Va‘a Tele: Pasifika learners riding the success wave on linguistically and culturally responsive pedagogies

For Pasifika learners being schooled in English-medium classrooms, success is premised on the belief that language and literacy development are central to their achievement at school. Schools, however, are not culturally neutral domains, and certain forms of knowledge are valued and emphasised over others in English-medium schooling. Pasifika families want their children to be successful at school. Notions of what constitutes genuine success for minority learners within majority culture schooling (Baker, 2011; Gay, 2010; Gonzalez, Moll & Amanti, 2005) indicate that Pasifika learners should be able to succeed as Pasifika people, rather than fulfilling expectations that require them to become members of the ???majority??? culture in order to achieve lifelong academic, or professional goals. If Pasifika learners??? languages, cultures, and identities are represented in the ???valued knowledge of school???, and utilised as a normal part of language and literacy learning in their classrooms, then their perceptions of success will include, rather than exclude, their linguistic and cultural identities. This research explores the notion of success for Pasifika learners in English-medium classrooms and the central role that teachers and leaders play in enabling these learners to connect the worldviews, languages, literacy practices and experiences of their homes with the valued knowledge and literacy practices of school, so that ultimately Pasifika learners experience success in all the worlds they walk in. The research was set within a national literacy professional development project which schools joined voluntarily with the goal of raising student achievement in English literacy. Teachers were engaged in professional learning over two years, and were supported by a facilitator to raise student achievement in reading and/or writing. The study used a mixed methods case study approach in which the practices of five ???effective??? teachers of Pasifika learners were explored in order to devise, with support from the research literature, dimensions of effective literacy practice specific to Pasifika learners. The practices of five teachers who were seeking to improve their practice, and who joined the literacy project a year after the effective teachers, were investigated in order to understand how teachers could make relevant changes using the same dimensions. The particular leadership and facilitation practices that supported them to improve were also investigated. In addition, leadership practices that promoted reciprocal learning focused partnerships between school leaders, teachers, and the families of Pasifika learners were examined. Analysis of findings from each of these research foci suggested that teachers can teach Pasifika learners effectively and in particular ways that connect with and build on their specific languages, cultures, and identities to become literate at school. School leaders and facilitators can support teachers in adaptive ways that enable them to improve their practice, and to utilise teaching and…