporal, geochemical and geomorphological drivers of community structure.
	A coordinated comparable analysis method was used for all samples so that, although separated into the previously mentioned zones, findings could be directly compared across studies. Bacterial community structure between samples was initially investigated by Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis (ARISA) of the 16S rRNA gene which, combined with in-situ collected geochemistry data was used to identify trends requiring high throughput sequencing (454 pyrosequencing of the V5-V6 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene) analysis coupled with nutrient and elemental data.
	A preliminary study in December 2009 compared the water columns of five geochemically distinct ponds. Communities between ponds were distinct, their structure driven primarily by pH and conductivity. One geochemically stratified pond formed distinct surface and bottom clusters with increasing diversity and changes to phyla structure with depth. 
	Temporal and geomorphological (Bratina Island and Miers Valley) drivers of variation in the microbial community structure between the surface waters of 41 ponds were examined. Conductivity was identified as the most significant driver across all ponds for the dominant cosmopolitan community, however trace elements were more significant drivers of community structure for the unique community (those sequences absent in at least one pond). Pronounced variation was identified between December and January samples and although the bacterial components of the community were similar between January 2012 and 2013 the community structure varied significantly. Despite different environments, communities from the Miers Valley were not well differentiated from Bratina Island, suggesting biological exchange between locations.
	The stratified water column of six Bratina Island and two Miers Valley ponds was investigated. Strongly geochemically stratified ponds exhibited a heterogeneous vertical community structure related to conductivity and dissolved oxygen. Variation in community structure was primarily driven by the abundance of a small number of cosmopolitan OTUs that changed with depth. Although the biological constituents were the same, minor variation in community structure was identified within Huey pond between years (2012 and 2013). Variation between Huey pond (Bratina Island) and Morepork pond (Miers Valley) was correlated with variation of iron and mercury concentration.
	Lastly the benthic zone of six ponds from Bratina Island and six from the Miers Valley was examined. The community structure was highly heterogeneous and diverse with 21 phyla identified. No distinction was identified between the two locations with the majority of pyrosequencing reads shared. Potassium, sodium and cobalt were identified as the most significant explanatory variables to the cosmopolitan community and aluminium, uranium and magnesium to the unique community.
	This study has granted an unprecedented understanding of the bacterial communities in the meltwater ponds of the Ross Sea Region. Geochemical inter pond heterogeneity is matched with an equally heterogeneous bacterial communities, primarily driven by conductivity. Although harboring a complex and diverse community the majority is comprised of a small number of shared OTUs across spatial and temporal scales.

text: Geochemical, Spatial, and Temporal Drivers of Microbial Community Heterogeneity in the Meltwater Ponds of Antarctica Antarctic meltwater ponds are an abundant, dynamic and sensitive yet poorly understood ecosystem. In this thesis, bacterial communities from surface waters, the water column and benthic zone in geochemically variable meltwater ponds in the Ross Sea Region of Antarctica were investigated. The primary objective of this research was to provide a detailed description of the community composition and to determine the temporal, geochemical and geomorphological drivers of community structure.
	A coordinated comparable analysis method was used for all samples so that, although separated into the previously mentioned zones, findings could be directly compared across studies. Bacterial community structure between samples was initially investigated by Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis (ARISA) of the 16S rRNA gene which, combined with in-situ collected geochemistry data was used to identify trends requiring high throughput sequencing (454 pyrosequencing of the V5-V6 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene) analysis coupled with nutrient and elemental data.
	A preliminary study in December 2009 compared the water columns of five geochemically distinct ponds. Communities between ponds were distinct, their structure driven primarily by pH and conductivity. One geochemically stratified pond formed distinct surface and bottom clusters with increasing diversity and changes to phyla structure with depth. 
	Temporal and geomorphological (Bratina Island and Miers Valley) drivers of variation in the microbial community structure between the surface waters of 41 ponds were examined. Conductivity was identified as the most significant driver across all ponds for the dominant cosmopolitan community, however trace elements were more significant drivers of community structure for the unique community (those sequences absent in at least one pond). Pronounced variation was identified between December and January samples and although the bacterial components of the community were similar between January 2012 and 2013 the community structure varied significantly. Despite different environments, communities from the Miers Valley were not well differentiated from Bratina Island, suggesting biological exchange between locations.
	The stratified water column of six Bratina Island and two Miers Valley ponds was investigated. Strongly geochemically stratified ponds exhibited a heterogeneous vertical community structure related to conductivity and dissolved oxygen. Variation in community structure was primarily driven by the abundance of a small number of cosmopolitan OTUs that changed with depth. Although the biological constituents were the same, minor variation in community structure was identified within Huey pond between years (2012 and 2013). Variation between Huey pond (Bratina Island) and Morepork pond (Miers Valley) was correlated with variation of iron and mercury concentration.
	Lastly the benthic zone of six ponds from Bratina Island and six from the Miers Valley was examined. The community structure was highly heterogeneous and diverse with 21 phyla identified. No distinction was identified between the two locations with the majority of pyrosequencing reads shared. Potassium, sodium and cobalt were identified as the most significant explanatory variables to the cosmopolitan community and aluminium, uranium and magnesium to the unique community.
	This study has granted an unprecedented understanding of the bacterial communities in the meltwater ponds of the Ross Sea Region. Geochemical inter pond heterogeneity is matched with an equally heterogeneous bacterial communities, primarily driven by conductivity. Although harboring a complex and diverse community the majority is comprised of a small number of shared OTUs across spatial and temporal scales.

year: 2015

title: From mainstream to manaaki: Indigenising our approach to immigration

authors: Kukutai, Tahu

abstract: In recent years, discontent with migration and migrants in the wealthy global north has manifested in disturbing ways: cue Brexit, xenophobia, border paranoia, far-right nationalism and its bedfellow white supremacy. On the surface, Aotearoa New Zealand appears to have escaped the uglier aspects of this nativism. Despite the grumblings of the New Zealand First Party, no serious popular or political anti-immigration movement has appeared, and racially motivated attacks against migrants are relatively rare. This is despite the fact that Aotearoa has a much higher relative foreign-born population share than the United States or United Kingdom,1 and ‘superdiverse’ Auckland – which comprises at least 40 per cent migrants – now has the ignominious claim to being the fourthleast affordable city in the world, far outstripping London and New York.

text: From mainstream to manaaki: Indigenising our approach to immigration In recent years, discontent with migration and migrants in the wealthy global north has manifested in disturbing ways: cue Brexit, xenophobia, border paranoia, far-right nationalism and its bedfellow white supremacy. On the surface, Aotearoa New Zealand appears to have escaped the uglier aspects of this nativism. Despite the grumblings of the New Zealand First Party, no serious popular or political anti-immigration movement has appeared, and racially motivated attacks against migrants are relatively rare. This is despite the fact that Aotearoa has a much higher relative foreign-born population share than the United States or United Kingdom,1 and ‘superdiverse’ Auckland – which comprises at least 40 per cent migrants – now has the ignominious claim to being the fourthleast affordable city in the world, far outstripping London and New York.

year: 2017