Talofa Lava,
I am issuing an invitation to you that has resonance this week in the celebration of Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa - Samoa Language Week.
One of the very special things about my move to Tui Tuia from a 32-year career as a teacher and principal, is the engagement with educators who are focused on building powerful professional learning in their areas of specialist expertise.
It has been particularly exciting to see our Pasifika colleagues roll out the delivery of Tapasā, a fully-funded Ministry of Education (MoE) professional learning and development (PLD) initiative for early learning services, primary, intermediate and secondary schools across New Zealand.
Yes, you heard me right! This professional learning is free to early learning services and schools that wish to strengthen their cultural competencies to nurture and support Pacific learners, their families and communities.
Tapasā, a cultural competencies framework for teachers of Pacific learners, is a tool that can be used to build the capability of teachers of Pacific learners across the education sector.
A product of two decades of research, it was developed in collaboration with key Pacific community stakeholders who have participated in a series of talanoa workshops with education practitioners, parents, families and communities, and the Ministry of Education.
Tapasā is designed to support school leaders, teachers, kaiako and centre/school boards to engage with Pacific learners, their families and communities in culturally sustaining ways. The training is underpinned by Pasifika knowledge, ways of being and approaches to practice that are research-informed.
Tui Tuia was jointly awarded the contract by the MoE to deliver this PLD to educators in the North Island. Our areas of focus are schools and early learning services in:
- Northland
- Auckland
- Waikato
- Bay of Plenty
- Hawkes Bay
- Taranaki/Manawatu
I have been privileged to get to know the team working on delivering this PLD, Tui Tuia’s Pasifika-led education facilitator Tofilau Niulevaea Siliva Gaugatao and Dr Tanya Wendt Samu, a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Education and Social Work. Both have been studying and developing teacher education initiatives based on Tapasā since its release in 2018. The development team includes Dr Jacoba Matapo, also a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Education and Social Work, who is leading the project for the early learning sector.
The team’s approach to delivering Tapasā is flexible, responsible and reflective, in other words, ‘one fits one’. They tailor the initiative to the strengths and needs of individuals and groups of teachers and leaders and their learning journeys.
At Tui Tuia, we are ambitious and determined that every school community serving Pacific learners, keen to grow culturally sustaining practice, gets the opportunity to do so. This is in keeping with our vision to empower educators to achieve equitable, world class outcomes for all students in an evolving global environment.
This truly is a gift to the education workforce, and it has been exciting to see the early uptake. I encourage you to reach out to us and register your interest by clicking on this link.
Important Note: Placements for 2022 is now limited. We are now taking expressions of interest from schools and early learning services for delivery in 2023.
