title: Ua tafea le tau'ofe: Samoan cultural rituals through death and bereavement experiences

authors: Seiuli, Byron Malaela Sotiata

subjects: Samoan funerals

abstract: Given that dialogue relating to death and grief for many Samoans remains in the realm of tapu (sacred) or sā (protected), few attempts have been made by researchers of Samoan heritage to understand whether the cultural contexts for enacting associated rituals might also provide avenues for healing. Psychological scholarship on recovery following death, particularly among men, is largely based on dominant western perspectives that continue to privilege both clinical and ethnocentric perspectives as the norm. Using the Samoan experience, I argue for a greater consideration of recovery from death as a culturally-defined process. In many instances, instead of severing ties with the deceased person as is popular in clinical approaches to grief work, this thesis makes an original contribution to the canon by demonstrating that Samoan grief resolution strongly endorses continued connections through its mourning rituals. Their end-of-life enactment helps to transition the deceased from this life to the next, while drawing the living together. Critically, the performance and maintenance of such important tasks create space for heaving emotions to be calmed, where meaning is made, and where the lives of those impacted are slowly restored. Some rituals offered therapeutic value, enabling the Samoan men involved in this study to walk hand-in-hand with their emotional distress, while transitioning them through the grieving process. Such mourning traditions are meaningful and culturally preferred. Moreover, the theoretical framework engaged by this research is predominantly informed by Samoan and Pasefika research perspectives such as the Uputāua Therapeutic Approach (UTA). UTA is firmly grounded in fa’asamoa (Samoan way) cultural traditions, while allowing space for western perspectives of therapeutic care to be incorporated into the research processes. This thesis critically advocates that psychology as a discipline could become more responsive and effective towards considering the centrality of indigenous perspectives of grief resolution when engaging with people from non-western cultures. As this thesis demonstrates, Samoan mourning rituals provided a significant pathway for my participants to validate and celebrate their cultural identity wherever they were situated.

text: Ua tafea le tau'ofe: Samoan cultural rituals through death and bereavement experiences Given that dialogue relating to death and grief for many Samoans remains in the realm of tapu (sacred) or sā (protected), few attempts have been made by researchers of Samoan heritage to understand whether the cultural contexts for enacting associated rituals might also provide avenues for healing. Psychological scholarship on recovery following death, particularly among men, is largely based on dominant western perspectives that continue to privilege both clinical and ethnocentric perspectives as the norm. Using the Samoan experience, I argue for a greater consideration of recovery from death as a culturally-defined process. In many instances, instead of severing ties with the deceased person as is popular in clinical approaches to grief work, this thesis makes an original contribution to the canon by demonstrating that Samoan grief resolution strongly endorses continued connections through its mourning rituals. Their end-of-life enactment helps to transition the deceased from this life to the next, while drawing the living together. Critically, the performance and maintenance of such important tasks create space for heaving emotions to be calmed, where meaning is made, and where the lives of those impacted are slowly restored. Some rituals offered therapeutic value, enabling the Samoan men involved in this study to walk hand-in-hand with their emotional distress, while transitioning them through the grieving process. Such mourning traditions are meaningful and culturally preferred. Moreover, the theoretical framework engaged by this research is predominantly informed by Samoan and Pasefika research perspectives such as the Uputāua Therapeutic Approach (UTA). UTA is firmly grounded in fa’asamoa (Samoan way) cultural traditions, while allowing space for western perspectives of therapeutic care to be incorporated into the research processes. This thesis critically advocates that psychology as a discipline could become more responsive and effective towards considering the centrality of indigenous perspectives of grief resolution when engaging with people from non-western cultures. As this thesis demonstrates, Samoan mourning rituals provided a significant pathway for my participants to validate and celebrate their cultural identity wherever they were situated.

year: 2015

title: Ngā Akoranga pai o te Tuhinga Pūrākau. Lessons from the heart of learning stories

authors: Fabian, Katalin

subjects: learning stories

abstract: This study investigated how New Zealand teachers in Early Childhood Education (ECE) gathered, documented and utilised assessment information about children’s learning. It utilised phenomenological inquiry, with data being gathered through semi-structured interviews with ﬁve experienced ECE teachers. Theﬁndings highlight the complexity of the predominant narrative assessment format used by the teachers: Learning Stories. The strong reliance on teachers’ fundamental competencies and understanding of the writing process was central to narrative assessment. On the other hand, ﬁndings emphasised the beneﬁtsof well-written Learning Stories and highlighted interesting ways they can be utilised. This article focuses on two important aspects of ECE assessment. Firstly, the teacher who is the heart of the Learning Story-writing process, and who possesses a complex skillset to connect with people, collect information and articulate an important message about the child as a learner. Secondly, on the Learning Story itself, its beneﬁts and the ways that assessment information can be utilised from them.

text: Ngā Akoranga pai o te Tuhinga Pūrākau. Lessons from the heart of learning stories This study investigated how New Zealand teachers in Early Childhood Education (ECE) gathered, documented and utilised assessment information about children’s learning. It utilised phenomenological inquiry, with data being gathered through semi-structured interviews with ﬁve experienced ECE teachers. Theﬁndings highlight the complexity of the predominant narrative assessment format used by the teachers: Learning Stories. The strong reliance on teachers’ fundamental competencies and understanding of the writing process was central to narrative assessment. On the other hand, ﬁndings emphasised the beneﬁtsof well-written Learning Stories and highlighted interesting ways they can be utilised. This article focuses on two important aspects of ECE assessment. Firstly, the teacher who is the heart of the Learning Story-writing process, and who possesses a complex skillset to connect with people, collect information and articulate an important message about the child as a learner. Secondly, on the Learning Story itself, its beneﬁts and the ways that assessment information can be utilised from them.

year: 2023

title: Reclaiming Kaitiakitanga : An intergenerational perspective of Kaitiakitanga within Te Parawhau

authors: Walker, Erana

subjects: Kaitiakitanga

abstract: Kaitiakitanga is a concept that is utilised widely throughout the Māori world for the protection and preservation of cultural aspects to Māori. Through years of application by westernised mainstream processes the value has largely been restricted to the realms of environmental protection. This restriction has often been the result of misinterpretation of Kaitiakitanga and its relevance as a concept to Māori. The purpose of the thesis is to question how the perspective of Kaitiakitanga is constructed in the minds of representatives from the hapū of Te Parawhau. To test for variance, the research spans across two generations of hapū members. Using Whakawhiti Kōrero for data collection as well as Kaupapa Māori methodology as guidance, the thesis explores perspectives of two generations of Te Parawhau descendants around Kaitiakitanga and how it can be developed to aid in the growth and prosperity of the hapū. Key themes highlighted by the analysis encompass ideas of connectedness as well as spiritual, physical, environmental and human elements of responsibility and obligation. The thesis introduces a distinct Te Parawhau analytical framework for its analysis of rich kōrero by hapū members in relation to Kaitiakitanga. Through this framework the value of Kaitiakitanga is tested for relevance to Te Parawhau and its future development. The world view of Te Parawhau has formed the basis of participant perspectives around Kaitiakitanga and leads the researcher to consider that such knowledge is important to the future functionality of Māori value’s. The thesis concludes to show that there are indeed differences in application and perspectives of Kaitiakitanga within the hapū of Te Parawhau.

text: Reclaiming Kaitiakitanga : An intergenerational perspective of Kaitiakitanga within Te Parawhau Kaitiakitanga is a concept that is utilised widely throughout the Māori world for the protection and preservation of cultural aspects to Māori. Through years of application by westernised mainstream processes the value has largely been restricted to the realms of environmental protection. This restriction has often been the result of misinterpretation of Kaitiakitanga and its relevance as a concept to Māori. The purpose of the thesis is to question how the perspective of Kaitiakitanga is constructed in the minds of representatives from the hapū of Te Parawhau. To test for variance, the research spans across two generations of hapū members. Using Whakawhiti Kōrero for data collection as well as Kaupapa Māori methodology as guidance, the thesis explores perspectives of two generations of Te Parawhau descendants around Kaitiakitanga and how it can be developed to aid in the growth and prosperity of the hapū. Key themes highlighted by the analysis encompass ideas of connectedness as well as spiritual, physical, environmental and human elements of responsibility and obligation. The thesis introduces a distinct Te Parawhau analytical framework for its analysis of rich kōrero by hapū members in relation to Kaitiakitanga. Through this framework the value of Kaitiakitanga is tested for relevance to Te Parawhau and its future development. The world view of Te Parawhau has formed the basis of participant perspectives around Kaitiakitanga and leads the researcher to consider that such knowledge is important to the future functionality of Māori value’s. The thesis concludes to show that there are indeed differences in application and perspectives of Kaitiakitanga within the hapū of Te Parawhau.

year: 2016