This paper delves into the innovative use of the potluck, or "pa'ina," as a metaphor to reimagine a research approach aimed at fostering collective understanding between non-Indigenous knowledge seekers and Indigenous knowledge guardians in Indigenous contexts. By embracing the broader context of research, this metaphor strives to create…

Quality education is an often-heard term that has no single meaning. In this paper, we use the metaphor of mat weaving to structure an exploration of various elements that inform quality education. To form the mat, a warp of literature-derived threads is woven with the weft of practitioners' ideas of quality education. These local perspectives…

As theorised by Etienne Wenger, communities of practice are becoming settled as a framework for community engagement within Aotearoa New Zealand schools. In this article, the authors critically analyse the assumptions and inequities that can arise when communities of practice prioritise school values and staff comfort over the priorities of…

This article takes a relational approach to Pacific leadership by presenting three layers of discussion. First, we provide findings from our research team members about the relationships between the Pacific community and school leaders' understandings of leadership. We include accounts of how leaders negotiate in context between forms of…

This paper examines contradictions between Epstein's 2010 US-based model promoting a learner-centred approach to education and a view that schools should uphold iTaukei (Indigenous Fijian) traditions. Epstein's school, family, community partnerships model is discussed with a focus on why it conflicts with the iTaukei traditional setting in rural…

Globally, there are increasing demands to decolonize education. As a result, the integration of Indigenous Knowledges and worldviews into Early Childhood Education has become a pertinent issue. Few studies have examined methodological frameworks for integrating Indigenous Knowledges into early learning in Ghana. This article examined the…

A literature review is generally a compendium of written material on a topic presented as research background. It functions to describe what is known in academic circles and to justify research questions that step beyond the known. A more nuanced approach involves getting "beneath the skin" of the literature itself; considering the…

This article presents an investigation of a "grass roots" understanding of the relationship between ethical leadership in Solomon Islands and access, equity and quality in education. Access to education, a key element of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, is generally an aspirational matter framed by concrete factors such…

Case studies exploring how educational policies can help teachers serve learners disadvantaged through cultural marginalization are urgently needed to inform education systems internationally. The study reported here explored perceptions of Pacific cultural values at the heart of education policy in New Zealand that were intended to improve…

The paper focusses on three aspects of our work with the urban poor: utilization of participatory research methodologies to elicit local knowledge in forms that do not require traditional education; building capacities to create active organized citizenry through catalysing Settlement Improvement Committees, which are representative bodies…

This paper presents a framework for developing citizenship education in the Solomon Islands. By drawing on a qualitative study conducted with 24 students, 20 teachers, and four principals in four rural and urban schools in the Solomon Islands, this study reveals that "wantok"-centred relationships are a unifying symbol that holds the…

In the complex and diverse region of Oceania, researchers often work across more than one cultural understanding. Thus, a researcher's position with regard to their research requires careful ongoing negotiation because position, when understood through relationality, is fluid. Negotiating position requires acute reflexivity of the researcher but…

Western liberal conceptions of democratic citizenship require the state to be "neutral" by separating the political from the social. However, this is often at odds with the realities of socio-political organization in many former colonized countries. In this paper, I draw on empirical data from photo-elicitation interviews with eight…

Sustainable development, like climate change, has become the new rave globally, regionally, and nationally. At the University of the South Pacific (USP), where I work, it is in your face when you open its website: "Excellence and sustainability in higher education". It is also assumed that most people in the world today know what the 17…

This research reports the impact of changes made to an Arts education module in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures within a Bachelor of Education degree, and the learning and experience of pre-service teachers in response to these changes. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music and visual arts making was presented in…