title: Overcoming ‘Being’ in Favour of Knowledge: The fixing effect of ‘mātauranga’

authors: Mika, Carl Te Hira

subjects: knowledge

abstract: It is common to hear Māori discuss primordial states of Being, yet in colonisation those very central beliefs are forced into weaker utterances. In this process those utterances merely conform to a colonised agenda. ‘Mātauranga’, a tidy term that overwhelmingly refers to an epistemological knowing of the world, colludes nicely with its English equivalent, ‘knowledge’, to further colonise those core contemplations of Being. Its plausibility relies on an orderly regard of things in the world. In education, historical and current practices of schooling pave the way for things in the world so that they amount to mātauranga for Māori, and even the term ‘ako’ will conspire in its own way. Both Novalis and Heidegger have the ability to identify subtly colonising philosophies, and may even propose some theoretical solutions for Māori.

text: Overcoming ‘Being’ in Favour of Knowledge: The fixing effect of ‘mātauranga’ It is common to hear Māori discuss primordial states of Being, yet in colonisation those very central beliefs are forced into weaker utterances. In this process those utterances merely conform to a colonised agenda. ‘Mātauranga’, a tidy term that overwhelmingly refers to an epistemological knowing of the world, colludes nicely with its English equivalent, ‘knowledge’, to further colonise those core contemplations of Being. Its plausibility relies on an orderly regard of things in the world. In education, historical and current practices of schooling pave the way for things in the world so that they amount to mātauranga for Māori, and even the term ‘ako’ will conspire in its own way. Both Novalis and Heidegger have the ability to identify subtly colonising philosophies, and may even propose some theoretical solutions for Māori.

year: 2012

title: To act or not to act? That is the question!

authors: Bruce Ferguson, Pip

abstract: The year was 2003. I was a new Research Manager working in a Māori tertiary institution that had a history of inequitable treatment by government, through not receiving establishment funding that had gone unproblematically to non-Māori institutions. Repeating a common pattern in New Zealand, our government had decided to implement a research funding scheme, to be measured at the level of the individual academic. My institution’s decision to participate in the PBRF was not without its difficulties, and it is here that the ethics of participation become problematic. This chapter is about our ability to articulate our values, to show how we work these out in our practice, and how we are accountable to ourselves and others for that practice. Would I, with the benefit of hindsight, have encouraged my institution to enter the PBRF again?

text: To act or not to act? That is the question! The year was 2003. I was a new Research Manager working in a Māori tertiary institution that had a history of inequitable treatment by government, through not receiving establishment funding that had gone unproblematically to non-Māori institutions. Repeating a common pattern in New Zealand, our government had decided to implement a research funding scheme, to be measured at the level of the individual academic. My institution’s decision to participate in the PBRF was not without its difficulties, and it is here that the ethics of participation become problematic. This chapter is about our ability to articulate our values, to show how we work these out in our practice, and how we are accountable to ourselves and others for that practice. Would I, with the benefit of hindsight, have encouraged my institution to enter the PBRF again?

year: 2013

title: Deamination and hydrolysis of tertiary systems

authors: Van Der Beeke, Paul Gerard Johan

abstract: This thesis reports the aqueous nitrous acid deamination of two tertiary carbinamines; 2-amino-2-methylpropane and 3-amino-3-methylpentane (at 80°C, pH4). The hydrolysis (at 80°C, pH4) of the two corresponding alkyldimethyl sulphonium salts; dimethyl-(2-methyl-2-propyl) sulphonium perchlorate and dimethyl-(3-methyl-3-pentyl) sulphonium perchlorate, is also reported. A comparison of the two types of reaction (deamination and hydrolysis) shows small but definite differences. Both deaminations produced a greater proportion of elimination than the corresponding hydrolyses. The deamination of 3-amino-3-methylpentane produced lower 2-ene/1-ene and trans/cis ratios than the corresponding hydrolysis. 
It is suggested that the deamination carbocations are short-lived and shielding by the departing nitrogen prevents complete loss of the “excess” energy acquired from the irreversible decomposition of the diazonium ions. The “excess” energy of the deamination product precursors relative to the hydrolysis analogs makes the higher energy product-forming pathways more favourable in deamination than hydrolysis.

text: Deamination and hydrolysis of tertiary systems This thesis reports the aqueous nitrous acid deamination of two tertiary carbinamines; 2-amino-2-methylpropane and 3-amino-3-methylpentane (at 80°C, pH4). The hydrolysis (at 80°C, pH4) of the two corresponding alkyldimethyl sulphonium salts; dimethyl-(2-methyl-2-propyl) sulphonium perchlorate and dimethyl-(3-methyl-3-pentyl) sulphonium perchlorate, is also reported. A comparison of the two types of reaction (deamination and hydrolysis) shows small but definite differences. Both deaminations produced a greater proportion of elimination than the corresponding hydrolyses. The deamination of 3-amino-3-methylpentane produced lower 2-ene/1-ene and trans/cis ratios than the corresponding hydrolysis. 
It is suggested that the deamination carbocations are short-lived and shielding by the departing nitrogen prevents complete loss of the “excess” energy acquired from the irreversible decomposition of the diazonium ions. The “excess” energy of the deamination product precursors relative to the hydrolysis analogs makes the higher energy product-forming pathways more favourable in deamination than hydrolysis.

year: 1980