2025 Pasifika@Manaiakalani Conference

 'Sui faiga ae tumau fa'avae' – Practices may change, but foundations remain. 

This Samoan proverb truly encapsulates the essence of our recent Pasifika Conference. It highlights how our educational practices are continually evolving, yet our core cultural foundations lasts.

There's something special and magical when Teachers/Practitioners under the umbrella of Pasifika gather. It's has a 'Talanoa Vibe' where the values of 'Ofa (love), Faka’apa’apa (respect), Māfana (warmth), and Mālie (humour – aka hyena laughs!).

The conference began with Dr Rae Silata leading with the 'Va'atele Team' presenting their insightful scientific research and findings on "Creating spaces for Pacific Heritage languages, cultures, and identities." link 

A few things really stood out for me:

1. Valuing Pasifika Learner Capital: It was great to see an increased awareness of current and past projects that truly endorse and support the inherent strengths and knowledge (or "capital") our Pasifika learners bring to the table.

2. Pacific Wayfinding Educational Leadership: The four-phase Pacific Wayfinding Educational Leadership framework was particularly insightful: a) Reading signs: Understanding the current landscape and context. b) Making adjustments: Adapting strategies as needed.  c) Recalibrating: Fine-tuning approaches for optimal outcomes. d) Drawing on multiple knowledge: Leveraging diverse sources of wisdom and information.

3. Valued Knowledge & Pasifika Success: A critical question posed was: Whose knowledge is valued at school? This directly ties into defining what truly constitutes Pasifika success (Siʻilata, 2014).

4. Challenging "Time on Task": The notion that simply giving emergent bilinguals more English instruction from an early age automatically leads to better academic English and school success is a myth. Decades of research on bilingualism, cognition, and language learning prove this approach is misleading. For true success in building English language skills, we must include and leverage their native language.

• Workshop 1: "Our Stories, Our Numbers" presented by Amy & Aina. link  This session explored how maths can be seen in everyday events including fundraisers, church gatherings, or funerals, encouraging our learners to apply a mathematical lens to their authentic activities.

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  Afterwards, we enjoyed a delicious lunch at our local "Tatou Cafe," hosted by "Pay Rise," an organisation that encourages students from Tamaki College in the hospitality program. It was great to see an ex-student from Pt England School!

• Workshop 2: "O se Auala i le Iloa - A Way of Knowing/A Route for Knowledge (or Ideas): A.I." Eseta Setu from AcademyEx spoke about navigating the A.I. wave as wayfinders, embracing new knowledge pathways. link 

• Workshop 3: Nafanuatele from MPP workshop was 'Revitalising Pacific Languages: A Talanoa for Educators' shared crucial facts about our Pacific languages in crisis of dying and how can we grow & sustain our languages.  NZ now has 12 languages that we celebrate throughout the year.  link

A huge thank you and acknowledgment to Andrea Tele'a and the entire team who spearheaded this event – what a success in bringing this vision to fruition! It was truly inspiring to connect with teachers from across Auckland who share the same passion and vision: raising student achievement through culturally responsive practices & digital affordances.  

Look forward to the next Pasifika Manaiakalani Network!  More photos