Ka hoki atu te pepa nei ki te tohe mō te ‘Pūtaiao Māori’: ko tētahi taha e kī ana ko te Mātauranga Māori tētahi momo pūtaiao taketake nei nō mua mai; ko tērā atu taha e whakahē ana i taua kerēme. Ko ngā taha e rua e kaha whakapono ana ki ā rāua ake tohe, e kaupare ana hoki i ā tērā atu taha. Ki ētahi mātanga, ehara tēnei tohe i te wānanga noa iho nei, ko tētahi tauira ko ngā kaiako pūtaiao o ngā kura e pēhia nei e te haepapa kia eke ā rātou tauira Māori, e mahi nei hoki i raro i ngā kaupapa here o te ao mātauranga kua whakaaweawetia e te whakaaro kia pōwhiritia tēnei mea te ahureatanga ki ngā wāhanga katoa o te marautanga ā-kura.
This paper revisits the ‘Māori science’ debate: on one side, the claim that Mātauranga Māori is a traditional indigenous Māori form of science; on the other, the denial of such a claim. Both sides strongly believe in their arguments and reject those of the other side. This debate is more than simply academic for some practitioners, for example, school science teachers, who are increasingly held responsible for the achievement of their Māori students, and who are working under education policies influenced by ideas of including cultural content in all areas of the school curriculum.