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... Additional interest is focussing on how best to teach three other diverse groups; adults with few skills in literacy, migrants with English as a second language and those who were academically unsuccessful in the New Zealand secondary school system. Large scale research projects have been carried out across universities, wānanga, polytechnics and private tertiary institutions to determine the extent of student diversity, how their learning is supported and the effective teaching strategies used to accommodate students with diverse learning needs (see : Airini, O'Shea, Tarawa, Sauni, Ulugia-Pua, Sua-Huirua, Taipapaki-Curtis, 2007;Benseman, Sutton, & Lander, 2005;Marshall, Baldwin & Peach, 2008;McMurchy-Pilkington, 2009;Zepke, Leach & Prebble, 2005). Benseman et al (2005) expressed a need for more studies in this field to systematically build a body of knowledge, in particular the kind of research that recognises the quality of education services delivered in PTEs where most students of minority groups are enrolled. ...
... mitted to high standards for their learners. This support appears to be important both in and out of the classroom (Zepke et al., 2005). The effectiveness of this relationship and the resulting interactions seems to be even more important when working with students who are members of minority ethnic or marginalised groups (McMurchy Pilkington, 2009). Marshall et al. (2008 found that students from a Māori or Pasifika background viewed lecturers as pivotal to their success and stated that 'good-practice tutors were seen as being flexible, committed, having a passion for teaching, being focussed on the learners and able to motivate them' (p. 7). ...
... A 'holistic environment includes caring for the physical, mental and spiritual well being of learners' (Marshall, Baldwin and Peach 2008, p.16). Marshall et al (2008) found that the components of the holistic approach -surrogate whānau/āiga, sense of belonging and the concept of creating a greater humanity, were interrelated. This related to the findings of a study completed by Auckland Uniservices (2009) who found that the concept of wider success was considered more important to many Māori and Pasifika students than academic grades. ...
... Educators who understood or also took time to understand their Pacific students' worlds made students feel proud and strong about their multiple identities and their culture. Educators who revealed to students how to play the game of academia and to reflect critically on their success as students was a form of social justice to an education system that seemed structured in way to prevent their success (Southwick et al., 2017;Chu et al., 2013, Marshall et al., 2008. This level of care from educators ultimately protected students, and for many it enabled them for the first time to feel safe, cared for, liberated, secure, and strong as Pacific people in education. ...
... By doing this we developed a class culture. Marshall et al. (2008) in their study of best practice for Pacific students in Private Training Establishments (PTE) found that students attributed a lot of their longevity and sustainability to stick with their course and ultimately succeed to the familial relationships they developed with other students. Students got a massive benefit from being able to share expertise and ideas with fellow students, and draw strength from the cultural connections they have as fellow Pacific (Chu et al., 2013). ...
The importance of maintaining connections and relationships across tertiary education for students is discussed as a way of examining the nature of Pacific education in challenging times, particularly in terms of fractured face-to-face learning. Universities have been thrust into an unpredictable time of remote/distance/online learning in a short period of time. The process has been unsettling and challenging for people across the world. As Pacific students and staff experience the unchartered waters of Covid-19 and global disturbances, they are searching out ways to build purposeful connections, shape-shifting and ways to maintain communities of academic togetherness while harnessing the tools of their knowledge trajectories in research. This article will focus on four key principles: valuing personal and academic connections beyond the textbook; discovering heart-warming methods of connection; and connecting for growth and wellbeing.
... In their study of best practice for Māori and Pasifika learners in private training establishments, Marshall, Baldwin & Peach (2008) found similar themes. International research indicates that engagement with learning is lifted when learners feel accepted and affirmed in their learning environment (Johnson et al. 2007); the research by Marshall et al identified three key components to creating an holistic approach to learning in Aotearoa. ...
... The third component of the best practice approach argued for in the research -a greater sense of humanity -is achieved through all learners and staff being supported in strengthening their own cultural and personal identity and being respective of the cultural and personal identity of others. In this, the organisation was able to provide an environment that more holistic and supportive than any individual could generate alone (Marshall et al. 2008). ...
According to Macfarlane (2013:1), over recent decades a ‘quiet revolution’ has seen culturally responsive epistemologies and methodologies assume a presence in tertiary institutions in Aotearoa; the ‘call to respond to the disparity that exists between cultures with respect to academic achievement is one that is now heard and acknowledged widely by a large majority of educators’. In practice, this refers to a commitment to equity in achievement for Māori, as Māori, in ways that sustain identity and culture. For educators, it lays down challenge to Western expectations of the form that post-compulsory education and training ‘should’ take. This chapter seeks to illuminate the cultural dynamics that surround post-compulsory education and training in Aotearoa, offering insights from this context to teaching and learning in other education and training contexts.
... As emphasised in Ka Hikitia-Managing for Success: The Māori Education Strategy 2008Strategy-2012, the importance of akoeffective and reciprocal teaching and learning-for, and with, Māori learners and the conditions that support it must be encouraged and supported throughout a learning institution. Furthermore, Marshall, Baldwin and Peach (2008) identified the importance of goal-setting, reflection and evaluation, by both the individual learner and the staff, as well as the PTE as a whole. Real change is not the responsibility of the tutor alone, institutional change is required to support optimal outcomes for Māori and so for all learners. ...
Pacific learners are often theorised as minority learners or diverse learners in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). Taking a strengths-based approach with an appreciative inquiry lens, this study explored how certain educators were phenomenal in their practices, and how they enhanced teaching and learning for Pacific learners’ achievement and success in New Zealand tertiary educational settings. This qualitative ethnographic studied 12 educators teaching practices with their Pacific students in different types of tertiary education. Fifty-six students participated in student Talanoa (Pacific discussion) groups to discuss who had been phenomenal educators during their times of study. This paper presents some of the successful practices of these phenomenal educators who created engaging processes of learning, considering the question, ‘Who are phenomenal educators for Pacific learners, and what do they do in their practices?’ The phenomenal educators’ practices focus on the core belief of inclusivity in their teaching by ensuring that Pacific learners’ identities and cultures remain at the core of their tertiary teaching practice. Inclusivity was relayed through their practice and/or mindset which purposefully involved a concept of relational processes, aligned to Pacific learners’ values. The use of cultural methods of engagement enabled deep and richer articulations of student cultural realities and journeys.