Transforming practices in initial teacher education and school and early childhood education contexts to support the success of Pasifika students and children can be challenging. Palagi educators, in particular, may find their practices are constrained by bureaucratic systems, processes and professional norms in ways that limit thinking about and responses to different ways of being and doing. Drawing from the experiences of a diverse group of educators during an educational journey to Samoa led by an esteemed Samoan leader, colleague and mentor, this article argues culturally based pedagogy holds the key to thinking and moving beyond some of these constraints. The article suggests that understanding Pasifika cultural values and integrating these into pedagogy is a critical first step for educators, before concluding with several practice messages. While these messages focus on Pasifika communities, students and children, they can be adapted for other ethnic groups.

改变初始教师教育以及学校和幼儿教育环境中的做法以支持太平洋岛民学生和儿童的成功可能具有挑战性。特别是帕拉吉教育工作者，可能会发现他们的实践受到官僚系统、流程和专业规范的限制，从而限制了对不同存在方式和行为方式的思考和反应。本文借鉴了由受人尊敬的萨摩亚领导人、同事和导师领导的萨摩亚教育之旅中不同教育工作者群体的经验，认为基于文化的教学法是思考和超越其中一些限制的关键。文章表明，在以几条实践信息结束之前，了解太平洋岛民文化价值观并将其融入教学法是教育工作者关键的第一步。