The Future of Education

“Navigating Pacific Studies” was jointly developed by academics from three different disciplines and has been taught across three Australian universities. The course was designed as gateway into debates about theory and practice that shape how we conceptualise and think about the region and its peoples.

The course itself is built around three learning modules – the past, present and future. In the past we come to understand the voyages that brought people to the region and the stories they tell about their journeys. We investigate colonisation, the impact it had and still has on the region, and the different ways it can be understood. In the recent present we examine the new voyages that Pacific people have taken into places like Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Through this reflection paper and presentation we aim to look at how people move within and between these new boundaries and how Pacific cultures and identities have evolved over time and place. Finally, we bring all of these themes together by examining how the past and the present can help us imagine the future.

Purpose
Education and Pasifika capacity and capability has been at the forefront of the development agenda for decades, yet educational outcomes and success for Pasifika students globally have not improved.  Research Since the global recession statistics have demonstrated that young people are the most at-risk of unemployment post 2008 and currently, young people face one of the major historical challenges in entering the labour market. This is compounded by the fact that young people continue to leave formal education at high rates and many fail to attain postsecondary qualifications (Holzer, 2010).  

In the United States young African-American males (aged 16 to 24) who have not completed compulsory schooling  have been identified as having the highest youth unemployment rates and face many educational and employment challenges (Sum, Khatiwada, McLaughlin, & Tobar, 2007). 

Similarly, New Zealand, Maori and Pacific young people in Australia have the lowest academic achievement levels and the highest levels of youth unemployment (Kearney & Donaghy, 2010; Statistics New Zealand & Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, 2010).  Although there is limited national research or evidence on Pasifika education, anecdotal evidence and research from Queensland and New South Wales indicates that Pasifika students are underrepresented.

We explore e-learning as an effective means  of addressing the issues of increasing student demands, student finances, and rapid technological change however, the opportunity to study in isolation, away from the rest of the group does not always appeal to students who identify as Pacific Islanders. For this reason, we examine technology-enabled teaching through the examination of an online course: Navigating Pacific Studies, on how to bring together online pedagogy and indigenous ways of knowing for effective student learning.