© 2018, Flinders University. Donor-funded programmes in areas such as leadership development take place in every continent. In the Western Pacific, Melanesia has been host to such programmes based on non-Melanesian thought and practice over the years. However, a review of donor-funded leadership programmes in the region reveals a history of concern regarding effectiveness but no significant change in programme orientation. This article provides a counter-story of a donor-funded leadership programme which utilizes a readily available cultural model of thought and practice of Indigenous origin: tok stori. Tok stori is a form of discursive group communication which is an everyday occurrence in Melanesia. The experiences of leadership mentors operating in a tok stori-centred leadership development programme located in the Solomon Islands provide an opportunity to explore and evaluate what cultural wisdom can contribute as the core of a leadership development programme. The benefits are many: leaders benefit when complex contextual matters can be introduced into leadership development by the openness of tok stori; depth of engagement is supported by the development of mentor-leader relationality as an integral part of the tok stori process; and mentors gain increased expertise in using a cultural form with which they are already familiar in new pedagogical contexts. Ultimately, this is a story of the value of honouring important aspects of culture for those who inhabit the ontology which gives them significance. Re-negotiating the way the cultures of donors and recipients are regarded by programme developers is an important factor in the centring of Indigenous thinking and practices such as tok stori in leadership and other person-centred programmes. The lesson of this article is that there are gains available to all where this occurs.

Intercultural understanding is required for effective intercultural education. The education of Pasifika students (those with cultural and/or family ties to Pacific Islands) living in Aotearoa New Zealand is a negative case in point. Research has linked Pasifika educational achievement to the quality of relationships between teachers and Pasifika students, but has generally stopped short of framing the discussion through Pasifika concepts. This article explores the concept of va (relationship/relatedness) for its potential in telling a relational story in Pasifika conceptual language. It provides grounds for a more nuanced discussion of relationships in Pasifika education by addressing the breadth and transformational power of the application of va. If Pasifika educational research seeks to represent the world as Pasifika students experience it, an awareness of va has its place both in the classroom and in the New Zealand education system as a whole. Appreciating va can make a contribution to intercultural education through deeper intercultural understanding.

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Set in Aotearoa New Zealand, this examination of “Pasifika”education as an inter-cultural event discusses what students from the Pacificdiaspora say about educational success. Against a backdrop of literature that pays attention to teacher-student relationships, achievement targets, and peer relationships, the article uses Pacific concepts to theorise the dynamics between individuals, “brotherhood” groups, and success. It suggests that teachers and institutions might respond better in intercultural situations by “looking backwards to walk forwards.”