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Climate-Change Blues: Sustaining Village Life in Tonga
Get PDFThe loss of small island states will affect us all. Climate change refugees will become a very serious issue for all countries.
Lord Ma’af
On the afternoon of December 15th 2009, Tonga’s Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Lord Ma’afu, made a passionate plea to the international press assembled at the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. He had a message he wanted to get out to the world. Politically, Ma’afu awoke a subconscious fear developed countries stepped around not wanting to stir and be forced to deal with. Snared in the small island uncertainty of rising sea levels was the inevitability climate change refugees might need another place to live (Bedford and Bedford, 2010; Fagan, 2013). Where would they go? Who would take them in? What countries would help the Pacific Islands?
Despite sociologists and political scientists documenting the failure of global governance to deliver a legally binding agreement for controlling climate change (Giddens, 2009; Held and Hervey, 2009; Fisher, 2004), alternatives put forward have not been taken up. What other methods for governing over bad weather are there? (Goldin, 2013). And how is village life in Tonga coping with climate blues?
 
New perspetives on language policy for language revitalisation
No full textLanguage revitalisation has always been, and continues to be about communal involvement, savvy and dedication. Language policy, on the other hand, is often crafted in isolation from the lived experience of the speech community. Language policy tends to be formulated in a regulatory landscape where fiscal arguments, inter-agency disputes and centralist thinking dominate. However, when policies emerge from the centre and when they are being implemented on the ground, the language community can play a significant role in modifying and localising them. This paper will shed new light on recent language policy research that highlights individual and collective agency in the processes of language use, attitudes and policies. Drawing on Pennycook’s theory (2010) of local practice, it will show that communities on the ground, charged with implementation are not the passive receivers of policies or the vague resistors once depicted in research account, but social actors who can exercise subaltern agency. This understanding of the way that the local has a bearing on the thinking and behaviour of agency on the ground is often overlooked by, or hidden from the policy maker’s centralist gaze.The aim is to show that language policies in language revitalisation and minority language contexts are not merely implemented, but are actually shaped on the ground
Making a difference: The role of the Māori administrator in Universities
Get PDFThe Tertiary Education Strategy 2010 – 2015 in Aotearoa/New Zealand states that the Government aims to ‘increase the number of Māori students achieving at the higher level’ (Tertiary Education Commission 2010, p10). For this to be achieved universities need to play their part in assisting Māori students to progress beyond the undergraduate degree and into postgraduate study.
Universities take their origins from western European values, ideals and world view which are reflected in the curriculum, management systems and processes. It is predicated that by 2020 over half the tertiary student population will be Māori due to a youthful Māori population (Department of Labour, 2008). This will be a challenge for universities. Therefore, the role of a Māori administrator within the university system becomes critical in being able to provide useful insight to the university on how to retain Māori students in this changing environment.
This paper draws on my Master of Philosophy research. It will critically examine the role Māori administrator’s play in the recruitment and retention of Māori students in universities in Aotearoa/New Zealand including culturally specific pastoral care, accurate course advice, information on degree requirements, appropriate learning pathways for students and supporting academic staff to track student progress through to completion. These additional responsibilities, often unrecognised by the university, demonstrates the important role a Māori administrator can make in retaining Māori students in the academy. 
He kura huna - Māori expressions of educational success
Get PDFWestern values have long dominated discourse on what constitutes success and achievement in education. New Zealand’s own education system has been described as one which “... gives first priority to academic and western values of success” (Lee, 2008, p. 81). Emphasis is placed upon the individual, academic excellence, literacy and numeracy, economic outcomes, and competence in what western society deems valid knowledge, and as such, current assessment measures are reflective of this. While such measures are accepted as ‘best practice’ for mainstream institutions, it is argued that where indigenous education is concerned, “...success also lies in more holistic ways of knowing and participating within a rich cultural context” (Bell, 2004, p.30).
Situated in a Māori world view, this paper considers success through a Māori lens. It is argued that Māori notions of success are not only premised upon academic results, rather cultural factors are considered equally as important to knowledge and understanding of te ao Māori (Māori world view), tikanga Māori (Māori customary practices), whakapapa (genealogy), hītori (histories and tradition) and te reo Māori (the Māori language).
This paper seeks to highlight Māori expressions of educational success for Kura Kaupapa Māori (KKM) through the implementation of a holistic approach to education, underpinned by the guiding philosophy, Te Aho Matua.
This paper will draw on my doctoral research. Graduates experiences are an integral part of this paper and research, as they give voice and validity to KKM educational success
Links between Maori cultural well-being and participation in sports: A literature review
Get PDFThis literature review explores various dimensions of the relationship between participation by Maori in sports, the creation and maintenance of sustainable cultural infrastructures, and the contribution of these elements to an enhanced sense and practice of cultural identity. This is achieved through undertaking a qualitative survey of the present domestic literature on the topic, as well as drawing on the more extensive corpus of international research which addresses these types of topics, themes, and links.  
Standing for Mana
Get PDFThis article examines some of the issues associated with the performance of the Mana Party in the 2011 General Election. It also tackles themes of indigenous political representation and provides personal insights into the campaign process
