title: Using biotechnology to develop values discourse in school science

authors: Buntting, Catherine Michelle

abstract: Biotechnology, broadly defined, is the manipulation of living organisms, or parts of living organisms or systems, for specific purposes of benefit to humankind. As such, it has been practiced for centuries—from early domestication of animals and the growing of crops, to the use of micro-organisms for fermentation. However, increasing understanding of living organisms, cells and genetic material has greatly extended the range of biotechnologies that are and will be possible. These more recent advances—frequently associated with genetic technologies—have potential to transform medicine, reduce world wide hunger, and positively alter humankind’s environmental footprint. However, many are values-laden and therefore controversial, and even divisive. For example, the creation of the world’s first human-pig embryos was “hailed as a significant first step towards generating human hearts, livers and kidneys from scratch” while at the same time “reignited ethical concerns that have threatened to overshadow the field’s clinical promise” (Devlin, 2017). The use of emerging production, engineering and analytical technologies in the development of pharmaceuticals and neutraceuticals from plants first discovered by indigenous communities was recently called ethnophytotechnology (see de la Parra & Quave, 2017). They raise important issues around ownership and profits, and several international conventions, such as the Nagoya Protocol, provide guidance on how to fairly share profits gleaned from the genetic resources of indigenous people. 
This chapter explores the potential for using learning about biotechnology to help school students develop their scientific literacy, technological literacy, and values discourse. These outcomes are consistent with the current emphasis on STEM education seen at the policy level across many educational jurisdictions, as well as the emphasis on so-called ‘21st century skills’, which often include competencies associated with cultural awareness and social responsibility. Importantly, the overlapping scientific, technological and social dimensions of contemporary biotechnological developments provide rich opportunities for diverse learning pathways to be pursued. Our experience, however, is that the openness resulting from different pathways can be challenging for some teachers, and that structured scaffolds can help provide useful support as they and their students embark on learning in biotechnological contexts.

text: Using biotechnology to develop values discourse in school science Biotechnology, broadly defined, is the manipulation of living organisms, or parts of living organisms or systems, for specific purposes of benefit to humankind. As such, it has been practiced for centuries—from early domestication of animals and the growing of crops, to the use of micro-organisms for fermentation. However, increasing understanding of living organisms, cells and genetic material has greatly extended the range of biotechnologies that are and will be possible. These more recent advances—frequently associated with genetic technologies—have potential to transform medicine, reduce world wide hunger, and positively alter humankind’s environmental footprint. However, many are values-laden and therefore controversial, and even divisive. For example, the creation of the world’s first human-pig embryos was “hailed as a significant first step towards generating human hearts, livers and kidneys from scratch” while at the same time “reignited ethical concerns that have threatened to overshadow the field’s clinical promise” (Devlin, 2017). The use of emerging production, engineering and analytical technologies in the development of pharmaceuticals and neutraceuticals from plants first discovered by indigenous communities was recently called ethnophytotechnology (see de la Parra & Quave, 2017). They raise important issues around ownership and profits, and several international conventions, such as the Nagoya Protocol, provide guidance on how to fairly share profits gleaned from the genetic resources of indigenous people. 
This chapter explores the potential for using learning about biotechnology to help school students develop their scientific literacy, technological literacy, and values discourse. These outcomes are consistent with the current emphasis on STEM education seen at the policy level across many educational jurisdictions, as well as the emphasis on so-called ‘21st century skills’, which often include competencies associated with cultural awareness and social responsibility. Importantly, the overlapping scientific, technological and social dimensions of contemporary biotechnological developments provide rich opportunities for diverse learning pathways to be pursued. Our experience, however, is that the openness resulting from different pathways can be challenging for some teachers, and that structured scaffolds can help provide useful support as they and their students embark on learning in biotechnological contexts.

year: 2020

title: Introduction to the Special Issue: How to educate a nation’s teachers. Debating quality initial teacher education for today and for the future

authors: Cooper, Beverley

abstract: The Teacher Education Forum Aotearoa New Zealand (TEFANZ) was officially launched on 12 July 1999—17 years ago—as the national voice for teacher education in Aotearoa New Zealand. TEFANZ members represent New Zealand Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers who offer programmes at degree or graduate level. Members span the University, Polytechnic, Wānanga, and private sector across ECE, primary, and secondary. This broad constituency provides a rich picture of ITE in Aotearoa New Zealand.

text: Introduction to the Special Issue: How to educate a nation’s teachers. Debating quality initial teacher education for today and for the future The Teacher Education Forum Aotearoa New Zealand (TEFANZ) was officially launched on 12 July 1999—17 years ago—as the national voice for teacher education in Aotearoa New Zealand. TEFANZ members represent New Zealand Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers who offer programmes at degree or graduate level. Members span the University, Polytechnic, Wānanga, and private sector across ECE, primary, and secondary. This broad constituency provides a rich picture of ITE in Aotearoa New Zealand.

year: 2017

title: Kūkupa, koro, and kai: The use of Māori vocabulary items in New Zealand English children's picture books

authors: Daly, Nicola

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: When a linguistic form from one language is used in another language, such words are known as borrowings or loan words (Crystal 2003: 56). The English language is renowned for its large capacity for borrowing and it has been suggested that the growth in internationalism in recent times has led to people seeking new words to indicate their local identity (Crystal 1995; Crystal 2003). Certainly this is the case of New Zealand English, the most distinctive aspect of which is borrowings from te reo Maori (Deverson 1991). In 1984 Deverson estimated that most New Zealanders have a passive knowledge of at least 40-50 borrowed Maori loan words (Deverson 1984). This figure has been recently revised by Macalister to 70-80 such words (20,-,63.). A study of the frequency of Maori loan words in New Zealand English in New Zealand School Journals of the 1960s and 1990s showed an incidence of around 6 words per 1,000 (Macalister 1999). Kennedy and Yamazaki (1999) also found borrowed Maori words at a rate of 6 per thousand words. Macalister (2006b) has examined the use of Maori loan words in New Zealand English across a 150 year period from 1850-2000. He examined a corpus of a little under five and a half million words from three sources: Newspapers, parliamentary debates and School Journals. Across the three sources there was an increase from 3.29 words per 1,000 in 1850 to 8.8 per thousand in 2000. Macalister lists the reasons for this change as including urbanisation of the Maori population between 1945 and 1975, which created more contact; the changing status of the Maori language with the kOhanga reo movement; the establishment of the Maori Language Commission (Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori) and legislation of Maori as an official language of New Zealand in 1987.

text: Kūkupa, koro, and kai: The use of Māori vocabulary items in New Zealand English children's picture books When a linguistic form from one language is used in another language, such words are known as borrowings or loan words (Crystal 2003: 56). The English language is renowned for its large capacity for borrowing and it has been suggested that the growth in internationalism in recent times has led to people seeking new words to indicate their local identity (Crystal 1995; Crystal 2003). Certainly this is the case of New Zealand English, the most distinctive aspect of which is borrowings from te reo Maori (Deverson 1991). In 1984 Deverson estimated that most New Zealanders have a passive knowledge of at least 40-50 borrowed Maori loan words (Deverson 1984). This figure has been recently revised by Macalister to 70-80 such words (20,-,63.). A study of the frequency of Maori loan words in New Zealand English in New Zealand School Journals of the 1960s and 1990s showed an incidence of around 6 words per 1,000 (Macalister 1999). Kennedy and Yamazaki (1999) also found borrowed Maori words at a rate of 6 per thousand words. Macalister (2006b) has examined the use of Maori loan words in New Zealand English across a 150 year period from 1850-2000. He examined a corpus of a little under five and a half million words from three sources: Newspapers, parliamentary debates and School Journals. Across the three sources there was an increase from 3.29 words per 1,000 in 1850 to 8.8 per thousand in 2000. Macalister lists the reasons for this change as including urbanisation of the Maori population between 1945 and 1975, which created more contact; the changing status of the Maori language with the kOhanga reo movement; the establishment of the Maori Language Commission (Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori) and legislation of Maori as an official language of New Zealand in 1987.

year: 2007