Colonial systems, values and worldviews create inequity

Current educational curricula don't adequately represent Pacific cultures, languages, and histories. There is an overemphasis on Western-centric learning, much of which doesn’t complement Pacific pedagogies; and a lack of culturally-authentic teaching. We can address this by prioritising the development and implementation of culturally-inclusive teaching practices.

The ways that Tagata o le Moana are affected by colonial systems, values and worldviews are presented in the following themes:

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Discrimination 

• Address and eliminate racism in education.
• Limited Pacific cultural representation and recognition. 
• Professional development and training are needed to foster cultural competency.

Funding and resources

• Lack of support systems tailored for Pacific ākonga, including barriers like limited culturally-relevant educational resources and schools that are generally under-resourced.

Colonialism 

• Current educational curricula don't adequately represent Pacific cultures, languages, and histories. 
• Western-centric learning is not relevant to Pacific pedagogies.
• Lack of culturally-authentic teaching: needs to be culturally inclusive and foster a sense of identity and belonging.

Deficit-focus and stereotyping

• Inequitable Pacific representation in curriculum and pedagogies.
• Pacific ākonga are not consistently encouraged into academic areas of study.

Outdated attitudes

• Learning is limited to a narrow age and place: it needs to allow for learning across the lifespan and as a community activity.