LIFE, THE CROCODILE, THE PISIKOA AND THE WIND: REPRESENTATIONS OF TEACHING IN THE WRITINGS OF THREE PACIFIC AUTHORS.
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| Title: | LIFE, THE CROCODILE, THE PISIKOA AND THE WIND: REPRESENTATIONS OF TEACHING IN THE WRITINGS OF THREE PACIFIC AUTHORS. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Devine, Nesta |
| Source: | Waikato Journal of Education. 2006, Vol. 12, p123-134. 12p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Public schools, *Authors, *Teachers, *Effective teaching, Samoans |
| Geographic Terms: | New Zealand |
| Abstract: | In the course of research involving the experiences of teachers of Pacific ancestry in New Zealand public schools, I became interested in the ways in which teachers were represented in Pacific thinking. Published works give relatively easy access to at least some of the patterns of thought evoked by the term teacher. In this paper I shall look at the kinds of teacher and teaching shown by Ruparuke Petaia, Albert Wendt and Sia Figiel. These authors, all confidently Samoan, portray some of the complexities of learning and teaching from within Samoan sensibilities. ÂLife", "the Crocodile", "the Pisikoa" and "the Wind" are all the names of teachers in this literature. My discussion of Kidnapped by Petaia (1974), Ola by Wendt (1991) and Where we once belonged by Figiel (1996) is not chronologically ordered so much as thematically arranged. The three themes are: decolonisation of education, the European teacher of Pasifika students and the Samoan teacher of Samoan students. Petaia presents a decolonising stance: the teacher as instrument of colonisation or enslavement. This perception is followed through by a discussion of Figiel's character, Siniva, who likewise rejects European knowledge as a form of darkness, and a brief reference to this idea by Wendt. Both Wendt and Figiel portray European teachers as arrogant in their assumptions about the universal nature of their knowledge, and as comic figures of enlightenment colonisation, somehow cut off from embodied human experience. Wendt sees the Samoan teacher as ineffectual, an instrument of a kind of hopeless enlightenment, frustrated by regulations and village traditions, while Fig iel sees her as a real presence in village life but a tragic figure of local ignorance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Waikato Journal of Education is the property of Waikato Journal of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 24102574 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: LIFE, THE CROCODILE, THE PISIKOA AND THE WIND: REPRESENTATIONS OF TEACHING IN THE WRITINGS OF THREE PACIFIC AUTHORS. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Devine%2C+Nesta%22">Devine, Nesta</searchLink> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Waikato+Journal+of+Education%22">Waikato Journal of Education</searchLink>. 2006, Vol. 12, p123-134. 12p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Public+schools%22">Public schools</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Authors%22">Authors</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teachers%22">Teachers</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Effective+teaching%22">Effective teaching</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Samoans%22">Samoans</searchLink> – Name: SubjectGeographic Label: Geographic Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22New+Zealand%22">New Zealand</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: In the course of research involving the experiences of teachers of Pacific ancestry in New Zealand public schools, I became interested in the ways in which teachers were represented in Pacific thinking. Published works give relatively easy access to at least some of the patterns of thought evoked by the term teacher. In this paper I shall look at the kinds of teacher and teaching shown by Ruparuke Petaia, Albert Wendt and Sia Figiel. These authors, all confidently Samoan, portray some of the complexities of learning and teaching from within Samoan sensibilities. ÂLife", "the Crocodile", "the Pisikoa" and "the Wind" are all the names of teachers in this literature. My discussion of Kidnapped by Petaia (1974), Ola by Wendt (1991) and Where we once belonged by Figiel (1996) is not chronologically ordered so much as thematically arranged. The three themes are: decolonisation of education, the European teacher of Pasifika students and the Samoan teacher of Samoan students. Petaia presents a decolonising stance: the teacher as instrument of colonisation or enslavement. This perception is followed through by a discussion of Figiel's character, Siniva, who likewise rejects European knowledge as a form of darkness, and a brief reference to this idea by Wendt. Both Wendt and Figiel portray European teachers as arrogant in their assumptions about the universal nature of their knowledge, and as comic figures of enlightenment colonisation, somehow cut off from embodied human experience. Wendt sees the Samoan teacher as ineffectual, an instrument of a kind of hopeless enlightenment, frustrated by regulations and village traditions, while Fig iel sees her as a real presence in village life but a tragic figure of local ignorance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Waikato Journal of Education is the property of Waikato Journal of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 12 StartPage: 123 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Public schools Type: general – SubjectFull: Authors Type: general – SubjectFull: Teachers Type: general – SubjectFull: Effective teaching Type: general – SubjectFull: Samoans Type: general – SubjectFull: New Zealand Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: LIFE, THE CROCODILE, THE PISIKOA AND THE WIND: REPRESENTATIONS OF TEACHING IN THE WRITINGS OF THREE PACIFIC AUTHORS. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Devine, Nesta IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 01 Text: 2006 Type: published Y: 2006 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 11736135 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 12 Titles: – TitleFull: Waikato Journal of Education Type: main |
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