Talatalanoa-vā: Indigenising professional development in higher education

Abstract

While Māori (Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand) and Pacific pass rates remain low across Aotearoa New Zealand’s education sectors, focus persists on students changing rather than on whether educators are equipped to engage and support Māori and Pacific students. Many higher education (HE) educators in Aotearoa New Zealand have limited familiarity with Māori and Pacific onto-epistemologies, affecting their embracing of knowledge systems and pedagogies that enable these students’ success. He Vaka Moana Talatalanoa (HVM-Talatalanoa) is a professional development (PD) approach that explores changing educator practice by centring relationality through vā (relational space). We illustrate our approach using qualitative data collected using online talanoa with participants (N = 24). We offer talatalanoa-vā to understand how relational space focused on Māori and Pacific student success supports authentic PD. Our research demonstrates how sustained and authentic engagement and experiential learning can assist HE educators to transform their teaching and learning approaches to improve Indigenous student engagement.

Introduction

Internationally, movements to decolonise, or recognise the continuous presence of colonial power in educational structures, practices, and policies, have a long history. Numerous regional scholars, such as Linda Tuhiwai Smith and Konai Helu Thaman, have described coloniality’s persistent silencing of nonwestern onto-epistemologies and the subsequent impact on Māori and Pacific students’ academic outcomes. Yet, prioritising these groups remains critical as predictions indicate that by 2038, 30% of New Zealand’s (NZ) population will be of Māori and Pacific descent (Stats NZ, 2013).

Despite some recent positive educational outcomes for Māori and Pacific students across the education system, they still comprise a large percentage of students underachieving within formal education, including HE. While decades of NZ national and institutional strategic policies and initiatives expressing aspirations to improve Māori and Pacific learner outcomes, such as the Tertiary Education Strategy 2020–2025 (Tertiary Education Commission, 2019), participation and achievement parity are lacking. Thus, it is worth considering whether settler-colonial institutions make professional development (PD) available to HE educators that includes aspects contributing to actively and authentically decolonising and Indigenising teaching and learning contexts – in our experience, our institution does not. Hayes et al. (2021) argue that ‘reflexivity in decolonising work involves an ongoing critique of the idea of the University, its structures, cultures and practice’ (p. 890), while H. Smith and Wolfgramm-Foliaki (2022) suggest that educators need to authentically engage and incorporate Indigenous knowledges in their teaching to be able to shift their pedagogical approaches.

Decolonise and Indigenise are separate constructs with varying meanings and approaches. To decolonise requires finding ways for ‘new approaches to education that theorize, revitalize, enhance, and produce Indigenous educational experiences that support Indigenous futures’ (L. T. Smith et al., 2018, p. 6), while to Indigenise means to embed Indigenous onto-epistemologies where they are not typical (S. M. Fonua, 2020). In this article, we intentionally use ‘decolonise and Indigenise’ to acknowledge that two processes can occur simultaneously, particularly in contexts where different Indigenous peoples are present. This article describes a PD approach exploring decolonising and Indigenising educator practice by centring relationality through vā (relational space).

Taumu’a

Sonia: I am Pāpālangi (of European ancestry), born and raised in Aotearoa New Zealand, and married to my Tongan husband. ‘Ema: I am Tongan, born and raised in the Kingdom of Tonga. We are both educators at a large HE institution.

We conceptualise our positioning as authors, educators, and researchers through the Tongan word taumu’a (the objectives, aims, or overarching purpose required to deliver successful outcomes). Our shared sense of purpose is underpinned by our cultural beliefs and values, which emphasise collectivity rather than individualism. We strive to counter educational deficits for Māori and Pacific students and argue for the momentum of continual collaboration between people with ancestral ties, family ties, and commitment to Māori and Pacific student success.

Our experience recognises the critical role of Indigenous knowledges and ways of being in the success of both Māori and Pacific students in HE, the heterogeneity of these populations, and the complexity of contesting settler-colonial institutional structures. We emphasise a broad understanding of success rather than focusing on determinants such as school ranking, grades, and preparedness, which contribute to a deficit positioning that has done little to serve Māori and Pacific aspirations for success in HE (S. M. Fonua, 2020). Hence, we foreground a strengths-based approach to celebrate the knowledge and capacities of students and support staff to understand the changes they need to make, rather than expecting students to change (Chu-Fuluifaga, 2022; S. M. Fonua, 2020).

Our work always acknowledges how important relationships are in Māori and Pacific education, particularly the expression and quality of the teacher–student relationship in relation to student academic outcomes, engagement, and achievement (Bishop et al., 2014). Yet, the complexity of determining a quality relationship is influenced by different cultural onto-epistemologies, adding to the difficulty of defining a universal expectation (Thaman, 1998). Thus, because of our Pacific-focused positionalities and lived experiences, we focus on relationality through vā. Vā is a conceptualisation of relational space found in different Pacific countries. Vā is where relationships or interactions occur; the space is never empty but filled by the relationship shared by two entities, each responsible for maintaining balance (Ka‘ili, 2005, p. 89).

Attempting to embed Indigenous relational pedagogies in settler-colonial institutions can be challenging for a range of sociocultural and political reasons. Like others, we found our attempts to decolonise and Indigenise praxis ‘anything but straight forward or uncontested. Working for a plural society – a pluriverse of cosmologies, epistemologies, ontologies, axiologies, cultures, languages, norms and practices – is challenging and hitherto a burden carried only by subaltern and dominated groups’ (Hayes et al., 2021, p. 888). To provide some context and advice for others, we describe measures we took to address the complexities of decolonising and Indigenising in a HE institution, that is initiative ownership, funding, and how attendees justify their time attending. However, a wider discussion of the issues encountered and solutions developed, including who carried the burden, is beyond the scope of this article.

We believe facilitating relationality through vā and collaborative learning should be the basis for any PD focused on Māori and Pacific onto-epistemologies and sharing talatalanoa (ongoing, open conversation) as an appropriate methodology. Talatalanoa informs our facilitation approach, primarily to decolonise and Indigenise how our PD is delivered in our institutional setting. It is imperative to engage and showcase Indigenous onto-epistemologies to authentically equip educators to work with Indigenous concepts, practices, and, ultimately, students.

This article outlines how talatalanoa has enabled collegiality, critical self-reflection, and transformational shifts through our conceptualisation of ‘talatalanoa-vā’, a shared, ongoing relational space for staff interested in understanding and supporting Māori and Pacific student success. To contextualise the development of ‘talatalanoa-vā’, we share the hohoko (origins) of our work next.

He Vaka Moana

The HVM was a project framed by Oceanic principles and methodologies that modelled opportunities to interrogate knowledge systems and engage in continuous decolonisation in education approaches (Wolfgramm-Foliaki & Smith, 2020). Nine ‘fellows’ from across our institution spent 1 year theorising and completing interconnected and faculty-based research projects focused on specific strategic priorities to achieve impact in their context. Fundamental to HVM is the conceptualisation and socialisation of the ancient Tongan metaphor, pikipiki hama kae vaevae manava, which means to lash together the outriggers of vaka (canoe) to share stories and resources and sustain and gain stability before unlashing and continuing purposeful journeys of discovery (Wolfgramm-Foliaki & Smith, 2020). This cultural framing of a relational approach visualises a collectivity that counters the Eurocentric norms of various social and cultural practices of our university.

Lalanga ha kaha’u monu’ia

Sonia’s fellowship centred on ongoing disparities in Māori and Pacific science learners’ achievement in HE by addressing pedagogical approaches in science classrooms that prioritise western knowledges (S. M. Fonua, 2020). Intentionally focusing on shifting staff capacity, Lalanga ha kaha’u monu’ia (Tongan for weaving together for a better future), prioritised educators adjusting their pedagogies for learner success. Through monthly gatherings, Lalanga ha kaha’u monu’ia provided support for non-Indigenous and Indigenous academic and professional staff to explore authentically embedding Indigenous knowledge, values, and culture in their science-focused courses (S. M. Fonua, 2020).

He Vaka Moana Talatalanoa (HVM-Talatalanoa)

The HVM-Talatalanoa, developed from Sonia’s monthly gatherings, has propagated an institution-wide culture of educational innovation, experimentation, and ongoing PD centring Māori and Pacific students. The HVM-Talatalanoa showcases and demystifies what implementing transformational behaviour can look like. Each HVM-Talatalanoa lasts 2 hr, begins with a formal welcome and prayer in Te Reo Māori (Māori language) or a Pacific language, the hohoko of He Vaka Moana and HVM-Talatalanoa, and food is always provided.

The HVM-Talatalanoa began as a one-off showcase, voluntarily attended by 70+ academic and professional staff who signalled a desire for continued opportunities for culturally safe, authentic discussions around Māori and Pacific student success. The HVM-Talatalanoa has since continued quarterly with more than 18 face-to-face sessions to date. Invited speakers share activities and initiatives or their personal journey with respect to Māori and/or Pacific student success. No sessions were held during the COVID-19 lockdowns; our relational approach emphasises in-person experience and connection. Despite requests, there is no option for hybrid sessions or recordings.

The voluntary nature of attendance avoids issues of resistance, performative allyship, and extractive engagement. Numerous people have attended once and not returned; perhaps the absence of an agenda or checklist to follow does not align with their requirements. Regardless, many attendees return regularly. An ongoing issue is how and what to prioritise when HVM-Talatalanoa clashes with their ‘real work’, including other meetings and student needs; in some instances, some staff must justify their attendance to their managers, leaving them vulnerable to that person’s opinion and valuing of HVM-Talatalanoa. In response, we welcome everyone, whether regulars, first-timers, or those who have been absent for months – for us, the value is providing ongoing, immersive PD for the attendees.

Methodology

Grounding this project in Pacific onto-epistemologies is echoed in the use of Pacific research methodologies (PRM) to explore the impact on staff PD through talanoa and focusing on vā. The PRM enables us to continue our decolonising and Indigenising approaches by avoiding colonial research practices, such as interviews. Talanoa methodology involves participants in open, respectful conversations that recognise cultural context and relational ethics (Vaioleti, 2006). We focused on talatalanoa and developing talatalanoa as a PRM. Talatalanoa derives from talanoa (to talk without a set agenda or outcome that is predetermined), a practice familiar to Indigenous peoples; repeating tala (to tell, to story) emphasises an ongoing process (D. Fa’avae, 2019). While talanoa is open conversation, talatalanoa purposefully continues the conversation if something during talanoa becomes important or a priority. Talatalanoa is time-consuming but provides a means to explore critical and complex conversations (D. T. M. Fa’avae & Fonua, 2021), such as what constitutes and enables Māori and Pacific student success. To be successful, talatalanoa emphasises vā, acknowledges Tongan cultural values and principles of ‘faka‘apa‘apa (respect), loto toka‘i (care), and loto fiefoaki (generosity), so we can share our different, similar views and confront oppressive structures with marginalised voices in a mainstream discourse’ (D. T. M. Fa’avae, Tecun, & Siu’ulua, 2022, p. 7).

Researching HVM-Talatalanoa

In 2021, five research talatalanoa were held using Zoom. Regular attendees joined ethnic-specific Zooms: one Māori-only, one Pacific-only, two non-Māori and non-Pacific, and one mixed ethnicity; participants in these Zooms were able to talatalanoa about HVM-Talatalanoa’s cultural impact as a space for sharing, relationships, and PD with respect to Māori and Pacific student success. Ethnic- and nonethnic-specific research talatalanoa allowed participants to select which to join, empowering them to speak freely regarding HVM-Talatalanoa, Māori and Pacific student success, our institution, and HE in general; it was important for participants to feel safe to articulate the reality of their experiences with others who were likely to share similar experiences. A pan-Pacific session was offered to maintain the confidentiality of the stories shared; as separating the Pacific participants into standalone sessions for different Pacific ethnicities such as Tongan, Samoan, and Fijian was avoided because it would increase the risk of identification. This research was conducted under ethics approved by the University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics Committee, Reference Number 020480.

While talanoa and talatalanoa are traditionally face-to-face, the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to conduct our research online. Digital tools have been increasingly explored in Pacific research to determine how they maintain the key elements of PRM (see D. T. M. Fa’avae, Tecun, & Siu’ulua, 2022; Faleolo, 2021), so while our PD initiative is in-person only, online talatalanoa (e-talatalanoa) made sense. Especially as Tielu (2016) suggests, it is possible to be relational in the ‘digital vā’ if relationships have first been established in person, particularly those informed by Indigenous values, cultures, and knowledges.

Audio recordings were professionally transcribed. Prior to transcription, we met with the transcriber to ensure contextual understanding and provide advice around the use of Māori and Pacific languages. For accuracy, the transcriber highlighted areas they were unsure they had captured correctly; then each author double-checked by comparing the recording with the transcript. Excel was used to analyse, categorise, and theme our data using a retroductive approach (Ragin & Amoroso, 2011). Lalanga (to weave or weaving in Tongan) was also used as a methodological approach to unpack and reconsider diverse experiences and articulations to determine connections, interactions, and impacts of HVM-Talatalanoa (S. M. Fonua, 2020; S. Fonua et al., 2025; Veikune et al., 2020), revealing four themes, discussed below.

Results and Discussion

In this section, we illustrate talatalanoa-vā alongside the four themes: the importance of the Tongan metaphor, exposure to diverse cultural ways of being, consistent focus on Māori and Pacific student success, and relationality. The HVM-Talatalanoa has intentionally and actively created space ‘to explore something different, something new and perhaps unrecognisable, but in that process find new areas of negotiation, drawing new meanings and representation’ (Johansson-Fua, 2016, p. 36), which we are framing as talatalanoa-vā, a means for decolonising and Indigenising PD in HE contexts. Each theme is explored below.

The Tongan Metaphor

The pikipiki hama kae vave manava metaphor frames HVM-Talatalanoa, articulating how we can work together and share while maintaining our independence and acknowledging the differentiation of our roles, experiences, understandings, and knowledges. Many participants described the metaphor as key to understanding Indigenous worldviews while in a predominantly non-Indigenous space. For example,

I found [the metaphor] helpful for my work in general. I work with different people, they all have different things going on. It’s recognising that it’s different and it should be different, not standardised, but we can still work together (non-Māori and non-Pacific).

According to Sanga (2013), metaphors help contest the ‘inherited systems of education’ (p. 40). Metaphors are cultural framings providing insight and explanation of unfamiliar concepts with those that are more recognisable (Cornett, 2011); in this instance, collaboration and independence are visualised by the temporary lashing of vaka before unleashing them to continue their journeys. Such conceptualisations help distinguish values and behaviour and create and Indigenise spaces by sharing Pacific ontologies, assisting the sense-making of those unfamiliar with cultural settings, and contributing a diversity to spaces where learning can happen, ‘in HVM-Talatalanoa we understand that lashing together for travelling and sharing, but not all jumping in the same bloody waka (canoe) and sinking it’ (Māori).

Using Indigenous metaphors in our settler-colonial institution enables decolonising and Indigenising work by providing opportunities to share Indigenous voice, knowledge, and wisdom. The Pacific metaphor showcases how ‘metaphorical language is integral to Pacific Island cultures and is part of how people communicate, teach and learn’ (Sanga, 2013, p. 49). This enables non-Pacific peoples to gain a deeper appreciation of Pacific onto-epistemologies, as metaphor can help learners to retain and comprehend novel ideas.

Exposure to Diverse Cultural Ways of Being

Johansson-Fua (2016) describes Motutapu, sacred islands found across the Pacific and considered safe spaces for travellers to rest, as ‘actionable’ and ‘ethical’ hybrid spaces where self-efficacy and awareness can be raised. Motutapu are also where cooperative partnerships between Indigenous people and western institutions can be negotiated. Similarly, HVM-Talatalanoa is purposefully organised to be an active and authentic way for people to be exposed to diverse Indigenous knowledge systems and a safe space for anyone, regardless of ethnicity, to attend and ask questions:

Even though non-Indigenous people come, it’s predominantly an Indigenous space. That’s unusual in this institution; often the spaces are either Māori or Pacific, or when they are Māori and Pacific, they are to meet government KPIs and will still start with a karakia (prayer) and will end up . . . They don’t look any different from any other meeting we go to. [HVM-Talatalanoa] really placed Indigenous ways of being, seeing, and doing at its core, which changed the way that it operated (Māori).

While places for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to congregate and learn are not unusual in HE institutions, key elements of HVM-Talatalanoa make it different. The HVM-Talatalanoa is intentionally not located in or funded by a particular faculty or the central university administration, enabling our sovereignty to determine how it exists, how it is experienced, and by whom. For example, one Māori participant explained, ‘I love that HVM-Talatalanoa is Indigenous led. It’s a space that sits outside our traditional spaces and structures in the university, because it must sit outside the structures, because the university doesn’t allow it to “be”’.

Staff attend HVM-Talatalanoa to listen, ask questions, share food, and connect with others – everyone is welcome, and the invitation to return without any expectations on presenting is reiterated each time. The absence of an ‘ownership’ means we do not have a formal budget to support our provision of food or any other costs; instead, we rely on our networks to find people or organisation units to sponsor our quarterly gatherings. We meet with potential sponsors to explain what their role would be (i.e., to advertise it and encourage staff to attend) and ensure they align with our kaupapa. Sponsorship is acknowledged at the event when thanks are given for the food provided. While this approach is not an easy or straightforward one, it means we maintain sovereignty over the focus of each session and how it runs.

Our only ‘requirement’ for attendance is an interest in Māori and Pacific student success and a commitment to openly experiencing and engaging in a relational space that prioritises Māori and Pacific onto-epistemologies. Aligning with Johansson-Fua (2016)’s conceptualisation of Motutapu supports our aspirations to create space for teachers to develop their cultural capacity and understanding safely, authentically, and at a pace that makes sense to them. In our context, this translates to considering the shifts in teacher practice and understanding as a long-term commitment to behaviour shifts, which take significant time and energy investment rather than being achieved in a 2-hour workshop.

Sonia has previously argued that cultural competence should not be a homogenised process; rather, it should reflect the individual teacher’s positionality and context, resourcing, knowledge, confidence, and style to ensure the outcomes are beneficial for the students they encounter (see S. M. Fonua, 2020; S. Fonua et al., 2025). Our attendees are exposed to an Indigenous space that encourages them to consider their own practice and contexts:

If one person comes into that space and experience, and leaves with one particular disruption, one particular uncomfortable moment, one particular challenge or one particular ‘Aha’ that then just shifts how they might engage with their curricula planning, delivery, how they might conduct themselves in a group, a professional group with their colleagues, how they talk across at somebody else, how they understand those really intrinsic, important spaces of how we roll when [Indigenous people] come together (Māori).

Focus on Māori and Pacific Student Success

The PD for teaching in HE is often irregular, ‘sparse, or inadequate’ (Teräs, 2016, p. 260). Typically, opportunities consist of one-off workshops that focus on teaching educators a particular skill or technique. Unfortunately, such truncated and short-term approaches do not encourage a process of transformation (Mezirow, 1997), resulting in many educators resorting to replicating their own experiences. The tendency for PD to be one-off opportunities further complicates any focus on Māori student and Pacific student success, as it is difficult to workshop cultural values, behaviours, and knowledge authentically (S. M. Fonua, 2020), and isolated workshops fail to make any substantial changes in practice (Tielu, 2016). In contrast, HVM-Talatalanoa engages in long-term growth and transformation with respect to Māori and Pacific student success; there is no end date, as ‘this thing about changing your practice . . . with our colleagues it needs to be a change of mindset, shifting of the mindset, and it takes a while’ (Pacific).

The PD needs to be reflective and collaborative to sustain long-term change in practice (Teräs, 2016). Most HVM-Talatalanoa participants valued the consistent and regular opportunity to gather and connect with a shared focus on Māori and Pacific student success:

HVM-Talatalanoa’s structure makes room for people to do their different things to support the same kaupapa (policy, purpose) or that’s about supporting Māori and Pacific learners, but everyone approaches those things differently, because there’s no checklist, you’re not confined to, ‘Now we have to do X.’ Everyone can do what they’re passionate about, then when you bring everybody together, it all feeds into one kaupapa more richly than if it was more prescriptive (non-Māori and non-Pacific).

Participants stressed the value of HVM-Talatalanoa’s inclusive approach, irrespective of background, ethnicity, discipline, level, or role, for example,

HVM-Talatalanoa is very valuable; it’s the only space or opportunity at the university where it’s open to anyone and everyone. It’s not just for Māori and Pacific staff members . . . It’s a safe environment for people to come and share their knowledge, to listen and learn about Māori and Pasifika cultures or ways of being and knowing and values . . . (Pacific).

While PD around Māori and Pacific student success might typically focus on teaching staff, we expressly welcome nonacademic staff. These staff often interact with Māori and Pacific students and can hold roles that influence and impact their experiences:

It’s our space where we don’t have to justify ourselves . . . Not in a hierarchical way, . . . HVM-Talatalanoa doesn’t care if you’re an academic or professional staff member, a professor, a kaimahi (worker), whatever your role . . . we are [all] committed to Māori and Pacific success (Māori).

The PD of teaching staff in HE can help expose staff to a diversity of teaching approaches. These experiences enable staff to widen their repertoire, diversify their skill set, and broaden their understanding of how teaching and learning can be conceptualised differently (S. M. Fonua, 2020; S. M. Fonua et al., 2022). This increasing ‘sophistication’ can help educators to consider and implement approaches that acknowledge and engage different groups, such as Māori and Pacific students. It is also a way to pikipiki hama (to connect with each other) and to share networks and best practices with interested staff:

I always learn something; I can’t anticipate what before going. I remember one person describing their experiences and thinking what an awesome thing they’re doing. Not just in their practice but standing here and sharing that (Māori).

As there are so many factors to consider when exploring Māori and Pacific student success, we insist on diversifying and dehomogenising peoples’ thinking and providing insights, tools, resources, and relationships in a regular manner to assist them to deepen their understanding, for example,

When you hear our values being conceptualised from a different world lens and a totally different experience, this woman compared it to the relationships in her English village – when other people hear that, then they can see space for themselves to connect as well (Pacific).

Relationality

The regularity of HVM-Talatalanoa has built connections and understanding, strengthened and maintained relationships, and expanded our networks and experiences. Unusually for HE, HVM-Talatalanoa is intentionally focused on more than attendance and participation; we stress the importance of ‘shared philosophies, ethics, morals and now, understanding’ (S. M. Fonua, 2020, p. 56). This benefits all participants, regardless of ethnicity:

HVM-Talatalanoa is a different type of activity . . . It’s creating a culture of living it . . . It feels like a team (non-Māori and non-Pacific).

The visibility of the opportunities that HVM-Talatalanoa provides is important, it gives people the opportunity to make connections (Pacific).

A significant proportion of participants are aligned with faculties grounded in hard science. It is often unusual for there to be any focus on forming relationships in these settings or pedagogies that emphasise relational learning (S. M. Fonua, 2020; S. M. Fonua et al., 2022). The HVM-Talatalanoa creates opportunities to recognise and reflect on the importance of the less empirical elements of relationships; it is often the first time participants have encountered a space underpinned by Pacific values or the concept of vā. Explaining and demonstrating vā within HVM-Talatalanoa provides a framework and tangible experiences that assist participants to understand why relationality is so important for Māori and Pacific student success and to also consider how they might implement relational approaches in their own interactions. Participants found this very useful:

There’s nothing else, a space where we get to have these types of conversations, having these opportunities to disseminate, korero (to tell, speak) through the forum to discuss ideas, to work with each other, are opportunities that didn’t exist in this sort of way before HVM-Talatalanoa (Māori).

Despite contemporary emphasis on hybridity or online meetings, we emphasise HVM-Talatalanoa as a space to be with others and experience vā and do not offer an online option for attendance; this approach had some consequences for relationships during COVID: for example, ‘HVM-Talatalanoa is not a workshop, it’s an experiential space’ (non-Māori/non-Pacific); ‘it’s been unfortunate that COVID has really reduced the number of opportunities for this to happen over the last two years now’ (Pacific).

The Motutapu framework aligns well with the Tongan metaphor and our focus on tauhi vā (nurture the relational space) because it provides the impetus ‘to rest until it is safe to continue their journey’ and come together and share resources (Johansson-Fua, 2016, p. 36). The HVM-Talatalanoa as a Motutapu enables educators ‘to try, to ask, to think and to understand information that they might not otherwise be exposed to or have a place to explore safely’ (S. M. Fonua, 2020, p. 56). Very few of our HE colleagues are Māori or Pacific or from Oceania; these educators can often have a very limited understanding of intercultural relational experience with respect to Māori and Pacific students (S. M. Fonua, 2020). Many staff are uncomfortable admitting they lack expertise, particularly with respect to Māori and Pacific onto-epistemologies:

As a university, we preferentially employ people from overseas. It’s important to have spaces where those people can have PD, at least be aware of Māori and Pacific, our cultures, our values that they probably would not get from their colleagues [as] there’s not many of us (Pacific).

We purposefully select speakers from diverse backgrounds to share stories and experiences that are positive with respect to Māori and Pacific students’ success or where the challenges or deficits are firmly with the educator and what they have learnt. There are multiple benefits in shifting the focus:

HVM-Talatalanoa changes the focus of the narrative of being Māori and Pacific at the university. Most meetings about Māori and Pacific are prefaced by parity gaps – Māori and Pacific achieving lower than European and Asian students, it’s the same old deficit theorising. HVM-Talatalanoa’s strength-based approach refocuses the narrative . . . (Pacific).

We open each HVM-Talatalanoa with a karakia or lotu (Tongan for prayer) and then contextualise the hohoko of HVM-Talatalanoa to ensure attendees feel connected and understand the origins of our work. We begin each session by sharing our positionalities; we tell stories and jokes about our families and what is relevant to our lives at that time to create mālie (celebration) and māfana (emotional warmth). Tauhi vā means to actively sustain and nurture relationships (D. Fa’avae, 2019), which is a critical aspect when considering how teachers are considering how they interact with their Māori and Pacific students. Thus, we model tauhi vā during HVM-Talatalanoa so our attendees can actively learn the importance of relationship building:

It’s about helping our non-Māori and Pasifika colleagues. To give them tools, to create vā. We always talk about vā, but we must show them how to ‘establish’ and ‘build’ vā and maintain vā with our students, is imperative and important in terms of their success (Pacific).

You wanted to create a warmth, and you’ve done that. Certainly, I know from talking to others, coming to HVM-Talatalanoa, it’s a happy space. You feel good when you come, you feel good when you leave, which is nice for meetings (non-Māori and non-Pacific).

The strength of our vā with our HVM-Talatalanoa participants enabled us to meet and conduct our research talatalanoa online:

HVM-Talatalanoa aims to create a warm sense of belonging that builds mālie and māfana. I know we’re talking via Zoom, but I’m feeling this because we have an established relationship (Pacific).

The HVM-Talatalanoa sessions have positively impacted how participants consider their own teaching practice, particularly those participants who are not Māori or Pacific. For example,

[It] helps a lot with my understanding of Māori and Pacific cultures. I’m from the USA . . . It’s building an understanding of this way we can set up a space to make it welcoming. That helped me (non-Māori and non-Pacific).

It’s led to lots of change in how we interact with our students . . . from what we’re learning at [HVM-Talatalanoa] . . . It’s having a direct impact on how we’re teaching in our small groups, too (non-Māori and non-Pacific).

These examples demonstrate tangible ways that attendees have gained understanding and confidence to implement approaches in their teaching and interactions. We believe their confidence to transform their behaviour has been supported by the authenticity of their experiences in HVM-Talatalanoa and the ongoing relationships and friendships. All participants spoke to the importance of having HVM-Talatalanoa and the need to have spaces where this relational and cultural learning can occur:

We need more spaces where non-Māori and Pacific staff can learn; they need safe spaces to be able to discuss and learn from each other about how to connect with Māori and Pacific students, because . . . until we have that critical mass . . . we need to provide that upskilling, that space where [other] staff can learn how to support us (Pacific).

Talatalanoa-vā

Talatalanoa is derived from talanoa, an open conversation about nothing in particular. The repetition of tala emphasises an ongoing conversation which is useful for ‘critical and complex conversations with no expected outcome or solution other than providing a space to openly share [their] thoughts and concerns’ (D. T. M. Fa’avae & Fonua, 2021, p. 84). These conversations are underpinned by Tongan cultural principles that are essential to maintaining vā ethics; these principles ensure different voices, views, and critiques of structures and processes are all heard and include faka‘apa‘apa (respect), loto toka‘i (care), and lotofiefoaki (generosity) (D. T. M. Fa’avae, Tecun, & Siu’ulua, 2022).

D. T. M. Fa’avae et al. (2023) described talanoa-vā as ‘a generative space for Indigenous criticisms that resembles and resonates with sense-making practices outside of academe’ that contributes to decolonising and Indigenising practices (p. 104). As indicated earlier, we focus on talatalanoa rather than talanoa. Like Vaioleti’s (2006) exploration of the types of talanoa to indicate the variation of purpose in specific settings, we suggest talatalanoa-vā as another variant of relational space, a differentiation that articulates the connection to ongoing conversation. The value of highlighting talatalanoa-vā is recognising the ongoing time and commitment to an intentional, purposeful, and continued focus, in this instance, Māori and Pacific student success. It is important to note here that we recognise the importance of acknowledging and supporting tangata whenua and the original projects’ focus on Māori and Pacific success; however, our positionalities lend themselves to a stronger focus and understanding of Pacific issues and needs. As such, the discussion that follows is framed from a ‘Tongan-centred paradigms in which we ground our thinking, articulation and analysis’ of talatalanoa-vā (D. T. M. Fa’avae et al., 2023, p. 106).

Jione Havea’s (2017) work urges scholars to ‘postcolonise now’ using the ‘master’s tools’. In response, we share HVM-Talatalanoa as an example of how to make significant shifts to decolonise and Indigenise teaching and learning settings in HE contexts. One way to ‘disrupt the privileging of the Euro-American-centric gaze and criticisms’ (D. T. M. Fa’avae et al., 2023, p. 104) is to employ the critical potentialities of talanoa-vā and talatalanoa-vā. Furthermore, our institutional experiences inform ways we can dismantle standard approaches to staff PD regarding Pacific students in HE and use the master’s tools to help combat decades of Pacific underachievement. Our experiences with HVM-Talatalanoa have resulted in the flourishing of a relational space connecting those who desire real change in the academic outcomes of their Māori and Pacific students and the opportunity to decolonise and Indigenise their thinking and approaches. Talatalanoa-vā enables us to ‘produce relevant knowledge and possibilities for addressing Pacific issues’ (Vaioleti, 2006, p. 21), which we argue requires time to learn and reflect. Johansson-Fua (2016) emphasised taking time on a journey to reflect, rest, and wait, rather than focusing on the end. This was echoed by the participants: ‘This space is incredibly valuable. There are so few spaces like this . . . it just feels good to be there . . . it felt like a safe and generative space for me to be in, I always left grateful to have come’ (Māori).

Proposing talatalanoa-vā expands our understanding of the diversity and complexity of Indigenous protocols and practices. It contributes to the decolonisation and Indigenisation of the HE context, urged by Havea (2017), by sharing an alternative approach to PD, embedded in a framework that is informed by Indigenous onto-epistemologies, and demonstrating how Indigenous knowledges and ways of being are relevant in the academe. This includes the Tongan metaphor described earlier that conceptualises an alternative way staff can work together and share, as well as the open-ended time frame of HVM-Talatalanoa. In response, participants highlighted how:

HVM-Talatalanoa differentiates from other PD because it’s practical and based on the experiences of colleagues – that’s the best way you can learn. Once you start to see your colleagues engaging with Pacific values in their roles, in their spaces, you begin to appreciate your own practice (Pacific).

The HVM-Talatalanoa has created the opportunity for a thriving community and talatalanoa-vā that resonates with what staff were seeking with respect to PD around Māori and Pacific students, that is, safe, authentic spaces to experience Indigenous customs and protocols in all their complexities and intricacies and a more holistic understanding of Māori and Pacific students. It is not possible to continue to assume that the standard Eurocentric approach to workshops and seminars is appropriate for addressing Pacific student (academic) success. Vaioleti (2006) highlights the dangers of such assumptions when trying to ‘fit traditional thought processes and institutional [research] conventions’ to address Pacific situations (p.23). We argue that decades of attempts to improve Pacific student outcomes have failed because we continue to employ conventional Eurocentric approaches to understanding Pacific onto-epistemologies.

D. Fa’avae (2019) argued that ‘disrupting ingrained thinking is possible when using Tongan or Moana people concepts that allow for deconstructing, re-focusing, and rethinking that is centred on Indigenous views of the world’ (p.6). Talatalanoa-vā enables this by regularly continuing the conversation and connection (since 2018), embodying relationality (relationship building and maintenance) and insisting on authentically shifting educator practice by providing experiential knowledge transfer. The participants often commented on the value of the connections and relationships made during HVM-Talatalanoa:

There’s the community that HVM-Talatalanoa provides, you look around the room and see who will be an ally, who’s interested, who will want to catch up over coffee, to chat about ideas within the space and reflect on some ideas . . . that’s been important to me, to identify coming into this university, who’s somebody that I can chat with (non-Māori/non-Pacific).

Our work is underpinned by the importance of ongoing, supported, collaborative opportunities for staff to be vulnerable, question and critique their knowledge, and truly shift their mindsets and understanding. Rather than using a conventional Eurocentric means to shift practice to improve Māori and Pacific student success, such as a one-off workshop, we actively and purposefully decolonise and Indigenise the PD approach:

It’s a nice space to invest my time . . . talking and listening about issues, matters, suggestions on how to do things better, towards this goal of increasing success for Māori and Pacific, . . . that’s incredible value, I keep returning . . . It’s helped me understand things (non-Māori/non-Pacific).

Conclusion

The HVM-Talatalanoa has become a Motutapu for attendees to learn, reflect, and share how to critique and contest their experiences, beliefs, and knowledge of Māori and Pacific learners in a space that prioritises face-to-face connection. We have offered this as an example of a PD initiative that considers the many layers of learning required to upskill educators to understand a worldview that is often vastly different from their own and the prioritisation of educators to change rather than students. We have also described talatalanoa-vā as an ongoing relational teaching and learning space for staff PD with respect to Māori and Pacific student success in HE, creating a supported opportunity to shift responsibility for learning and critical reflection onto staff. Rather than the standard Eurocentric workshop or seminar approach, our HVM-Talatalanoa has created a thriving talatalanoa-vā, a learning space that successfully weaves Indigenous onto-epistemologies into staff PD experiences, providing the opportunity to develop understanding of Māori and Pacific cultures, values, and knowledges genuinely, authentically, and actively over time.

As a methodology, talatalanoa has enabled our continued exploration of a focused discussion on Māori and Pacific student success in our institution. Attendees have experienced genuine learning, authentic teaching development, and critical self-reflection while immersed in a culturally informed space. Our research demonstrates how our participants value connecting and working collaboratively within the rich knowledge and imagery of a Tongan metaphor, ongoing exposure to Māori and Pacific ways of being within a safe, relational space focused only on Māori and Pacific student success.

Our HVM-Talatalanoa reimagines settler-colonial education spaces to showcase the complexity, nuances, and depth of Māori and Pacific worldviews. Inherent in these worldviews is the importance of relationships and relationality, hence our articulation of talatalanoa-vā as a framework to decolonise and Indigenise teaching and learning in HE settings. A focus on relationality often runs counter to the experiences of many HE educators and the prioritisation of individualism in academic culture. Our participants have highlighted the importance of the connections they have made and their ability to ‘rest’ in HVM-Talatalanoa as Motutapu and the value of talatalanoa-vā. There is inherent value in offering spaces that elevate cultures, values, and knowledge that are usually absent from PD in HE, particularly if students from those cultures continue to underachieve in such systems. Critical examination of PD around Māori and Pacific student success suggests that we must privilege paradigms that recognise the importance of relationality and tauhi vā when upskilling staff to engage with Indigenous students and their worldviews. Understanding how to genuinely contribute to shifts in HE that will benefit Māori and Pacific students requires multiple layers of learning, beyond what can be achieved in a workshop; it must be a process that is intentional, purposeful and ongoing, such as talatalanoa-vā.