International literature has recognised the importance of education research with Pacific learner... more International literature has recognised the importance of education research with Pacific learners. In an Australian context, the early years learning framework for Australia and the Australian curriculum emphasise that education sectors should work towards cultivating respect for cultural diversity and to develop intercultural understanding and intercultural capabilities. As such, the call to better understand the cultural complexities that underpins Pacific learners and their interactions with educational processes remains pertinent. This scoping review offers an important synthesis of empirical research on the educational successes and challenges of Pacific learners in Australian educational settings from 2010 to 2021. While this study offers critical insights for teacher education and research, the findings also revealed paucities in education research with Pacific learners. Thereby, propositions for future and ongoing education research with Pacific learners in Australia are of...
The higher education landscape has been amidst change over recent years. At the time of writing t... more The higher education landscape has been amidst change over recent years. At the time of writing this paper, the pandemic outbreak has had a substantial impact on the higher education sector. This was our last year as early career researchers, but the prospect of promotion was replaced with managing unpredicted short-term job insecurity. In writing this article, we engage with collaborative diffractive autobiographical writing, remembering , reconnecting and re-experiencing our autobiographical accounts, written at the beginning of our transition into academia. Through diffractive analysis, we shifted from positivistic approaches that assume a rigid separation between observer and the observed, to engage in an ongoing (re)pattering and (re)(con)figuring of our identities during this transition. In an intentional disruption of binary, we engage in writing as an event of interaction with texts, allowing ourselves to be affected by and experience these propositions in their mutual entanglements.
In recent years many policy and curriculum reforms aimed at improving Australian students’ litera... more In recent years many policy and curriculum reforms aimed at improving Australian students’ literacy and numeracy levels have been introduced into schools and in initial teacher education. Despite this, the Australian National Assessment Plan, Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) data indicates that there has been little or no improvement in Australian students’ literacy and numeracy levels over recent years. Some researchers propose that there is a correlation between students’ positive affect, engagement and relationships and their academic outcomes. Using correlation analysis this study set out to identify if there was a statistically significant relationship between the Victorian Department of Education and Training’s student Attitudes to School Survey and academic outcomes as measured by NAPLAN standardised testing. This study finds some statistically significant relationships between student Attitudes to School Survey results and NAPLAN scores. This paper presents a study that provid...
This article offers a new model, the Ako Conceptual Framework (ACF), as a theoretical proposition... more This article offers a new model, the Ako Conceptual Framework (ACF), as a theoretical proposition to add to the critical discourse and development of culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogies within the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Drawing on the socio-cultural theory the concept of Zone of Proximal Development, the ACF conceptualises the intersection of culture and pedagogy using a Tongan epistemology. The ACF positions the vā (a space that is relational which enables authentic relationships to be established, nurtured and maintained) and tauhi vaha`a/vā (a responsibility that teachers, schools, educational leaders and practitioners have to establish, nurture and maintain authentic relationships) as the fundamental concepts in the development of culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogies. It is theorised that by recognising Tongan strengths-based principles, values and educational concepts, the taumu`a`oe ako (the purpose for teaching and learning), founga ako (the concepts of teaching), and feinga ako (the concepts of learning) can be aligned. Thereby, recognising and acknowledging the various knowledge systems that the students from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds arrive at school with. The concepts and implications of the ACF are discussed in this article.
AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 2010
The aim of this commentary is to address, in the Tongan language, the challenges of language and ... more The aim of this commentary is to address, in the Tongan language, the challenges of language and cultural loss by Tongan people in Aotearoa/New Zealand, and what Tongan people are doing about the imposition. The comments, ideas and perspectives advanced here are based on the assumption that Tongan language and culture are knowledge-and wisdom-different from the philosophies of the West. The discussion focuses on talanoa, a Tongan social construct conceptualized and applied as an approach to good living and the creation of cultural relationships in social, spiritual and political contexts. The second half of the commentary discusses talanoa as a Tongan pedagogical approach in the education of Tongan adults and children at all stages of the education system. Talanoa is a deep and meaningful approach, and by using it (Tongan) teachers, educators and researchers can promote and encourage critical and advanced thinking, leading to higher learning and deeper understanding. In academia, ta...
International literature has recognised the importance of education research with Pacific learner... more International literature has recognised the importance of education research with Pacific learners. In an Australian context, the early years learning framework for Australia and the Australian curriculum emphasise that education sectors should work towards cultivating respect for cultural diversity and to develop intercultural understanding and intercultural capabilities. As such, the call to better understand the cultural complexities that underpins Pacific learners and their interactions with educational processes remains pertinent. This scoping review offers an important synthesis of empirical research on the educational successes and challenges of Pacific learners in Australian educational settings from 2010 to 2021. While this study offers critical insights for teacher education and research, the findings also revealed paucities in education research with Pacific learners. Thereby, propositions for future and ongoing education research with Pacific learners in Australia are of...
The higher education landscape has been amidst change over recent years. At the time of writing t... more The higher education landscape has been amidst change over recent years. At the time of writing this paper, the pandemic outbreak has had a substantial impact on the higher education sector. This was our last year as early career researchers, but the prospect of promotion was replaced with managing unpredicted short-term job insecurity. In writing this article, we engage with collaborative diffractive autobiographical writing, remembering , reconnecting and re-experiencing our autobiographical accounts, written at the beginning of our transition into academia. Through diffractive analysis, we shifted from positivistic approaches that assume a rigid separation between observer and the observed, to engage in an ongoing (re)pattering and (re)(con)figuring of our identities during this transition. In an intentional disruption of binary, we engage in writing as an event of interaction with texts, allowing ourselves to be affected by and experience these propositions in their mutual entanglements.
In recent years many policy and curriculum reforms aimed at improving Australian students’ litera... more In recent years many policy and curriculum reforms aimed at improving Australian students’ literacy and numeracy levels have been introduced into schools and in initial teacher education. Despite this, the Australian National Assessment Plan, Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) data indicates that there has been little or no improvement in Australian students’ literacy and numeracy levels over recent years. Some researchers propose that there is a correlation between students’ positive affect, engagement and relationships and their academic outcomes. Using correlation analysis this study set out to identify if there was a statistically significant relationship between the Victorian Department of Education and Training’s student Attitudes to School Survey and academic outcomes as measured by NAPLAN standardised testing. This study finds some statistically significant relationships between student Attitudes to School Survey results and NAPLAN scores. This paper presents a study that provid...
This article offers a new model, the Ako Conceptual Framework (ACF), as a theoretical proposition... more This article offers a new model, the Ako Conceptual Framework (ACF), as a theoretical proposition to add to the critical discourse and development of culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogies within the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Drawing on the socio-cultural theory the concept of Zone of Proximal Development, the ACF conceptualises the intersection of culture and pedagogy using a Tongan epistemology. The ACF positions the vā (a space that is relational which enables authentic relationships to be established, nurtured and maintained) and tauhi vaha`a/vā (a responsibility that teachers, schools, educational leaders and practitioners have to establish, nurture and maintain authentic relationships) as the fundamental concepts in the development of culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogies. It is theorised that by recognising Tongan strengths-based principles, values and educational concepts, the taumu`a`oe ako (the purpose for teaching and learning), founga ako (the concepts of teaching), and feinga ako (the concepts of learning) can be aligned. Thereby, recognising and acknowledging the various knowledge systems that the students from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds arrive at school with. The concepts and implications of the ACF are discussed in this article.
AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 2010
The aim of this commentary is to address, in the Tongan language, the challenges of language and ... more The aim of this commentary is to address, in the Tongan language, the challenges of language and cultural loss by Tongan people in Aotearoa/New Zealand, and what Tongan people are doing about the imposition. The comments, ideas and perspectives advanced here are based on the assumption that Tongan language and culture are knowledge-and wisdom-different from the philosophies of the West. The discussion focuses on talanoa, a Tongan social construct conceptualized and applied as an approach to good living and the creation of cultural relationships in social, spiritual and political contexts. The second half of the commentary discusses talanoa as a Tongan pedagogical approach in the education of Tongan adults and children at all stages of the education system. Talanoa is a deep and meaningful approach, and by using it (Tongan) teachers, educators and researchers can promote and encourage critical and advanced thinking, leading to higher learning and deeper understanding. In academia, ta...
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Papers by Maryanne Pale