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Promoting Pacific Indigenous Research Perspectives And Pedagogy Within Postgraduate Health Research Course Development

Authors

Keywords:

Pacific paradigm, Pacific teaching pedagogy, Pacific research, Pacific health

Abstract

Models of health currently provide physical and biological understandings of how human beings behave in terms of, and succumb to, illness or disease. Well-documented Pacific health models have extended such definitions to include holistic considerations such as spirituality, culture and social wellbeing. Within health research, similar shifts have occurred that signal a move away from traditional approaches, e.g., positivist or interpretivist descriptive designs, to approaches that are centred in Pacific worldviews and paradigms. This paper presents the experiences and perspectives of Pacific researchers in the health sector and the impact of these experiences on the delivery of a Pacific health research and design course in a tertiary institution in Aotearoa New Zealand. The paper provides a Pacific-centred health research lens through the discussion of research practices and methods undertaken in health research and the challenges and opportunities for growth. The experiences also highlight opportunities for curriculum development within health faculties in tertiary institutions that move away from traditional Eurocentric models of health to Indigenous Pacific-centric paradigms. The paper provides insight into the challenging spaces that such a move entails and its impact on the delivery of health research education and posits the researcher’s positionality as the catalyst for a shift in approach. The paper focuses on the pedagogical approaches used by Pacific health lecturers and researchers within course development and delivery. These include Talanoa ‘Pacific oral communication’, veiwekani ‘relationship’ and faikava ‘kava circles’ cultural practices within the vā ‘learning space’.

Author Biographies

Radilaite Cammock, Auckland University of Technology | Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau

Radilaite Cammock is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Public Health and Interdisciplinary Studies at Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau | Auckland University of Technology (AUT). She is involved in undergraduate and postgraduate Pacific health and public health teaching within AUT’s Faculty of Health and Environmental Studies. Her research interests lie in Pacific health and more specifically the intersection of shifting sociocultural factors on a range of health issues, including Pacific noncommunicable diseases and sexual and reproductive health. Radilaite currently leads the Health Research Council of New Zealand–funded Food Haven Project as well as the Let’s Talk About It project, focused on the sexual and reproductive health education of Pacific youth. The development of appropriate Pacific research methods and designs is instrumental in her work within Pacific health and public health.

Juliet Boon-Nanai

Juliet Boon-Nanai is an Equity Academic Pasifika Leader within the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences of Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau | Auckland University of Technology. Juliet’s research interests are in sustainable development and curriculum development. Within health, she ensures that any research undertaken with Pacific people is culturally appropriate to ensure quality of living is achieved. In this sense, Pacific methodologies and epistemologies and their theoretical positioning should honour as well as reclaim, revive and revalue traditional knowledges which are robust and rigorous, as reflected in some of her publications.

 

Jean M. Uasike Allen, University of Auckland | Waipapa Taumata Rau

Jean M. Uasike Allen is a Lecturer in the School of Curriculum and Pedagogy and a Research Fellow in the Centre for Arts and Social Transformation within Te Kura Akoranga me Te Tauwhiro Tangata | Faculty of Education and Social Work at Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland. Jean’s previous career was as a primary school teacher, where she taught across all levels, predominantly in the Catholic school sector. Prior to her role at the University of Auckland, she was a Lecture and Programme Coordinator for the BHSc in Public and Environmental Health in the School of Public Health and Interdisciplinary Studies at Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau | Auckland University of Technology. Jean is passionate about her community, and her research centres youth experiences of health, health education and schooling at the intersections of cultural knowledge, family expectations, gender and ethnicity.

Sierra Keung, Auckland University of Technology | Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau

Sierra Keung is currently the Pasifika Strategic Development lead for the School of Sport and Recreation at Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau | Auckland University of Technology. She has worked within the athlete development space across Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia and the USA. Her research projects have focused on athlete talent development, athlete wellbeing, coaching, concussion, sport leadership and youth sport development. She has consulted with sport organisations, primarily New Zealand Rugby League and New Zealand Rugby Union, and sport practitioners. She is a member of the Pacific and Māori in Sport research group and of the Board of Directors for Tavake Pasifika and is the Research and Insights lead for Whānau Tahi USA. Sierra is in the game of building capability and growing capacity within Māori and Pacific community through sport. She is an advocate for creating space for Indigenous thought leadership to support Māori and Pacific athletes, their families and their communities in their need to thrive, regardless of the “field” they play on.

Dion Enari, Auckland University of Technology | Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau

Dion Enari is a lecturer at the School of Sport and Recreation, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences at Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau | Auckland University of Technology. He holds a PhD on Samoan culture from Bond University, Gold Coast, with a Master of International Relations and Lefaoali‘i (high talking chief) title from Lepa, Sāmoa. His research interests include sport management, sport leadership, mental health, Pacific languages, Indigenous studies and transnationalism.

Sione Vaka, Auckland University of Technology | Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau

Sione Vaka hails from the Kingdom of Tonga and migrated to New Zealand in 1999. He has been working in different areas of mental health including acute, crisis services, early interventions, liaison psychiatry and cultural services. Sione’s research interests are mental health, Pacific health, men’s health and youth health. Sione completed his PhD in which he explored meanings of mental distress amongst Tongan people. He is also engaged in numerous community groups and strongly advocates for Pacific worldviews and voices.

Litiuingi ‘Ahio, Auckland University of Technology | Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau

Litiuingi ‘Ahio is from Tonga and is a Public Health Lecturer and Equity Facilitator for Māori and Pacific students within the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences at Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau | Auckland University of Technology. Her area of research focuses on Pacific health and includes exploring the context and perception of food security for Tongans and the use of digital technologies to enhance and maintain Tongan women’s community health and wellbeing in Aotearoa New Zealand. She is currently doing her doctorate on Tongan experiences of living in a nofo ‘a kāinga ‘Tongan family living system’ and managing long-term conditions within the Aotearoa healthcare system. Litiuingi led the development and coordination of the very first undergraduate Pacific health paper within AUT, Fonua Ola Pasifika Health, and is part of the teaching team for the postgraduate Pacific Health Research and Design course that is available to all students at the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences.

El-Shadan Tautolo, Auckland University of Technology | Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau

El-Shadan Tautolo’s primary area of research expertise is the health and well-being of Pacific families and communities in New Zealand. As current Director of the Pacific Islands Families (PIF) study, an ongoing birth cohort study of 1,398 Pacific families, El-Shadan has investigated a diverse range of health and development–related topics encompassing child and maternal health, tobacco control, men’s health and mental wellbeing. He has led and collaborated on research projects funded through the Health Research Council of New Zealand, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the National Science Challenges totalling in excess of NZ$20 million. In addition to his leadership within the university, El-Shadan holds significant leadership roles nationally and internationally within the Pacific health sector and the broader Pacific community. Through his role as Chair of the Health Research Council’s Pacific Health Research Committee, he has contributed to developing initiatives which provide funding to support the advancement of Pacific health researchers, from early career and emerging through to established levels.

Waka Kuaka front cover

Published

2022-01-01

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Issue

Vol. 131 No. 4 (2022): Waka Kuaka | The Journal of the Polynesian Society

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Articles

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The Polynesian Society
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The University of Auckland
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email: m.leenen@auckland.ac.nz