Transformations from within: Rethinking Pacific Education Initiative.

Abstract

The paper reports on an initiative undertaken by a group of Pacific educators – “insiders "who have undertaken various activities and work of embedding Indigenous graduate attributes into teacher education courses, in leadership training of young and emerging young Pacific leaders and in communities, research that takes into account indigenous knowledge systems. This is at the University of the South Pacific and a number of other universities and colleges of education in the region including Victoria University in NZ. The effort of the Rethinking Pacific Education Initiative (RPEIPP) hence provides the background to the development and implementation of holistic Indigenous graduate attributes. The approaches taken by the RPEIPP Pacific wide in the rethinking and redefining of education and other courses in schools as well as universities and colleges in the region, ensure that aspects of indigenous peoples cultures and related worldviews and life values and philosophies inform the work of educators. This is besides the normal provision of global knowledge, skills and values that dominate schooling and higher education in particular. RPEIPP is highly transformative and with the assistance of NZ Aid, is almost totally internally driven, implemented and progressively evaluated. While the first ten years of the initiative focused on teacher education, leadership, research and publications, the future should perhaps move to other parts of the Pacific region, most notably Micronesia and the North Western Pacific. Another dimension could also engage in comparative studies or researches of systems and curricula.