Talanoa vā: indigenous masculinities and the intersections of indigeneity, race, and gender within higher education

Strengthening Pacific voices through Talanoa participatory action research

“…Talanoa as a research methodology has been widely used among Pacific Island countries and communities in the education, social sciences (Baba et al, 2004;Fa'avae et al, 2021;Halapua, 2008;Otsuka, 2006;Otunuku, 2011;Smith, 2005) and business sectors (Prescott, 2008(Prescott, , 2009; and is gaining traction in health research (Conn et al, 2020;Health Research Council, 2004) as a methodology as well as a research method tool to gain authentic data. According to Conn et al (2020), "the epistemological basis of Talanoa forefronts the knowledge construction processes of Pacific peoples drawing on Pacific world views" (p. 51).…”

Grounding our collective Talanoa: Enabling open conversations

“…Negotiating the socio-spatial relations in cyberspace is what Koya-Vaka'uta (2017) affirms as the sensemaking of the "multiple complexities [associated with the] various aspects of the vā played out as abstract spaces in real time and place" (p. 61). 'Wayfinding' or navigating educational contexts and clearly articulating peoples' relational positionality within research is about embracing the diversity and specificities in our Pacific vernacular (languages) and ways of being-knowing-seeing-doing as Pacific people in the diaspora (Fa'avae et al, 2021;Iosefo et al, 2021;Sualii-Sauni, 2017).…”

“…Compared to talanoa, however, vā is not always as popular or visible in research scholarship. Our deliberate positioning of talanoa-vā, coupled together with the hyphen, is to emphasise the centrality of relationality in Pacific philosophising and is our attempt to acknowledge and embrace critical interrogations and in-depth theorising as being a significant part of Pacific-centred research sense-making, meaning-making, and praxis (Fa'avae et al, 2021).…”

“…Similarly, positioning talanoa-vā within this body of critical work is to prioritise inter-generational talatalanoa (ongoing collective talanoa) between more experienced Pacific scholars and emerging researchers and educators who are still finding their grounding. Talanoa-vā enables a resistance against institutional norms through the critical unpacking and deconstruction of western and colonial systems, ideals and processes that continue to undermine Pacific peoples' sensibilities and ways of beingknowing-seeing-doing (Fa'avae et al, 2021), which has for a very long time implicated the growth and academic pathways of Pacific educators, academics and researchers in universities (Naepi et al, 2019). Certainly, within the University of Waikato, our collective aspiration is to utilise the valued knowledge shared by the authors to mobilise and ignite inspiration in our next generation within the institution.…”

Grounding Pacific practice: Fono at the fale and veiqaraqaravi vakavanua

“…Kava, a culturally significant drink made from the roots of the piper methysticum plant, is used in many areas of the Pacific (or Moana), grounding cultural practice in tradition, values and beliefs-with knowledge and meaning-making imparted and shared with those involved (Aporosa, 2019b). That meaning-making includes talanoa, an explanatory and conversational process fundamental to the ways in which Fijian and Tongan people make sense of their veiyaloni and vā inter-connections and interactions with the physical, spiritual, sacred and ancestral vanua and fonua-through land, sky, moana and people, including deity (Fa'avae et al, 2021). In this paper we explain and reflect on the use of Fono at the Fale and Veiqaraqaravi Vakavanua, inclusive of kava and talanoa at the University of Waikato (UoW) as culturally-embedded practices associated with Pacific student and staff learning and interactions, through vanua and fonua expressions of iMua linked to UoW strategic vision and goals.…”