Decolonising Pacific research,building Pacific research communities and developing Pacific research tools: The case of the talanoa and the faafaletui in Samoa |
| |
| Authors: | Tamasailau Suaalii‐Sauni Saunimaa Ma Fulu‐Aiolupotea |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Va'aomanu Pasifika Unit, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, , Wellington, 6140 New ZealandDr Tamasailau Suaalii‐Sauni is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Pacific Studies and the Samoan Studies Programmes of the Vaaomanu Pasifika Unit, School of Social and Cultural Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington (VUW). Prior to taking up this position, she was Senior Research Fellow with the Centre for International Health, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago. She was based in Samoa from December 2008 to July 2011, working with NUS's Centre for Samoan Studies, Faculty of Business and Entrepreneurship, and the then Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences in research capacity building projects.;2. School of Nursing, Faculty of Applied Sciences, National University of Samoa, , Apia, SamoaSaunimaa Ma Fulu‐Aiolupotea is currently a Nurse Lecturer in the School of Nursing, Faculty of Applied Sciences (the School of Nursing was formerly with the Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences which was disestablished in 2012). She worked as a registered nurse midwife in Samoa for over 20 years before joining NUS. She teaches in the areas of midwifery, anatomy, physiology, pharmacology for nurses,pathophysiology and applied nursing clinical practices. |
| |
| Abstract: | In building Samoan academic researcher capacity in Samoa, we argue that there is a need to first establish the kind of researcher community advocated by Linda Tuhiwai Smith, and to do so through developing research tools, such as the talanoa and faafaletui, in partnership with researcher capacity‐building initiatives such as the applied postgraduate social and health research methods course (coded PUBX731‐HSA505) run by the Centre for International Health, University of Otago, in partnership with the National University of Samoa. This paper offers a commentary on the talanoa and faafaletui as Pacific research methodologies, and asks what its value might be for researchers in Samoa. It reflects on the learning experiences of staff and students of the applied social and health research methods course in relation to the talanoa and faafaletui as Pacific research methodologies or methods. It concludes that developing Pacific research and researcher capacity in Pacific Island countries, such as Samoa, must include opening up spaces within these communities to critically engage what is Pacific or Samoan or indigenous about these research tools, methods or methodologies, and how they might differ in form or substance from other methods or methodologies. |
| |
| Keywords: | Pacific research Samoa indigenous methodology decolonising methodologies talanoa faafaletui |
|
|
