“Academic freedom is betrayed when politicians seek to shape the way universities exercise their functions,” writes Emeritus Professor Alison Jones. (Photo supplied)
The University of Auckland has abandoned its proposed compulsory courses for first year students.
Emeritus Professor Alison Jones is one of those who led the development of the courses.
She writes here that the decision is politically-motivated and a betrayal of academic freedom.
The University of Auckland’s Council majority decision not to support Waipapa Taumata Rau courses as a requirement for students in their first year of study is both disappointing and alarming.
The politically-motivated pushback against the university’s curriculum decisions is part of a wider battle being fought across all western democracies. In our homegrown version of a culture war, individual freedom is pitted against the wider social good.
One of the latest skirmishes concerns the Waipapa Taumata Rau courses developed for first-year students in each of the faculties of the university. The critics of the courses loudly deplore the idea that they would be compulsory.
Yet teachers and researchers at all levels of education and schooling have always made decisions about what students have to learn. We demand nothing less of our educators. Further, we fund our schools and universities to contribute to social responsibility — we expect them to educate all citizens to participate positively in the complex business of maintaining social order and advancing community wellbeing.
The idea that people educated in this country should devote a small fraction of their undergraduate study to understanding our history and its relevance to all citizens today ought to be unremarkable. Yet the introduction of the courses has excited furious responses, many of them misinformed or misleading or both.
The university, required by law to act as a critic and conscience of society, has traditionally enjoyed academic independence so that curriculum decisions aren’t dictated by political interests. That freedom is betrayed when politicians seek to shape the way universities exercise their functions.
The minority ACT Party has been notably vocal in the most recent attempt to interfere in the university’s curriculum decisions. Its tertiary education spokesperson, Parmjeet Parmar, enthusiastically promoted a petition against the courses. The party leader, David Seymour, rather extravagantly celebrated a “massive victory for the people” when university leaders backed the plan to make Waipapa Taumata Rau courses optional. Advocates for the Free Speech Union cheered in chorus.
Amid this noisy tumult, many salient facts have been drowned out. Waipapa Taumata Rau comprises five different courses, developed with an innovative and remarkable unity of purpose. Dozens of academics in disciplinary fields ranging from engineering and business, to medicine and arts, came together for three solid years to decide how best to introduce first-year students to their specific areas of study.
The courses covered study skills and basic information related to the nature of knowledge, as well as an introduction to the subjects taught in the students’ chosen faculties. It was determined that the courses should include a high-quality, historically accurate account of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its relevance to all of us.
So, in a typical undergraduate programme of 24 courses, about 10 percent of one course would contain a shared module of factual Treaty-related material to ensure cross-faculty consistency.
The courses were the fruit of wide consultation with university leaders, academics, students and professional staff, as the university sought to adapt its curriculum to the demands of the contemporary workforce and modern citizenship.
New Zealand businesses, industries and professions want employees who are knowledgeable about our history, including the Treaty. International students are keen to know about the Treaty. To be good citizens requires us all to accurately understand our history.
As our pre-eminent educational institution, the University of Auckland can and should show courageous intellectual leadership. Inflammatory, politically-motivated rhetoric has no place here.
Emeritus Professor Alison Jones, a Pākehā born in Auckland, co-teaches with a colleague from Te Whānau-ā-Apanui introductory Māori language, history and culture courses for non-Māori at Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland. She is the author of This Pākehā Life: An Unsettled Memoir (BWB, 2020)
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Kia ora,
The heading “A betrayal of Academic Freedom” seems in contradiction to the fact that the proposed course was going to be compulsory!
I thought that making the proposed Taumata Rau course compulsory was unfortunate and tactless. Unfortunate because its rejection has tainted a valuable opportunity. Tactless because it is obvious that forcing this course on reluctant students would be a “red rag to a bull”. This has given the “right wing” the opportunity to “bash” the “woke” university and play on peoples fears wrt Māori.
Rather than compulsion, why not give the course elevated status and worth so that its is attractive to have on one’s university record. Had I the chance to do such a course I would seize it. However, we didn’t have such an opportunity 58 years ago!
It’s these sorts of missteps that play into the hands of the current coalition. I dread the prospect of another term of them.
I agree with the sentiments voiced here and very much hope that this remains a skirmish, not a victory for the benighted right.
I hope that lecturers at U of A will continue to include the goals, concepts, content and issues of Waipapa Taumata Rau in their individual courses, so the students don’t miss out on this highly relevant input. It will undoubtedly be important in their future careers. Staff could support each other in these endeavours.
He taonga tuku iho!