Talanoa (Moana-centred orality) is a widely used Indigenous Pacific discursive approach within research contexts across the diaspora. In a globalised and technologically enhanced era, the online space continues to shape Moana (Oceania) peoples’ talanoa engagement and communication. e–talanoa in this article is an extension of talanoa research engagement and practice. We unpack the contexts in which e–talanoa is negotiated and made sense, and employ talanoa–vā (relational sense-making and meaning-making) as a critical analytical framework for interrogating and unpacking the complexities associated with e–talanoa as a Moana–Pacific research praxis. e–talanoa considers our current post–covid research space and how Pacific researchers navigate their ethical vā–relations within the temporal–spatial and physical–online boundaries that govern meaningful research undertakings. Being open about the challenges enables further understanding of the dynamic and fluid, yet contextually grounded spaces in which e–talanoa as a method can be realised.

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This study seeks to explain how a modified Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) was implemented together with talanoa to explore Fijian students' perceptions of a constructivist learning environment in the science classroom in New Zealand secondary schools. The modified CLES, called CLES-FS, was developed explicitly for Fijian students in the New Zealand secondary schooling context. The adapted CLES-FS instrument included five components of constructivist learning: relationship and identity, familiar context, talanoa, critical voice and shared control. The inclusion of talanoa within the CLES-survey tool has not been done before to collect data from iTaukei (Indigenous) and Fijian-Indian students. The implication of using talanoa alongside CLES-FS has provided the unfolding of possibilities when weaving together qualitative as well as quantitative data. As an emerging Pacific researcher, the exploration exercise is essential learning that helps make sense of what it means to engage in research, particularly within the post-Covid context.

A wide research base in general Pacific education literature supports active learning activities that encourage students to work collaboratively. Many schools engage Pacific students in group-based learning together with other pedagogies to increase their achievement. Despite this, the education of Pacific origin students in Aotearoa New Zealand is not delivering equitable results and requires revision. Fijian Indian students are a relatively unexplored population within the Pacific education umbrella, and attention to their learning is not well represented in literature. This research used talanoa, a Pacific research method, to explore the perception of Fijian Indian students regarding group work. The findings revealed that students perceived both benefits and limitations related to engagement in collaborative learning. This discussion of group work plays a part in addressing New Zealand’s education system’s inequities for Pacific students, and it encourages teachers to consider what effective group work means for Fijian Indian students from the lived experiences of the students themselves.

The move to focus on Pacific indigenous research methodologies and methods is a complex yet ongoing experience for researchers of Pacific heritage. The relational positionalities of Pacific researchers allow a move away from a dual or binary perspective of one’s research responsibilities to a more fluid understanding of what it means to do research by, for, with Pacific communities. This paper highlights the diverse experiences of three Pacific researchers taking into consideration heritage connections, socio-cultural backgrounds and research contexts. We utilise talanoa as a method of engagement, reflexivity, and sharing of our experiences with Tongan, Samoan and Fijian communities. We argue that talanoa as a Pacific research method enables the diverse layers of experiences that take into particular consideration our connections to land, people and knowledges in the diaspora.