title: Teaching history is talking history

authors: Weston, Rowland

abstract: Like many teachers, my early practice was in equal parts reiteration and  repudiation of the models to which I had been exposed as a student. As a consequence of my own shyness I took great efforts not to place students in uncomfortable positions, particularly with regard to speaking in class. In retrospect, I can appreciate that I did not encourage or provide adequate opportunities for discussion. As I designed and reflected on my own pedagogic initiatives, it became clear that discussion underpinned the learning taking place in all classroom activities. Brookfield and Preskill have thoroughly and perspicaciously enumerated the myriad learning benefits accruing from the use of ―discussion as a way of teaching‖; and I am now convinced that it is integral to the learning process. Thus, I attempt to create a classroom in which students are encouraged to talk and feel comfortable doing so.

text: Teaching history is talking history Like many teachers, my early practice was in equal parts reiteration and  repudiation of the models to which I had been exposed as a student. As a consequence of my own shyness I took great efforts not to place students in uncomfortable positions, particularly with regard to speaking in class. In retrospect, I can appreciate that I did not encourage or provide adequate opportunities for discussion. As I designed and reflected on my own pedagogic initiatives, it became clear that discussion underpinned the learning taking place in all classroom activities. Brookfield and Preskill have thoroughly and perspicaciously enumerated the myriad learning benefits accruing from the use of ―discussion as a way of teaching‖; and I am now convinced that it is integral to the learning process. Thus, I attempt to create a classroom in which students are encouraged to talk and feel comfortable doing so.

year: 2011

title: Challenging the masculinist framing of disaster research

authors: Adams-Hutcheson, Gail

subjects: Social Sciences

abstract: As a touchstone for feminist research, the personal is political sits at the heart of my PhD thesis. The research project began in October 2011, as communities in and around Christchurch (Canterbury) were coping with the impact of both a 7.1 magnitude earthquake 4 September 2010 and a more devastating (to life and architecture) 6.3 magnitude earthquake on 22 February 2011, including thousands of aftershocks (see Wilson 2013). Although I had initially planned to go to Christchurch to research how such a devastating event affected individual households, my feminist politics told me that I should not go. I was not comfortable flying into Christchurch ‘from the outside’ with no direct personal connection to the city nor the disaster. Thus I shifted the focus of the research away from communities in Canterbury toward households relocated to an area where I live, the Waikato region of the North island of Aotearoa New Zealand. Scholars are slowly beginning to acknowledge the powerful politics of (not) seeing disasters as an opportune research possibility (Brun 2009; Gaillard and Gomez 2015; Lund 2012), and I consider this a core strength of a feminist project.

text: Challenging the masculinist framing of disaster research As a touchstone for feminist research, the personal is political sits at the heart of my PhD thesis. The research project began in October 2011, as communities in and around Christchurch (Canterbury) were coping with the impact of both a 7.1 magnitude earthquake 4 September 2010 and a more devastating (to life and architecture) 6.3 magnitude earthquake on 22 February 2011, including thousands of aftershocks (see Wilson 2013). Although I had initially planned to go to Christchurch to research how such a devastating event affected individual households, my feminist politics told me that I should not go. I was not comfortable flying into Christchurch ‘from the outside’ with no direct personal connection to the city nor the disaster. Thus I shifted the focus of the research away from communities in Canterbury toward households relocated to an area where I live, the Waikato region of the North island of Aotearoa New Zealand. Scholars are slowly beginning to acknowledge the powerful politics of (not) seeing disasters as an opportune research possibility (Brun 2009; Gaillard and Gomez 2015; Lund 2012), and I consider this a core strength of a feminist project.

year: 2018

title: Ko Te Kawa Tūpanapana i ngā Hau Tūpua a Tāwhiri-mātea : The validation, revitalisation and enhancement of Māori environment knowledge of weather and climate

authors: Skipper, Apanui Sonny

subjects: Maori Environmental knowledge

abstract: KO TE KAWA TŪPANAPANA I NGĀ HAU TŪPUA A TĀWHIRI-MĀTEA – THE RITUALISTIC FORMS GOVERNING THE SUPERNATURAL WINDS OF TĀWHIRI-MĀTEA
Mankind has always gazed skyward observing the im immense power generated by forked lightning when it strikes the land. The resounding thunder booming across the landscape never failed to capture the awe and imagination of a people. Māori were no different. The legacy of their Polynesian ancestors, who populated most of the Islands of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, the largest ocean on the planet, based on belief, courage, and navigational expertise, honed over many millenia, reached Aotearoa approximately in the 12 century. These highly skilled ancestors from the tropics applied a formalised process of settling a new land. It also required their own weatherlore to be recalibrated to the local conditions, in order to survive in a much harsher, colder climate.

Over the centuries the descendants of these early Polynesian settlers, developed an extensive localised knowledge of weather, climate, and seasonal indicators to accurately predict daily weather, monthly or annual climate conditions. The ongoing lessons learned especially after experiencing a fatality were incorporated into cultural practices of important everyday activities such as ahuwhenua, te mahi hī ika, kohi rongoā, whakaako tamariki, gathering pounamu, whakatū rāhui, and kaitiakitanga, in order to minimise further loss of life.

Formal recognition of these contributions was made at the inaugural Māori Climate Forum in Wellington in 2003, where a number of Māori elders highlighted the importance of giving a greater account of Māori knowledge of environmental change. Among the many priorities identified for research at this forum, an opportunity based on a challenge from a Māori elder led to the development of a pilot project to explore traditional Māori understandings of weather–climate variability and change. 

One of the key outcomes from this work was the identification of Māori environmental indicators to anticipate local weather and climate conditions and thereby manage the risk associated with weather-climate extremes. However, in spite of the work achieved, there remain unanswered questions about the use and ongoing efficacy of environmental indicators to forecast and monitor weather and climate risks, including how new opportunities might be created to promote learning about subtle signals in nature that can reveal much about changes in weather and climate conditions. 

Due to the fact that many of the elders that provided the basis of this thesis have passed away, a great sense of responsibility has remained with me to complete this research. To identify the gaps in the previous research, to ground-truth it, to consolidate and carefully document the level of localised environmental knowledge of weather and climate specifically with iwi from Tainui-Hauraki, Te Whānau-a-Apanui, and Ngāi Tahu. A total of 56 interviews and 17 group wānanga were conducted during 2009-2016. Examples of Māori Environmental Knowledge were also sourced from numerous personal conversations with knowledge holders from 1989-2003, adding to the body of knowledge that was analysed to provide further context. A conceptual framework coined `Ngā Whenu Tapu e Waru’ was created from identifying the key themes of the interviews to inform how Māori Environmental Knowledge was described in the three regions. This study has yielded understandings of wind, rain, thunder, lightning, and cloud classifications; weather and climate indicators; spiritual signs of misfortune and death; memory techniques; longitudinal weather predictions, and lunar calendars in each region.

This thesis is underpinned by a Kaupapa Māori theory and research methodology that links to a body of transformative research and literature conducted by Māori scholars based on the knowledge and experience of tūpuna  Māori. 

Heoti anō rā kei ngā kākahi whakairoiro, kei ngā matataiko, nau piki mai, nau kake mai ki tēnei wānanga nui whakaharahara.

text: Ko Te Kawa Tūpanapana i ngā Hau Tūpua a Tāwhiri-mātea : The validation, revitalisation and enhancement of Māori environment knowledge of weather and climate KO TE KAWA TŪPANAPANA I NGĀ HAU TŪPUA A TĀWHIRI-MĀTEA – THE RITUALISTIC FORMS GOVERNING THE SUPERNATURAL WINDS OF TĀWHIRI-MĀTEA
Mankind has always gazed skyward observing the im immense power generated by forked lightning when it strikes the land. The resounding thunder booming across the landscape never failed to capture the awe and imagination of a people. Māori were no different. The legacy of their Polynesian ancestors, who populated most of the Islands of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, the largest ocean on the planet, based on belief, courage, and navigational expertise, honed over many millenia, reached Aotearoa approximately in the 12 century. These highly skilled ancestors from the tropics applied a formalised process of settling a new land. It also required their own weatherlore to be recalibrated to the local conditions, in order to survive in a much harsher, colder climate.

Over the centuries the descendants of these early Polynesian settlers, developed an extensive localised knowledge of weather, climate, and seasonal indicators to accurately predict daily weather, monthly or annual climate conditions. The ongoing lessons learned especially after experiencing a fatality were incorporated into cultural practices of important everyday activities such as ahuwhenua, te mahi hī ika, kohi rongoā, whakaako tamariki, gathering pounamu, whakatū rāhui, and kaitiakitanga, in order to minimise further loss of life.

Formal recognition of these contributions was made at the inaugural Māori Climate Forum in Wellington in 2003, where a number of Māori elders highlighted the importance of giving a greater account of Māori knowledge of environmental change. Among the many priorities identified for research at this forum, an opportunity based on a challenge from a Māori elder led to the development of a pilot project to explore traditional Māori understandings of weather–climate variability and change. 

One of the key outcomes from this work was the identification of Māori environmental indicators to anticipate local weather and climate conditions and thereby manage the risk associated with weather-climate extremes. However, in spite of the work achieved, there remain unanswered questions about the use and ongoing efficacy of environmental indicators to forecast and monitor weather and climate risks, including how new opportunities might be created to promote learning about subtle signals in nature that can reveal much about changes in weather and climate conditions. 

Due to the fact that many of the elders that provided the basis of this thesis have passed away, a great sense of responsibility has remained with me to complete this research. To identify the gaps in the previous research, to ground-truth it, to consolidate and carefully document the level of localised environmental knowledge of weather and climate specifically with iwi from Tainui-Hauraki, Te Whānau-a-Apanui, and Ngāi Tahu. A total of 56 interviews and 17 group wānanga were conducted during 2009-2016. Examples of Māori Environmental Knowledge were also sourced from numerous personal conversations with knowledge holders from 1989-2003, adding to the body of knowledge that was analysed to provide further context. A conceptual framework coined `Ngā Whenu Tapu e Waru’ was created from identifying the key themes of the interviews to inform how Māori Environmental Knowledge was described in the three regions. This study has yielded understandings of wind, rain, thunder, lightning, and cloud classifications; weather and climate indicators; spiritual signs of misfortune and death; memory techniques; longitudinal weather predictions, and lunar calendars in each region.

This thesis is underpinned by a Kaupapa Māori theory and research methodology that links to a body of transformative research and literature conducted by Māori scholars based on the knowledge and experience of tūpuna  Māori. 

Heoti anō rā kei ngā kākahi whakairoiro, kei ngā matataiko, nau piki mai, nau kake mai ki tēnei wānanga nui whakaharahara.

year: 2020