Pasifika learners -- Relational teaching

The notion of Pasifika as a collective term refers to people of Melanesian, Micronesian and Polynesian descent. It is an essentialisation and over-simplification of difference used by some teacher to bypass the complexities of forming real relationships with individual students and it helps them talk about their students in terms of categories rather than seek authentic student voice. Any racial group considered the "Other" falls prey to the same issues. Indeed, the term "Asian" includes cultural heritages that range from Indian to Chinese to Indonesian cultures with religious world views that include Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam. I am sure people who are called Pasifika, also find themselves squeamish under this broad label of Pasifika. 

Yet, reading the material on Pacifica students resonates with me because I feel that there is a generation of migrant children who have grown up in New Zealand and who face similar problems resulting from the fact that they are "Third Culture" kids. Regardless of cultural heritage, they are able to connect with other children who are considered "other" in a country they consider home, because the disconnect and opportunities they face are similar in some ways. This I think is the main flaw of only thinking in terms of Pacifica learning. 

With that elephant out of the way in the room, I have found this talk by Helen Varney really helpful. It helps me connect the dots as I relate to real students from Samoa, Tonga and Kiribati in my classroom. This video helped introduce me to the key issues involved in teaching Pacifica students. These are some screenshots of the video, I took that summarise key ideas from her talk. 

Then I discovered Karlo Mila as a poet and researcher so so good..........