Challenging Epistemic Racism: Incorporating Māori Knowledge into the Aotearoa New Zealand Education System

Type of content
Journal Article
Publisher's DOI/URI
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Publisher
University of Canterbury
Journal Title
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Volume Title
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Date
2018
Authors
Swan, Caitlin
Abstract

The Aotearoa New Zealand education system is based largely on Western knowledge, and, consequently, all other epistemologies are silenced, which results in epistemic racism. Epistemic racism disregards certain peoples’ capacity to produce or learn knowledge, denying their full humanity. To challenge this dehumanisation, researchers argue that Indigenous Māori epistemologies need to be incorporated into the education system as equally valid to Western knowledge. Although little research has been done in this area, several frameworks and initiatives have been developed to integrate Indigenous and Western knowledge. They identify some possible supporting factors including community involvement and the availability of Indigenous knowledge resources. Several challenges are also identified, including how to remove the marginalisation from one knowledge system without subordinating another. Epistemic racism is a complex problem that will require the transformation of our education system. However, the first step is to challenge one’s ideas about what counts as valid knowledge.

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Citation
Keywords
Epistemic racism, Māori knowledge, Indigenous knowledge, knowledge diversity
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Field of Research::13 - Education
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.