Listener letter on science

On July 24, 2021, in the context of a review of the secondary school curriculum National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA), seven University of Auckland professors and emeriti professors (known informally as the Listener Seven) published a letter titled "In Defence of Science" in the current affairs magazine New Zealand Listener, which generated considerable controversy for claiming indigenous knowledge (or mātauranga Māori) "falls far short of what can be defined as science itself."

Background

In February 2020, the New Zealand Cabinet proposed several changes to the country's secondary school curriculum National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) including according equal status to mātauranga Māori (indigenous knowledge). Key changes have included developing new ways to recognise mātauranga Māori, building teacher capability, and improving resourcing and support for Māori learners and Māori worldview pathways.

In response to a 2021 report from a Government NCEA working group which proposed changes to the Māori school curriculum to ensure mātauranga Māori's parity with Western epistemologies, seven University of Auckland senior academics Kendall Clements, Garth Cooper, Michael Corballis, Doug Elliffe, Robert Nola, Elizabeth Rata, and John Werry penned a letter that was published in the 31 July issue of the New Zealand Listener expressing disagreement with two of the report's assertions:

That science has been used to support the domination of Eurocentric views including colonialism and the suppression of Māori knowledge. (That said, the letter does explicitly state that science "has been used to aid colonisation, as have literature and art".)

The notion that science is a Western European invention and itself evidence of domination over Māori and other indigenous peoples.

The authors argued that science was universal to humanity with origins in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, ancient Greece, and India. They also noted the Muslim world's significant contributions to mathematics, astronomy, and physics; which later passed onto Europe and North America. The authors also asserted that science was neutral rather than a tool of colonialism, highlighting its contributions to tackling global issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation.

While recognising the contributions of indigenous knowledge to culture, public policy and scientific knowledge, the authors contended that it was not science since it did not meet what they regarded as the scientific criteria for "empirical, universal truths." They alleged that placing indigenous knowledge on the same level as science would patronise and fail indigenous populations. Instead, they proposed ensuring that everyone had the opportunity to participate in the world's scientific enterprises.

Investigation

In mid-November 2021, the Royal Society Te Apārangi launched an investigation into two of the Listener letter's co-authors: biological scientist Garth Cooper and philosophy professor Robert Nola, who were fellows of the Royal Society.