Tapasā values

This resource explores values that support the Tapasā framework, including Pacific values, being culturally responsive, and engaging with parents, families, and communities.

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About this resource

The Tapasā cultural competency framework is designed to support teachers in becoming more culturally aware, confident, and competent when engaging with Pacific learners and their parents, families, and communities. Understanding the values within Tapasā provides an important foundation that helps teachers communicate with learners and their families and communities in a culturally responsive way.

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Tapasā values

Pacific values
Being culturally responsive
Engaging with parents, families, and communities

Pacific values vary from island to island, and it is important to understand the differences between and within cultural groups.

Each island has unique traditions, customs, languages, and identities. Values such as respect, service, leadership, family, belonging, and relationships are important within Pacific cultures. The values that Pacific learners hold will also be informed by living and working in New Zealand. As with any group, there may be just as many similarities as differences among the learners you see every day.

When you understand the values of Pacific peoples, you are in a better position to respond and acknowledge their differences. Your learners bring values that are important and matter to them. This includes cultural behaviour, ideals, standards, and morals. Pacific values are beliefs that Pacific communities regard as desirable, worthy of passing down to generations, and worthy of sharing with others. Your learners will have values that are important to them and their families, and they may be the same or different from your personal values.

Understanding different Pacific values will help you communicate with your learners and their families and communities in a culturally responsive way. One of the key things that will enable effective interactions with Pacific learners is to build a genuine personal connection that allows open and trusting communication.

Reciprocity

Reciprocity is about mutual dependency, mutual benefit, and agreement. This is achieved by acknowledging the value of reciprocity in relationships and the duty of care between yourself and your learners. It is about equal interaction and sharing the same views. Mutual help, collective effort, and interdependence are more effective than individualism.

Relationships

Relationships are of the utmost importance to Pacific learners. In a Pacific context, this might be seen in the way Pacific learners interact with each other, which often involves a lot of laughter and food. Creating an environment where students feel comfortable enough to connect with staff and other students is important.

Community

Pacific peoples operate in a communal setting. The Pacific way of viewing the world is mostly driven by what is commonly perceived as acceptable to the community. This includes teamwork, consultation, and engagement with others in a collective manner and is achieved by working together to achieve common goals and consensus.

Service

Pacific people love to help and often work well in collective settings. Service is a significant part of Pacific learners’ lives at home, at church, or in the community. Encourage your learners to participate in your learning environment by creating experiences that relate to their active participation at their church, in their families, or in their community. These experiences can help your learners feel valued.

Respect

Pacific peoples learn from an early age to show respect when relating to one another. This is expected behaviour. The concept of respect is often a reflection of their home environment, including showing respect towards elders, parents, women, children, and people in positions of authority. Respect includes acknowledging someone’s status and observing proper etiquette when students view and speak to teachers and people in positions of authority. One example of this is the cultural communication practice of lē-tautala in Fa’a Samoa. Lē-tautala is student silence, and it has multiple meanings for Samoan learners. In many Samoan homes, lē-tautala includes the expectation that children keep quiet out of respect for their elders, and this extends to learning environments. See O Uiga 'Ese'Ese Ma O'Oōoga O Le Lē-Tautala the Multiple Meanings of Silence in the Samoan Classroom: Implications for Teachers of Samoan Students Hang, 2011, p. 2.

Spirituality

Pacific learners value their spiritual faith, and particularly the Christian faith, which is a vital part of their lives. Pacific learners may feel uncomfortable if jokes are made about their faith, church, or spirituality. It is important to be mindful of this. Starting and ending the day with a prayer and the blessing of food is important to many Pacific learners.

Leadership

A common belief held by Pacific people is that in order to lead, one must follow. This aligns with the value of service. Pacific learners may view leadership differently based on how they see leadership within their home and community contexts. It is important to embrace the diversity of what leadership may represent. Some Pacific learners may be outspoken, while others embody a sense of humility. It is important to encourage your learners to achieve their aspirations through education and influence other Pacific learners to do the same.

Family

Some, but not all, Pacific peoples live in extended families. For most, though, family is the centre of the community and their way of life. This brings a sense of identity and belonging. Pacific communities are collective; an individual will always identify themselves within the context of their families and wider communities. You will find many Pacific learners put the interests of their families before their own.

Love

Love: a universal value, underpinning much of what all people do. In the Pacific context, it is the showing of care, kindness, and concern for others that drives Pacific learners to prioritise family events or issues over their own studies. For Pacific people, love is manifested through their actions, particularly by putting others before themselves.

Being culturally responsive requires a willingness to be open and, sometimes, to make and learn from mistakes.

To enhance learning outcomes, kaiako need to create learning contexts that are relevant and support Pacific learners to connect in meaningful ways. This builds the trust and respect needed to enhance Pacific learners' identity, language, and culture.

It is important to work in partnership with Pacific learners and include their families in activities and decision-making, respecting their values and asking what their preferences are. If you feel unsure, ask Pacific families how things could be done and how they want it done, and use this knowledge as you support your learners. One example is asking Pacific families about appropriate blessings for food at class celebrations and shared lunches. Be aware that not all Pacific learners are the same. They are culturally diverse and live within both European and Pacific cultures, and within that, they have their own cultural identity.

When interacting with Pacific people, it is important to understand their communication styles. In some situations, Pacific people may prefer to communicate with another Pacific person or be more comfortable speaking their own language. The relationships you build with your Pacific learners and their families will enable you to engage in communication that is purposeful and culturally responsive.

You may need to refer to the values, identify what is important to Pacific families, and get support for people who need it in line with Pacific values. If you have any doubts, check with the people you are supporting to ensure that they feel culturally safe.

Communicating with parents, families, and communities to build enduring relationships is vital for Pacific engagement.

Meeting with people connected to your learner(s) is key to being responsive to Pacific ways of being and knowing because it gives you a holistic picture of the learner and who or what surrounds them. Your relationship with Pacific learners extends beyond the learning environment and is connected to their histories, futures, lives, and collective experiences. For example, participating in cultural events that are happening in the community is one way to demonstrate your commitment to your Pacific learners and contribute to building trusting relationships with their families.

Successful outcomes for Pacific learners are founded on a holistic approach that includes their parents, families, languages, cultures, values, and communities. This holistic approach extends beyond curriculum and paedagogy into the different cultural contexts that Pacific learners identify with. Your sustained and genuine efforts to connect with parents, families, and communities involve responding to and acknowledging their identities, languages, and cultures; meeting them where they are; and ensuring they feel welcome, valued, and safe.

Remember to try and connect with families in a way that suits them, rather than the school. Find suitable times for meetings, try not to place too many time limits, welcome all of the family members who come, and be available in ways that may be new to your setting – could you meet at a workplace, for instance, or at a hall?

Engaging with families and communities by drawing on culture and language helps to build relationships and show families that you care about their children's and young people’s progress. Be sure to ask the parents about their preferences for communication. Some Pacific families may bring a support person to liaise for them. Remember that silence does not necessarily mean consent.

While understanding Pacific values will help you engage with learners and their families, be mindful about taking small steps to start. Listening to and observing your Pacific learners in different contexts – with friends, with family, in and out of the classroom – will give you information that will be valuable in seeing how each learner lives their Pacific values. To find out more, use the school values as a conversation starter: ask about life in the islands for those who have visited; talk with families about their stories. As you learn more, you will find yourself naturally more at ease when determining what is appropriate for each learner and their family.

Tapasā relationships

Identify one or two specific things you can do to build and deepen the respectful, reciprocal relationships you have with parents, whānau, and communities.

Initiating a relationship

What do parents and whānau see when they come into your learning centre?

Are there signs and displays that reflect their culture?
Are there readers in their language?
Do they see their culture in your space?

What do parents and whānau hear when they come into your learning centre?

Do they hear greetings and phrases in their language?
Are teachers and children using their language?

How do parents and whānau feel when they come into your learning centre?

Are they welcomed? How are you welcoming them?
What is culturally appropriate?
Are you initiating conversations and getting to know their interests, aspirations, or concerns for their child?

Building a relationship

What Pacific languages are used by your learners and their whānau?

Use these to greet people when they arrive. Put their language on signage in the learning space. Find out about them and what’s important to them.

Provide multiple options for communicating; identify different types of communication methods you can use to connect with parents and whānau

What ways do they prefer?
What do you need to put in place to use a variety of methods?
Can you provide information in their language?
Who could interpret if needed?

Can they see learning in action?

Plan times you can invite parents and whānau into the learning space to participate and see learning in action. Be available to talk informally.
Explain what is happening in learning and how specific assessments work. This may mean visiting them at their home or a place they feel comfortable.

Deepening a relationship

Make time to talk

What places and times can you converse (engage in talanoa) with learners, parents, and whānau? For example, fono, over shared food, on a trip or excursion, at sports or community events.
Plan to do this in your diary.

How are you listening to parents?

What is important for them?
What do they need to support their child’s learning?
What do you need to learn about their language, culture, or life outside of school?

As you plan your learning programme, identify who in your Pasifika community you can invite to share their knowledge and approaches to learning with you (for example, language, stories, songs, dances, arts, etc.).