“A child educated to be strong in their own identity stands confident in the world”
(Dr Rae Si’ilata)
As part of our Pasifika Initiative, we wanted Pasifika students to have a platform where they would be acknowledged and valued in their cultural ethnicities. According to Turu #1 of the Tapasā, effective teaching pedagogies must first ‘demonstrate awareness of the diverse and ethnic-specific identities, languages and cultures of Pacific Learners’. The plan was to hold a Pasifika student platform which doubled as a launch for the programme.
Planning for the event:
To get to this point, I met our SLT to share the idea who supported our plan. I then met with our Pasifika staff to gage how we would go about organising the meeting. It was important to get their feedback and to have them as a strong part of the journey. Then I needed to inform our students through whanau meetings and whole school assemblies to prepare them for the day. Last but not least, we informed our parents and families through letters and social media posts.
The layout of the day was to enact a Talanoa style environment. We wanted students and staff to feel like we were back in our villages, in an open fale, where no one was above and no-one was below the other, all were equal and all shared the power. We covered the floors with mats (fala). We then put a cover bowl on one side of the auditorium for our Pasifika student leaders to be around and opposite them were going to be our senior leadership team Ms Pamaka and Mr Dunn.
The Event:
On Friday 9th April we held our first ever Pasifika student cultural meeting. The purpose of this cultural platform was launch the initiative and to hear from some of our ex-students who were not back at the college what they’re schooling experience was like.
We began with a prayer and song, then I shared a brief outline of our journey to this point. We then had a performance and each of our three speakers shared their educational stories . Our principal then launched the programme and we concluded with a pray.
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To me this powerful image sums it all up. The feedback from the students was interesting. They wanted to know more about the purpose of the launch and some had never been in a Talanoa environment before. A discussion with some colleagues after the day found that students were taking photos of the event and sharing it out to other schools on social media and asking what was happening. To me, I was in my element and the day would be one of the most significant for me in my teaching career. I know it was the start of an amazing journey for all students and staff involved.
Turu 1.14 Demonstrates understanding that many Pacific learners share multiple heritages, such as inter-Pacific, Māori and non-Pacific, and know the importance of supporting those shared identities, languages and cultures in their educational success and achievement
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