Konaiholeva H. Thaman

Acknowledging Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Higher Education in the Pacific Island Region

This chapter puts forward an argument for the inclusion of Pacific “indigenous knowledge systems” in official documentation and discourse on knowledge production and dissemination in higher education; and particularly higher educational institutions in Oceania. The reasons for this are outlined below, giving examples of recent attempts to bring this about at the regional University of the South Pacific (USP), a higher educational institution that is owned by 12 Pacific Island Countries (PICs), namely, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

Towards Cultural Democracy in University Teaching and Research with Special Reference to the Pacific Island Region

This chapter attempts to document some of the initiatives taken by Pacific educators to address the issue of underachievement of Pacific Island students in higher education, more specifically at university. In this, their main concern has been to urge higher education teaching personnel, especially teacher educators, to create more culturally democratic learning environments for students. In so doing, Pacific educators draw on their indigenous pedagogical resources to develop the capacity of the teaching personnel. The author also reflects on the challenges they face in bridging traditional knowledge systems and the contemporary higher education context. Cultural democracy is a philosophical precept that requires teachers to take into consideration students’ cultures in their teaching: more specifically to understand students’ learning styles; how they think and, most importantly, communicate with one another. Specific references will be made of the Re-thinking Pacific Education Initiative (RPEIP), of which the author is a founding member, which has been in the forefront of advancing cultural democracy in Pacific education in general, and university teaching and research, in particular.

Discussions and Debates in Pacific Education

A collection of papers based on twelve presentations delivered as part of the School of Educations Talanga Seminar Series, at the University of the South Pacific.