Abstract:
Six decades ago, after World War 2, many Pacific families migrated to Aotearoa, leaving
behind their families, lands, villages and traditional ways, but migrating with commitment and aspirations for their children to have an education that would lead to better employment and a positive future. However, the children of many of these Pacific migrants have experienced underachievement in the education system, the realities of which can result in poverty, low-paid jobs, high unemployment, poor health, a high incidence of youth suicide and poor housing.
This paper is about ‘talatalaina ole upega lavelave’, the untangling of the ‘tangled net’ of the issues that so adversely affect children and their families. It captures the theme of ‘education research in a changing world’ in terms of shifting leaders and educators’ thinking to bring about effective educational changes to improve Pacific learners’ educational outcomes.
My interest in educational leadership combined with my Indigenous Samoan leadership and epistemology inspired my research. A considerable body of research shows that effective leadership is a catalyst for influencing schools making changes that turn low student achievement into achievement. The shaping of a new research framework known as the Soalaupulega Samoa Research Methodology (SSRM) is a response to my research to understand the qualities of effective school leaders for the educational success of Pacific learners. SSRM is developed from Soalaupulega Samoan epistemological approach which is focused on ‘betterment outcomes’ for the village within a strongly united community with educational leadership. This contributes to education research in a changing world.
This paper will outline how Soalaupulega Samoa Research Methodology call for ‘Dialogue’ to discuss Indigenous Pacific research methodologies informed by Pacific epistemologies. It comes within a context of Pacific research models that have been developed during recent decades, in part, as a resistance movement to hegemonic colonial practices and the domination of western research.
“Pacific parents, families and communities continue to be part of the art of ‘lei-making’ and ‘fala (mat) weaving’ because they want their children to be a critical part of the fabric of society. They want their children to be connected to an education system that genuinely cares about their educational needs and aspirations, that value their identities, languages and cultures, that guarantees their sense of belonging. They want to see a discourse that recognises what they know of their children, namely that they are not children at ‘risk’ but competent learners and learners of promise” (Taleni, 2023, pp. 56-57).
behind their families, lands, villages and traditional ways, but migrating with commitment and aspirations for their children to have an education that would lead to better employment and a positive future. However, the children of many of these Pacific migrants have experienced underachievement in the education system, the realities of which can result in poverty, low-paid jobs, high unemployment, poor health, a high incidence of youth suicide and poor housing.
This paper is about ‘talatalaina ole upega lavelave’, the untangling of the ‘tangled net’ of the issues that so adversely affect children and their families. It captures the theme of ‘education research in a changing world’ in terms of shifting leaders and educators’ thinking to bring about effective educational changes to improve Pacific learners’ educational outcomes.
My interest in educational leadership combined with my Indigenous Samoan leadership and epistemology inspired my research. A considerable body of research shows that effective leadership is a catalyst for influencing schools making changes that turn low student achievement into achievement. The shaping of a new research framework known as the Soalaupulega Samoa Research Methodology (SSRM) is a response to my research to understand the qualities of effective school leaders for the educational success of Pacific learners. SSRM is developed from Soalaupulega Samoan epistemological approach which is focused on ‘betterment outcomes’ for the village within a strongly united community with educational leadership. This contributes to education research in a changing world.
This paper will outline how Soalaupulega Samoa Research Methodology call for ‘Dialogue’ to discuss Indigenous Pacific research methodologies informed by Pacific epistemologies. It comes within a context of Pacific research models that have been developed during recent decades, in part, as a resistance movement to hegemonic colonial practices and the domination of western research.
“Pacific parents, families and communities continue to be part of the art of ‘lei-making’ and ‘fala (mat) weaving’ because they want their children to be a critical part of the fabric of society. They want their children to be connected to an education system that genuinely cares about their educational needs and aspirations, that value their identities, languages and cultures, that guarantees their sense of belonging. They want to see a discourse that recognises what they know of their children, namely that they are not children at ‘risk’ but competent learners and learners of promise” (Taleni, 2023, pp. 56-57).