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Talanoa: A Tongan Research Methodology and Method

Authors:
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Talanoa: A Tongan Research
Methodology and Method
Timote M Vaioleti
University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
Synonyms
Talanoa
Introduction
This paper examines talanoa as a notion that
guides cultural approaches, pathways, and activi-
ties and which Pacic peoples undertake to create
meanings about themselves within the world in
which they live and their relationships to that
world and to each other. It will also endeavor to
unravel layers of talanoa to fathom the wisdom
and the spirit within it and to discuss how it may
be used as culturally appropriate methods and
methodology for researching Pacic issues.
Talanoa, Context, and Some Background
The ideas about talanoa in this paper are written
from a Tongan perspective, located in Aotearoa
(New Zealand), which is predominantly western
in its institutional values and general disposition.
Māori as tangata whenua (people of the land)
have challenged these positions over time for
more control over their own political, economic,
and cultural development. In social development,
Māori values and concepts were included in
health and education policies, methodologies,
and pedagogical approaches to make research
and education more reective of Māori realities
and worldviews. The growing acceptance of
Māori holistic notions (e.g., aroha/compassion,
love), awhi (care, cultural support) as business,
pedagogical, or research notions (Smith 2012;
Vaioleti 2011), have red my imagination to pro-
pose talanoa methods and methodology for
Pacic research and others.
The word talameans to command, tell,
relate, and inform while noacan mean common,
of no value, or without exertion. Talanoa is a
conversation, a talk, and an exchange of ideas,
be it formal or informal (Churchward 1959). It is
a verb but as a noun, and it can be a story. As a
process, it is used in multiple ways to obtain
information, building relationships and for creat-
ing and transferring knowledge. Tongans,
Samoans, Fijians, and other Pacic communities
in the Pacic, Aotearoa, Australia, and the USA
use talanoa as discussed in this paper or variations
of it.
While working in Fiji and Samoa in the early
2000, the way that leaders received information
from the community, which they use to make
decisions about civil, church, and national mat-
ters, was through talanoa (Vaioleti 2006). In the
early 2000s, talanoa was written as a culturally
#Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2016
M.A. Peters (ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory,
DOI 10.1007/978-981-287-532-7_15-1
appropriate means through which Pacic peoples
can authentically share their issues in research and
provide philosophies to guide it. This approach is
the Talanoa Research Methodology (TRM).
According to Farrelly and Nabobo-Baba (2012
in Vaioleti 2013), TRM is the most accepted
Pacic methodology across the Pacic.
Talanoa: hala kuo papa (Well-Used/
Proven and Ancestral Pathway)
Talanoa itself as a word is functional and rela-
tional; it is an instruction of what to do and how
that is to be done. It is an epistemological and
ontological process that is used to explain philos-
ophies, to secure identity, to provide rationale for
important decisions, to seek solutions, to heal, to
entertain, and to cause māfana (positive warm
feeling, energy) in peoplesheart. It can be a
storehouse, framework, and even a network in
which knowledge, secrets, and other information
are held. Talanoa as well as chants, songs, poems,
phrases, and even iconic words are often ways of
remembering genealogies, landmarks or oceanic
pathways, tribal boundaries, signs of looming nat-
ural or man-made disasters, and even important
prayers.
Because these types of knowledge were or are
often about the difference between life or death,
their preservation in the mooni (truest) form was
paramount hence, the accuracy of the uho
(content), fuo (sequence), and even sounds
which later turned into written letters and words
of talanoa are likely to have stayed mooni over
generations of ancestors. The accuracy and
robustness of the talanoa as a way of passing on
and constructing knowledge are spiritually signif-
icant and have a proud and robust genealogy, and
therefore I suggest a tting base for a Pacic
methodology.
My son Andreas, founder and owner of several
companies, intrigued me with a particular gift. He
was a spelling champion at primary and high
schools. I recall him once sharing that he was
fascinated by words, their construction, and their
origin, and he spent much time breaking them up
to form other words and even searching for pos-
sible foreign origins.
After much talanoa mo hoku loto (deep self-
reections), I realized that Andreas had a faiva
(a magic, trick, formula, performance). His faiva
was to treat words as stories. He would break up
words into combinations of letters which he saw
codes for different parts of the plot for a story. The
codes were held together by the ow of the story.
During his turn in the competitions, the judges
will hear the combinations of the letters but for
Andreas, it was the totality of his talanoa (story)
he was reliving as the word spelling was
unfolding.
I will used Andreasfaiva,ahala kuo papa, to
make Tongan iconic words mahuinga mālie
(contextually meaningful), but instead of using
the letters as plots for a story to guide the spelling,
I will break up the iconic talanoa to sense if there
are sounds or even some laumālie (essence or
spirit) that may animate from it. I must however
consider two foundational matters to guide this.
Tongan language is functional and relational,
and as mentioned already, it is organized around
specic epistemology and arranged ontologically.
For this reason, it is neither grammatical nor sim-
ple in its meaning from a western or mainstream
perspective. The second point to this is that the
Tongan (and other Pacic) languages have tonal
and rhythmic patterns: song-like, chant-like,
poetic expressions and rhythmic in their fuo
(form); therefore, its delivery is also a faiva that
can stir up māfana in ones own or another indig-
enous persons heart.
If one is to analyze the word talanoa using the
above perspectives, three tonal and ontological
notions intersect rhythmically as in ta-la-noa. Ta
is often known as tāmeaning beat, as of a chant,
pulse, or the beat of the heart. Noa on the other
hand can be space and space is also known in
Tongan, Samoan, and other Pacic languages as
vā. Ta, la and noa are notional, functional, spiri-
tual, relational and some of the cornerstones of
Tongan onotogy.
2Talanoa: A Tongan Research Methodology and Method
An Epistemological and Ontological
Unpacking of Talanoa
Ferris-Leary (2013, pp. 134135) proposed that:
In accordance with Māhinas Ta-Va Theory of Real-
ity and the Hypothesis of Laumālie, I propose
...that Moana (Pacic) wordsare...constructed
from intersections of other Moana wordsor
abbreviations of wordsrather than having a spe-
cic linguistic root, and each wordor abbrevi-
ated word, implies through its laumālie, multiple
and deeper layers of epistemological and ontologi-
cal content. In other words, a single Moana word
may be an additiveconstruction using intersec-
tions of other wordsor... other wordsin order
to include their laumālie.
When tāand vāare repeated, one will have
pulse, pause, pulse, pause again, and again in a
cyclic rhythmic dance (performance) a symbol of
moui (life, essence, sense of being alive) and
membership of a bigger collective. Tāenergizes
and vāprovides the space to give meaning (mālie)
to the tā. In Tongan performing arts, tāand vā
occur in ways that create much melie
(aesthetically sweet, pleasing emotion). In the
ancient times, drumbeats were a form of long
distant communications, and the tā(beats) and
vā(spaces between beats) were arranged to com-
municate all cognitive and emotional and spiritual
contents. Tāand vāof drumming were even used
to energize people to fever excitements in prepa-
ration for battle. There seems to be direct connec-
tions between tāand vāof performing arts (faiva
including talanoa) and the loto e tangata Tonga
(psychology or essence of that Tongan person).
Tongan thinkers such as Māhina and Kaili use tā
and vāas theories of reality to explain and predict
ontological phenomena of Pacic peoples, partic-
ularly Tongans.
The middle of ta-la-noa is la. La can be a short
for Laā, the word for the Sun, a god of the old
Polynesian religions. Laādirectly or indirectly
provided lifes necessities, and much was tributed
to it for those reasons. Polynesians as great navi-
gators of the past prayed to the Laāfor favors in
their oceanic travels. It is not a coincidence that
the sail that took their great vaka (ships) to many
new places is still called la. The genealogy of la
may lead also to (La)ngi (sky), reference to the
great spirit or the place of the god/s. Also, la is the
start of La(umalie), the Tongan for the great spirit,
god. In the past, it was customary not to use a
name of a god for fear of violating their tapu.
When it was necessary to refer to them, it was
the start of the name only that was mentioned.
If we accept la as symbolism for La(umalie),
then tāand vāhave a third intersecting notion
often associated with māfana (warm sense of
anticipation, light-heartedness, positive warm
sensation) which if intensied can lead to achiev-
ing mālie (elevated sense of spirituality; sense of
ecstasy). Manuatu (2002) shares how the pro-
cesses of three Tongan concepts lead to achieving
mālie from Tongan katoanga faiva (cultural per-
formance of Tonga). She suggests that mālie is a
process that produces meaningful connections
between taanga (the context in Tongan language
and culture), hiva (singing), and haka (the bodily
movements); the psyche and the spirit of both the
performers and audience become māfana (light-
heartedness, positive warm sensation), all of
which energize and uplift people to a different
level of spiritual enlightenment and oneness.
If tāand vāin faiva or even in the skilful to and
fro in the performance of talanoa is repeated, then
meaningful mālie can be achieved. If mālie is
sustained over a period or intensied, it can lead
to much elation even ecstasy and a sense of
enhancement and positive well-being. This stage
is often referred to by Tongans as kuo tau-homau-
langi (we have touched or been touched by langi/
heaven), or we are now one with the great spirit/
god. This is the state of spirituality that Halapua
(in Vaioleti 2013) suggested that if reached in
talanoa, information that emmerge is straight
from the heart, uncluttered hence can be trusted
ndings.
The gure below is a graphical intersection that
represents a notional connection and relationship
between tā,laumalie, and noa (vā).A metaphoric
representation of the relationship in a research
situation can be that tāis the researcher who
may lead the talanoa. The participant is noa, the
giver of knowledge. La can be the goodwill,
ethics, protocols, and the spirit that positively
energize and guide the research relationship.
(La)umālie may even be the aim and hope of the
Talanoa: A Tongan Research Methodology and Method 3
research, which will include a result that will
benet Pacic interests. The laumālie of talanoa
will allow the participant to lead and be the tāat
different stages in the to and fro of the talanoa
fusion. La can even be the metaphor for the sail
that harnesses the information fused between tā
and noa (vā) (Fig. 1).
In terms of the value of this approach, Pacic
societies have traditionally used the process of
talanoa to both develop knowledge cooperation
and understanding. Talanoa is a process that is an
important part of social identity and a Pacic way
of viewing and negotiating the world.
Talanoa as a Methodology
Methodology deals with the philosophy, the
assumptions, and values that underlie and guide
the methods used for TRM. TRM takes on a
critical stance for emancipation purposes. For
talanoa, its ologyis about centralizing Pacic
ways and values in how the research methods are
applied. For research, this should ensure that the
integrity of Pacic participants and Pacic
knowledge are maintained or enhanced and the
result of research will be relevant and benecial to
Pacic issues.
In TRM both researcher/s and participants are
active in the process and are involved in dening
and redening meanings in order to arrive at
agreed knowledge. If philosophy is about the
ways people undertake to understand or create
the fundamentals about themselves, their world,
and their relationships to that world and each
other, then it is about those people constructing
knowledge in their own ways, not as prescribed by
other peoplesideals.
Langafonua (elevating or advancing the fonua)
is Tongan for working together for the benet of
society or country. It is about co-building and can
be represented by constructionism inherent in
talanoa. Langafonua is the building or enhancing
what fonua represents such as language and cul-
tural notions such as talanoa. Langafonua by
talanoa is achieved in spread and understanding
of culture and ways of being by those involved.
Talanoa told are lives re-lived and stories re-told
are lives shared with an ever growing concentric
circle of possible hosts for such knowledge. Every
ta
pulse, beat, the tā,
entity, initiator – (in
talanoa research it
can be the
researcher)
la
Laumālie – spirit,
essence. Laā (Sun),
beauty&warth, God in
the old religion,
creator & life
sustainer, la is sail
that drives movement
(spirit that drive &
guides)
noa
space, the vā,
accommodator (in
talanoa research, it
can be the
participant)
Talanoa: A Tongan
Research Methodology
and Method,
Fig. 1 Graphical
intersection that represents
connections between ta,la,
and noa
4Talanoa: A Tongan Research Methodology and Method
time they are shared, they have the chance to be
examined, challenged, enriched, reshaped,
recomposed, and re-owned through good vā
(relationship, relational space). The circle of
learning and reconstruction of fundamentals starts
again so talanoa assures currency and relevancy
of fonua.
Talanoa shares similarities with a narrative
approach to research, especially with reference
to the process used to share information, and
sharing information is sharing of self. TRM shares
a phenomenological approach to research with
grounded theory, naturalist inquiry, and some eth-
nographical research approaches. In talanoa,
however, culture is central and in such talanoa
can become a specic environment too. In this
sense while it is nonlinear and responsive like
the above mainstream methodologies, talanoa is
a phenomenological process that is appropriate to
Tongan or Pacic environment, and philosophy
therefore is different as it is ontologically
embedded.
In previous papers I have argued that for a
while Pacic peoples have been exposed to
research that have not been benecial for them
and suggested that non-Pacic/indigenous meth-
odologies and methods used to guide research for
Pacic issues were ill-equipped to fully compre-
hend Pacic phenomena. The quality of talanoa,
and thus TRM, is dependent on how accurately a
researcher can recognize participant actions and
nonactions, what is said and unsaid in combina-
tion with how they are or are not said (fuo), and
then afrming and interpreting those through the
cultural ways of the participant (uho). These
involve tāand vā(the researcher and participant/
s). What is obvious is the third element
represented by la and in this case laumālie (spirit
or spirituality) as represented by mālie. Achieving
mālie is necessary for a sense of empowerment by
both researcher and participants, a state that will
encourage more critical deep thinking and freer
contributions to the research.
Despite shared characteristics with other meth-
odologies, talanoa centers Pacic cultures and
paradigms, with emancipation of their processes
as a by-product. Using talanoa and its cultural
protocols is a philosophical approach that
provides strategies that empower Pacic peoples
to have control over their knowledge creation and
operationalizes a certain amount of self-
determination. Its philosophical base is collective
and it acknowledges Pacic aspirations for
knowledge creation and knowledge searching.
Talanoa advocates for control over authentic and
trustworthy knowledge-making processes while
developing its own theoretical and methodologi-
cal base for relationship to Māori in Aotearoa and
others and each other.
Talanoa as a Method
Methods are about the way talanoa is used as a
tool, technique, or process to secure or
co-construct knowledge. For that reason, talanoa
involves learning to live, tell, relive, and retell
stories of relational knowing as narrative
inquirers, that is, stories in which ideas are not
owned but shared, reshaped, recomposed, and
renowned through relationship and conversation
at the different levels of talanoa.
When a life (in talanoa) is shared, a certain
essence of the vā(space) environment and tā
(time) which it is shared becomes a part of that
life marking it (talanoa) different from the last
time it is shared. For thousands of years, talanoa
lived and were told orally and relived. In the late
1800s the missionaries taught Tongans to re-live
their lives (hence talanoa) in written texts. Today,
talanoa as lives are relived in emails, phone con-
versations, surveys, and even observations. New
forms of lives are retold or relived electronically
therefore talanoa as a tool, and a method has to
reshape itself to stay timely, precise and
phenomenal.
The following methods are approaches that can
be applied at different stages of the talanoa. The
methods can be utilized singularly, simulta-
neously, or discursively. One method of the
talanoa may be dominant, and others can be
employed interchangeably to set a good atmo-
sphere, pass or obtain information holistically,
and prod or triangulate while observing cultural
protocols. Based on Tongan protocols and
Talanoa: A Tongan Research Methodology and Method 5
language, methods of the talanoa that are likely to
be used are:
Talatalanoa
Talatala can mean consultative; therefore,
talatalanoa can mean consultative talk with a
view to uncover something. Talatalanoa allows
the speakers and participants to go to and fro
many times, and every time those involved go
back, they pick up and unpack matters missed/
not realized (Linita Manuatu, talanoa, Aug.
2016). It is almost always done calmly and with
a positive spirit. Since a composition by the late
King Tupou IV called Toe Talatalanoa (let us talk
again), talatalanoa had taken a softer, deeper, and
spiritual meaning. The late King implied that
talatalanoa is the method in which God commu-
nicates with his unreserved compassion. One of
the lines is fakaikiiki hangēki ha tamaiki which
actually means the messages are simplied as if
for children and that love is given out of compas-
sion and freely.
Talatalanoa then from the above discussions
uses simple language, and it requires minimal
formality because of the good understanding or
relationship between those involved; however, as
it is for the Tongan language, it is ontologically
shaped. It may just be a way to maintain connec-
tion, or to lay the foundation for a more objectied
talanoa such as fakaekeeke and talanoaiat a
later stage.
Talanoa faikava
Faikava is the process in which kava is prepared
for drinking at a gathering. A faikava can consist
of two or more people in a circle, and the main
ingredient shared are kava and talanoa. In faikava
the most senior person of the group monitors and
directs the activities of the occasion including the
talanoa to maintain a good vāand the group on
any task at hand.
The use of faikava is a metaphor for a group of
shared characteristics; therefore, its use in talanoa
is likened to a focus group. In faikava, it is com-
mon for one person to speak at a time, and while
they speak, everyone actively engages and reects
until it is the next persons time to contribute. One
topic is interrogated at one time until what needs
to be covered has been completed.
Talanoa usu
Ana Moungatonga (talanoa, Dec, 2010)
suggested that talanoa usu is ...mea fau
pe...(just a construction), a makeup story. She
further suggested that ...oku aonga ia ke fau
ha founga ke fakateto kiai hano fakamatai ha
uhinga oku faingataa hono fakamatalai...
(it is used as a metaphor for scaffolding those
involved in the talanoa to more important or key
information that may be difcult to explain).
Experts in talanoa usu can capture appreciative
participants as these experts are skilled in humor
and in contextual constructions to suit topics but
still respectful to participantsage, gender, and
rank. It is ideal for building trust and for relaxing
participants.
Talanoa fahaikehe (tevolo)
Fahaikehe means those from the other side
(including ancestors). The Christian missionaries
rename fahaikehe tevolo (devil) to discourage the
Tongan people from activities that involved
fahaikehe. However, today these talanoa engage
the emotion, spirit, body, and the mind in ways
that most other talanoa cannot. This is an onto-
logical dimension of talanoa and has to do with
supernatural matters. This is fundamental to
understanding Tongan thoughts, relationships,
spirituality, and knowledge as it strikes at the
heart of their epistemology. As epistemology
includes how knowledge is legitimated, some
Tongans (and other Pacic peoples) still consider
dreams, visitations, and visions to be a source of
legitimated knowledge.
Talanoa fakaekeeke
Eke implies act of asking direct questions. Faka
means the way of and ekeeke implies verbal
searching, interviewing, or even relentless
questioning. Talanoa fakaekeeke can start with
a question, and depending on the answer, more
probing questions may follow. The questions con-
nect or build on the answers given by participants
in order to identify or uncover certain point/s.
6Talanoa: A Tongan Research Methodology and Method
Because this talanoa has a more objective aim,
it is efcient and likely to be dominated by the
researcher. This approach is more likely to miss
social contexts and other dimensions necessary
for a full picture. However, one can employ
pōtalanoa to gain more data on issues missed by
this approach. Fakaekeeke is the term given to
formal police investigative procedures in Tonga.
Pōtalanoa
Pōimplies night or evening which points to this
talanoas origin. In a Tongan village life before
the time of television, after the evening meal,
friends, relatives, and neighbors would visit each
othershouse to talanoa, discuss family matters,
as well as the more secular such as sharing plans
and hopes for the days ahead. It may be what we
identify as conversation and can be held anytime,
both day and night. Manuatu (2002, p. 194)
describes pōtalanoa as:
...Cultural and political practice of Tongan people
where space in time is created to connect to the
contexts of their experiences through discussions
and talking with others. Through pōtalanoa, the
people come to know questions, nd out,...about
their world and their relationships to it. In my view a
key to the practice of pōtalanoa is the capacity of
people to connect with each other within a context
of whether it is kinship, a work experience, com-
mon knowledge, faith or whatever.
It is tting that Manuatu (above) saw
pōtalanoa as the way people come to know ques-
tions and become aware of their world and their
relationships to it which form the elements of the
very philosophical argument of this chapter for
talanoa.
Talanoai
Talanoaiis a verb; purposeful, has a particular
aim which may be an outcome. Talanoaiallows
participants to go back and forth many times, and
every time those involved go back, they pick up
and unpack matters that may have been missed. It
implies high-level analysis and synthesis. Those
involved in talanoaihave similar backgrounds or
status, complementary expertise in the topic of a
talanoa. Talanoaithen is a more rigorous process
guided by its purpose/s and possibly a leader. It
may even take the form of a robust debate but with
the normal respect for age, gender, and others
cultural conventions.
In talanoaithe researcher is not a distant
observer but is active in the talanoa process and
in dening and redening meanings in order to
achieve the aim of what is being talanoai.
Talanoaiis suited for stripping layers of history
and hurt that may have lead to tension, bad rela-
tionships, and even conict. Talanoaiencourages
contributions from participants just as participants
may demand the same of the researcher. Different
people may take leadership at different stages of
the encounter in the active pursuit of the best
knowledge, solution, or a nal consensus.
Tālanga
Tālanga is dialogical and involves both the acts of
speaking and listening. Talanga can be used to
challenge. The two approaches of tālanga are
kaui-talanoa and tau-ngutu. Kaui-talanoa can
mean joining a conversation which one is not
expected to (Vakauta 2008 in Vaioleti 2013).
This may be a result of exclusion based on rank,
gender, age, or class. Kaui-talanoa is used to
disrupt and challenge the authenticity or fact of a
talanoa. It is used by outsiders or less powerful
individual or groups to invite themselves into a
talanoa. At another level, tau-ngutu (ghting or
warring mouth) is talking or arguing back, a more
forceful way of stating opposing views (ibid).
Tālanga can be used to challenge a process or
ndings during and even after the talanoa
process.
Further Discussion on Talanoa
and Application
When the methods of talanoa are used skillfully,
positive relationships and richer ndings can
result. They can be used to triangulate; to assess
authenticity as well as cause and effect through
power differentiation (e.g. between researchers
(tā) and or between participants (vā)) and adjust
reexivily whenever needed. These can be done
using talatalanoa or tālanga while talanoa faikava
is introduced regularly to maintain
the mālie (enjoyment) of talanoa. The person
Talanoa: A Tongan Research Methodology and Method 7
who is leading the talanoa can use one or as many
methods simultaneously as appropriate to assist
participants in reconstructing or recapture the full
richness of experiences being studied.
When TRM is used to study a phenomenon,
talanoa attempts to understand it through the eyes
of the participants. For that reason, the multiple
approaches of talanoa would be a culturally, spir-
itually, intellectually exible method for explicat-
ing the meaning, structure, and essence of such
phenomenon as it appears to the participants.
Talatalanoa may be a good start for a talanoa to
focus participants into the task and then the
researcher or the participant/s can use talanoa
fakaekeeke to clarify points or even establish
creditability or either party. Talanoa usu can be
used concurrently to scaffold any party to the
topic or relax them while layering on meaning in
the reconstruction of the phenomenon being
studied.
Cultural interplays during talanoa include
emotions, silence, reective thoughts, and eye
and body movements which are all integrated
and inseparable parts of talanoa as collectively
they are articulation of participantscommunica-
tion. It is in the exible and multilevel manifesta-
tions of talanoa that allow skillful researchers and
participants to construct, relive, retell, and
re-share their experiences in their richest and
most authentic forms.
Protocol/Ethics in Talanoa
Vaioleti (2006, pp. 2932) discussed
fakaapaapa (respect), anga lelei (appropriate
disposition), mateuteu (prepared well), poto he
anga (culturally apt), and ofa feunga (exercise
appropriate compassion), based in anga
faka-Tonga (Tongan processes and ways) and
how to apply them contextually to guide talanoa.
These will protect the integrity of participants and
researchers and ensure that data collected, nd-
ings, or construction are as authentic as possible.
Talanoa should be pragmatic, and when it loses
mālie (aesthetics, authenticity, spirit) or no more
new information is forthcoming, then it should
cease. The protocols proposed to guide talanoa
emphasizes that while truth is good, respect for
human dignity is better.
Fakakaukau (Bringing Together):
Thoughts on Analysis
Talanoa research approach can generate a large
quantity of information, notes, tape recordings,
jottings, and emails all of which have to be ana-
lyzed, and information do not naturally fall into
neat categories. However, in a small-scale talanoa
research using physical documents, the analysis of
the information is likely to be manageable. This
can be done by reading through material gener-
ated and get a feel for what is collected, identify-
ing key themes and issues in each text. They
should be then entered under different headings
but categories related to the research questions to
be juxtaposed and compared to identify relation-
ships between different themes and other factors.
However, for larger projects with a signicant
numbers of participants, it is now customary for
the data to be uploaded to an electronic database
to be coded and processed using programs such as
Nvivo in order to analyze, characterize, classify,
and visualize the information gathered. The skill
in interpreting the data and creating the knowl-
edge from the TRM ndings still rests with the
researcher/s. The advice given here though is that
reasons for making decisions on inuential ele-
ments of the analysis such as coding or chucking,
main categorizes, and how those are related or
contributed to answering the research questions
should be recorded and transparent as this will
contribute to the robustness and acceptance of
the nal ndings of the TRM.
Talanoa shares a philosophical base with
Kaupapa Māori and other localized critical
research methodologies; therefore, it is effective
in visualizing deep issues and making voices
heard. This is not always comfortable for funders
or dominant institutions. On the other hand, many
organizations value the new and cultural insights
that can be the start for developing authentic and
lasting solutions, which an indigenous research
approach can bring in terms of cutting through
issues that limit the opportunities for those that
8Talanoa: A Tongan Research Methodology and Method
have not benetted fully from what our civiliza-
tion has achieved.
References
Churchward, C. M. (1959). Tongan dictionary. London:
Oxford University Press.
Ferris-Leary, H. E. (2013). An analytical perspective on
Moana research and the case of Tongan Faiva. Doc-
toral dissertation, ResearchSpace, Auckland.
Manuatu, L. (2002). Pedagogical possibilities for Tongan
students in New Zealand secondary schooling: Tuli ke
mau hono ngaahi mālie. Unpublished EdD thesis, The
University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Smith, L. T. (2012). Decolonizing
methodologies Research and indigenous peoples
(2nd ed.). London/New York: Zed Books.
Vaioleti, T. M. (2006). Talanoa research methodology:
A developing position on Pacic research. Waikato
Journal of Education, 12, 2034.
Vaioleti, T. M. (2011). Talanoa, Manulua and Founga
Ako: Frameworks for using enduring Tongan educa-
tional ideas for education in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Waikato,
Hamilton.
Vaioleti, T. (2013). Talanoa: Differentiating the Talanoa
research methodology from phenomenology, narrative,
Kaupapa Māori and feminist methodologies. Te Reo,
56, 191.
Talanoa: A Tongan Research Methodology and Method 9
... Within talanoa, there are several methods for data collection such as talatalanoa (preparatory exchanges), talanoa faikava (focus groups), talanoa faka'eke'eke (interviewing), tālanga (interactive dialogue) (Vaioleti, 2011(Vaioleti, , 2013. In Tongan, talatala can mean consultative (Vaioleti, 2016) and noa means in this context flexible, or talking without the influence of predetermined agenda (Halapua, 2003;Vaioleti, 2006). Therefore, talatalanoa can be defined as a consultative talk with a view to uncover something (Vaioleti, 2016). ...
... In Tongan, talatala can mean consultative (Vaioleti, 2016) and noa means in this context flexible, or talking without the influence of predetermined agenda (Halapua, 2003;Vaioleti, 2006). Therefore, talatalanoa can be defined as a consultative talk with a view to uncover something (Vaioleti, 2016). Talatalanoa involves speaking and listening. ...
... 56), through talanoa. Talatalanoa is normally carried out with positive spirit (Vaioleti, 2016). ...
... This qualitative descriptive study explored the attitudes of Tongan adults resident in Counties Manukau about cough and healthcare access. Drawing on the Tongan cultural framework, talanoa, a Pacific research specific methodology was used to generate an authentic research process in addition to cocreating knowledge from participant narratives as a method (Vaioleti, 2016). ...
... Initial introductions and general conversations took place to establish family, community, church, and Pacific heritage connections, aligned with values of reciprocity and respect that underpin the talanoa methodology and method (Vaioleti, 2016). Semi-structured questions in the interview guide (Appendix B) included probes about cultural values, attitudes about cough, what treatments were tried (natural/Tongan/pharmacological), who participants had received treatment from including GP/ family doctor (Toketa fakafamili) or traditional healer (Faito'o faka-Tonga), and what factors influenced them in seeking treatment from healthcare providers. ...
Article
Little is known about the unique attitudes of Aotearoa New Zealand Tongan residents to chronic cough and healthcare access. Chronic cough is synonymous with respiratory conditions and delayed assessment and management may result in detrimental effects on quality of life, hospital admission, and mortality. Talanoa were undertaken with seven Tongan adults to explore attitudes to chronic cough and healthcare access that may facilitate or inhibit diagnosis and management. Three key themes were constructed representing disruption to dimensions of the Fonua model of health and an imbalance between the interconnectivity of life’s dimensions: (1) “feeling the cold” and the “warmth of remedies”; (2) the multidimensional impact of cough and action/inaction taken; and (3) discrepancies between understanding and accessing cough care, including respiratory physiotherapy. Study findings highlight the importance of increased community understanding of chronic cough and why and how to better access care pathways. Appreciation of the unique cultural nuances and health models of diverse patient populations, including Tongan, is essential to enhance engagement and ensure culturally responsive practice is provided. The promotion and marketing of respiratory physiotherapy in cough management is also required so that people understand, access, and engage with therapies to optimise their respiratory health.
... Grounded theory allowed a flexible but systematic approach to generating categories grounded in the data to develop a theory to guide action [14]. To ensure that Indigenous and minoritized perspectives were shared, Kaupapa Māori [17] and Talanoa [18,19] principles were interwoven into a culturally-sensitive approach appropriate for the NZ setting (Supplementary Table 1). Māori developed Kaupapa Māori research theory to validate their worldview (cultural approaches, values and beliefs) [17,20] and to overcome deficit narratives within Western research approaches [17,20]. ...
... Similarly, Pasifika people developed specific culturallyconducive guiding research principles for their people, focusing on relationship, partnership, and community within the Talanoa methodology [18,19]. Talanoa values reciprocity, respect, and open dialogue [22]. ...
Article
Full-text available
Background Higher odds of survival have been reported in European infants compared to Indigenous Māori and Pasifika infants with critical congenital heart disease in New Zealand. We therefore aimed to understand how to mitigate this disparity by investigating the parent and healthcare professional experiences’ of critical congenital heart disease healthcare in New Zealand. Methods A prospective qualitative study utilising semi-structured interviews was conducted on a cohort of purposefully sampled parents and health professionals with experience of critical congenital heart disease healthcare in New Zealand. Parents were recruited after a fetal critical congenital heart disease diagnosis and offered two interviews at least three months apart, whilst multidisciplinary fetal and cardiosurgical health professionals were interviewed once. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim before coding, categorization and qualitative analysis. Results During 2022 and 2023, 45 people participated in 57 interviews (25 parents: 19 mothers, 6 fathers; Indigenous Māori, n = 5; Pasifika, n = 6; Asian, n = 4; European, n = 10; and 20 healthcare professionals: European n = 17). The three lessons learned from participants were: (1) Minoritized groups experience disparate healthcare quality; (2) healthcare systems are under-resourced to provide equitable support for the differential needs of grieving parents; and (3) healthcare systems could engage minoritized families more optimally in shared decision-making. Conclusions According to the experiences of parents and healthcare professionals, persisting inequities in CCHD healthcare quality occur by ethnic group, with the New Zealand healthcare system privileging European families. The concepts from this study could be translated by healthcare leaders, policymakers, and professionals into evidence-based healthcare system improvements to enhance experiences for non-European families more broadly.
... As such, the cultural principles that Vaioleti asserts are necessary for cultivating the vā (relational space) and engaging in talanoa were mobilised almost non-reflexively and derived from tacit knowing, having, and sharing Pacific cultural values and ways of moving and being gendered in the world. 35 As a result, our talanoa flowed as a talanoa between friends, where once rapport was built, we talked, shared, laughed, and often cried together. ...
Article
Full-text available
Talanoa is a research methodology that foregrounds Pacific cultural values and acknowledges the importance of the positioning of researchers and participants in the research space. Researchers are encouraged to consider how their social characteristics, such as their gendered social positioning, shape their interactions with participants. Scholarship that carefully examines the significance of positionality, and approaches research with Pacific people from a Pacific epistemological stance, provides critical conceptual and practical guidance. In this paper, as a married Samoan mother and early career researcher in the social sciences, I reflect on gendered relational spaces in one-on-one talanoa with Pacific mothers and fathers.
... Within this text, I use lea faka-Tonga to intercept the dominant tendency to frame understanding and composition by predominantly relying on English concepts and language for meaning. Like Tongan scholars Linitā Manuʻatu (2000) and Timote Vaioleti (2016), I employ talatalanoa 3 here to invite Tongan and Indigenous students and scholars to engage in this space of ongoing discussion about the ways in which we can appropriately draw from our ancestral knowledges and collaborate with each other to make sense of and honor our knowledge and language within academia. At the same time, this discourse will allow a wider audience to consider and appreciate what it means to live and work-with 4 knowledge systems that are outside of their own. ...
... Within this text, I use lea faka-Tonga to intercept the dominant tendency to frame understanding and composition by predominantly relying on English concepts and language for meaning. Like Tongan scholars Linitā Manuʻatu (2000) and Timote Vaioleti (2016), I employ talatalanoa 3 here to invite Tongan and Indigenous students and scholars to engage in this space of ongoing discussion about the ways in which we can appropriately draw from our ancestral knowledges and collaborate with each other to make sense of and honor our knowledge and language within academia. At the same time, this discourse will allow a wider audience to consider and appreciate what it means to live and work-with 4 knowledge systems that are outside of their own. ...
... Within this text, I use lea faka-Tonga to intercept the dominant tendency to frame understanding and composition by predominantly relying on English concepts and language for meaning. Like Tongan scholars Linitā Manuʻatu (2000) and Timote Vaioleti (2016), I employ talatalanoa 3 here to invite Tongan and Indigenous students and scholars to engage in this space of ongoing discussion about the ways in which we can appropriately draw from our ancestral knowledges and collaborate with each other to make sense of and honor our knowledge and language within academia. At the same time, this discourse will allow a wider audience to consider and appreciate what it means to live and work-with 4 knowledge systems that are outside of their own. ...
Chapter
Full-text available
A conclusion often entails providing answers derived from questions like “What does all this mean?” and “What do we now know about the topic we did not know before?” While conventionally appealing, these questions become redundant within a feminist new materialist approach, as they are premised on a separation between the knower (research- er) and the known (subject/s). This chapter explores tensions that emerge between ontological foundations of research and thesis writing conventions, such as a tidy conclusion. Drawing on Karen Barad’s (2007) concepts of onto-epistem-ology and intra-action, I consider how a new materialist ontology re- configures binary concepts such as question/answer, research/ researcher, and knowing/not knowing. These binary concepts often underpin the conclusions a thesis offers, along with doctoral framings of success and failure. The chapter ponders questions that emerge for re-imagining doctoral writing when binaries are blurred. You can find the book here: https://wac.colostate.edu/books/international/doctoral/
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Crucial to the success of Pacific learners is the engagement of schools with the learners’ families and their communities. This article reports on a small-scale study which focussed on home–school relationships for Pacific secondary learners in Aotearoa New Zealand. It explored good practice and further considered how schools might develop their home–school practices to better support Pacific students. An Appreciative Inquiry (AI) lens supported this strength-based approach. AI promotes positive change through the inclusion of multiple voices. This article argues that AI is a tool which schools could use to review and develop their home–school relationships with Pacific families and, in so doing, bring about structural changes that promote successful learning experiences for Pacific students.
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The Talanoa Research Methodology (TRM) is now arguably the most prominent research methodology applied across the Pacific. This article seeks to build on the TRM first described in 2002, examining some of the fundamental dimensions of TRM, highlighting its fluidity and broad utility in different research situations. It will also compare and contrast TRM to Phenomenology, Narrative, Kaupapa Mäori and the Feminist philosophies to clarify and differentiate its characteristics and allow more researchers to consider it for use as a research methodology.
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TALANOA RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (TRM) is an indigenous, localised and critical methodology. It drew its inspirations from the challenges by the international feminist movements to the traditional knowledge making and the critical stances of Kaupapa Maori research as well as other indigenous Research Methodologies have taken against the dominance by the traditional research methodologies and their assumptions. Talanoa Research Methodology is used as methodology for PhD studies, government departments and businesses research. It studies in Universities' methodology courses and TRM is now the most used indigenous Pacific research methodology across the Pacific.
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Talanoa Research Methodology (TRM) contributes to the theorising on Pacific research from a personal and Tongan perspectives. The majority of the thinking and concepts discussed seek to provide a space for Pacific perspectives (as legitimated) in research. It shares similarities with other localised critical research approaches. TRM discusses what constitutes ‘normality’ in research approaches and theorises on appropriate approaches to researching Pacific educational and social issues and the influence Pacific indigenous values have on the way Pacific peoples in New Zealand see and communicate their worlds.
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Educational achievement for Pacific students is a Government priority according to the Pacific Plan 2009- 2012 (Ministry of Education, 2009). For Tongan students though, Thaman (1988) highlights major differences in Pacific parents educational aims stating that for them, there is a focus on social and moral aspects of learning and the utilisation of learned capabilities for the common good, rather than a sole focus on individual advancement (pp. 236-237). Education for Tongan students then may need a different approach to recognise Thaman’s finding. This thesis advocates for the inclusion of Tongan educational concepts and values in teaching and learning in Aotearoa/New Zealand. This thesis also argues that in Aotearoa/New Zealand’s schools, Tongan students should be exposed to their own language, moral, social and spiritual concepts, important elements of their culture. The central proposition of this thesis is that Tongan students will achieve better and more meaningful educational outcomes in the country’s primary, secondary and tertiary institutions through improved self-esteem, stemming from an acknowledgement of their Tongan identity and the knowledge that their unique ways of learning are respected in Aotearoa/New Zealand’s education system. To provide a context for my argument, I begin with the journey that I undertook with the support of my fonua, which eventually led me to write this thesis. My approach to addressing the research question involved both an extensive review of the literature as well as numerous talanoa with groups and individuals in several countries. In order to gather the information I required, it was necessary to develop a method that respected the polity and culture of the Tongan people with whom I worked. The appropriate Tongan approach was one that employed the metaphor of the kakala (Thaman, 1993a, 1997a) as an integrating framework for what I term as Talanoa Research Methodology. The information gained and knowledge co-constructed from application of this methodology form the substance of the thesis. From using the Talanoa Research Methodology, information gathered and co-created from numerous talanoa, were used to create an ideal sense of being for a Tongan which is one who is a balanced spiritual social being who is at harmony with self, family, the environment and his/her God/s. This ideal context incorporates an ongoing fusion, negotiation and balancing of supernatural beliefs with the demands of contemporary living. This state is symbolically represented by the ancient motif of manulua. It is proposed that fostering this ideal cultural state in the classroom should be a central aim in education for Tongans. An integrated learning approach that can be used by both teachers and students, one that employs the Tongan educational concepts of ‘ofa, ‘ilo, poto, fatongia and fonua, is suggested to guide teaching and learning that could prepare them to a balanced and harmonious life where they culturally function fully in their own community. I call this integrated learning framework or pedagogy, Founga Ako. Founga Ako framework, along with Talanoa Research Methodology and Manulua gifted from ancestors, kaunga fau and kau nga fa’u represent the three completed kalala I am preparing to luva from this thesis. These are indicative of my ‘ofa and gratitude to my former teachers, family members, inspirational Pacific and other leaders who have nurtured me. The learnings for Tongan students will then be more holistic and aligned to their cultural ways and the aspirations of their communities.
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Restricted Item. Print thesis available in the University of Auckland Library or may be available through Inter-Library Loan. Restricted Item. Print thesis available in the University of Auckland Library or may be available through Inter-Library Loan. This study addresses the complex issue of the 'achievement' of Tongan students in secondary schooling in Aotearoa New Zealand. It argues that the current model of 'Pacific Islands Education' underpinning attempts to assist Tongan students in fact fails to inform practices that could transform their experiences of underachievement in secondary schooling. Rather, I maintain, the popular notion of 'Pacific Islands Education' paradoxically serves to perpetuate the marginalisation of Tongan students and maintain the status quo. As a critique of 'Pacific Islands Education', the thesis draws upon Tongan knowledge of good pedagogical ideas. This ideas are drawn from a critical exploration of two Tongan community-based learning contexts enacted 'within' the formal secondary school system in Auckland, namely the Katoanga Faiva (the ASB Bank Maori and Pacific Island Secondary Schools Cultural Festival) and the Po Ako (Homework Centre project). I argue that malie and mafana, notions that are explored in the thesis as constitutive of good social relationships, are the key to good pedagogy and learning in both of these sites-the only place where substantial numbers of Tongan parents and young people actively and enthusiastically engage with the school. Malie and mafana offer a useful Tongan theoretical framework in which 'achievement' in the broader context of the school can be analysed and reconfigured. As well as recognising the real strengths of, and insights offered by, the two Tongan pedagogical sites, this thesis addresses dangers in both Tongan community and mainstream enthusiasm for these initiatives. I argue that an exclusive focus on skilled, malie-filled 'performance' separated from an analysis of the social, political, and economic positioning of Tongans within New Zealand, merely serves, ultimately, to reproduce the marginalization of Tongan (and other 'Pacific') people in the New Zealand schooling system.
An analytical perspective on Moana research and the case of Tongan Faiva. Doctoral dissertation
  • H E Ferris-Leary
Ferris-Leary, H. E. (2013). An analytical perspective on Moana research and the case of Tongan Faiva. Doctoral dissertation, ResearchSpace, Auckland.