1. Pacific Research Frameworks (ongoing, self-funded)
2. Pacific Indigenous Knowledge Systems ( on-going, self-funded)
3. Unmet needs of Pacific Teacher Educators in Kiribati; Solomon Islands; Vanuatu. USP funded (principle researcher). USP funded
4. Sustainable Livelihood in Education Project (SLEP). Advisory and supportive role to this regional project, managed by the USP Institute of Education and funded by NZAID. SLEP Phase 1 was a trial project, using an enhanced version of the Kakala framework, developed by Prof Thaman (1992) following the Project's underlying philosophy of promoting and developing culturally relevant teaching and research frameworks. SLEP1 was completed in 2006 and SLEP2 was developed in 2007.  Unfortunately, due to lack of funds, the second phase of the project had to be put on hold.


5. Pacific conceptions of sustainable development. This is an ongoing project involving postgraduate students, who uses the talanoa methodology to document different cultural conceptions of the notion of sustainable development.


6. Teacher and Education Project (TEP). The UNESCO Chair provides a supportive and advisory role to this project, which is managed by the IOE. A workshop was held at the end of Phase 1 at USP in December 2007 and Phase 2 is again awaiting funding.


7. Reorienting teacher education towards sustainability. This project is in draft form, and will use information obtained from SLEP 1 and TEP 1 to further refine it, before funding is sought.


8. On-going work documenting indigenous education in different Pacific Island cultures aimed at the next revision of Educational Ideas from Oceania (Thaman, 2003), due to begin at the end of 2008.

(New)A list of publication and conference papers in the area of education and culture appear below. Most of these are available from the USP Library

2010

• Thaman, K.H.  2010.  Reclaiming a Conversation: indigenous knowledge in the modern education agenda. Proceedings of the International Austronesian Conference, Taipei, Taiwan

2006/07

• Research and Indigenous Knowledge in Oceania. In Meek, L. & Swanwela, C. Higher Education, Research and Knowledge in the Asia Pacific Region. Palgrave.
• Partnership for progressing cultural democracy in teacher education in Pacific Island Countries. In Townsend, T. & Bates, R. (eds), Handbook of teacher education, Springer, pp53-66.
• Education and Globalization: a view from Oceania. In Hufford, L. & Pedrajas, T. (eds). Educating for a World View, University Press of America, New York.

2003

• Editor of Educational ideas from Oceania: selected readings, Institute of Education, USP, Suva (131 pages). Book is being used as a text in a class on 'Theories and Ideas in Education', USP.
• De-colonising Pacific Studies: indigenous perspectives, knowledge and wisdom in higher education. The Contemporary Pacific 15(1):1-18.
• Educational Ideas from Oceania,a collection of essays on Pacific educational ideas for use by tertiary students and teachers, published jointly by IOE and the UNESCO Chair in teacher education and culture. Book is being used as a text in a class on 'Theories and Ideas in Education', USP.
• Eight poems (Readers and Writers; Living among the trees; Heilala; Kakala Folau; Weekend in Auckland; Another dimension; You and me ) In, Wendt,A., Whaitiri, R. and Sullivan, R. (eds), Whetu Moana: contemporary Polynesian Poems in English, Auckland University Press.
• De-colonising Pacific Studies: indigenous perspectives, knowledge and wisdom in higher education. The Contemporary Pacific 15(1):1-18.Makes a case for the inclusion of indigenous knowledge systems in teaching and research in tertiary institutions.
• Staff Development for culturally inclusive teaching and learning in higher education, Colloquium on Learning with Pasifika students, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, N.Z., Feb.

2002

• Towards culturally inclusive teacher education with specific references to Oceania. International Education Journal 2(5):1-8
• Shifting sights: the cultural challenge of sustainability. Higher Education Policy 15:133-142
• Towards cultural democracy in Pacific Education. In Pene, F., Taufe'ulungaki,'A.M., and Benson, C. Tree of Opportunity. IOE, Suva, pp. -
• Six Units in distance course ED255: Introduction to Curriculum Development, with A. Sharma, A. Kedrayate and F. Koya-Vaka'uta)
• Unit 1: Defining curriculum and curriculum development;
• Unit 2: Levels and styles of curriculum development;
• Unit 6: Towards culturally inclusive curriculum development;
• Unit 7: Teacher participation in curriculum development;
• Unit 8: Curriculum change;
• Unit 9: Curriculum evaluation;

2001

• Open and flexible learning for whom? Rethinking distance education. Directions 23(1): 3-22
• Interfacing global and indigenous knowledge. UNESCO Plenary Papers, Panel 2,International Conference on Information Technologies in Educational Innovation for Development, pp1-6

2000

• Towards cultural democracy in teacher education. First and Introductory Module, Pacific Cultures in the Teacher Education Curriculum Project, IOE/UNESCO Chair, Suva, Fiji.
• Cultural Rights: a personal perspective. In Wilson, M and Hunt, P. (eds),Culture, Rights and Cultural Rights, Huia Press, Wellington, N.Z.pp1-12.
• Towards a new pedagogy: Pacific cultures in higher education. In Teasdale, R.and Rhea, M. (eds), Local Knowledge and Wisdom in Higher Education. Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp43-5
• Pacific Women: Letter to Feifafa. In Jones, A. et al (eds) Bitter Sweet: Indigenous Women's Writing. Otago University Press, Dunedin, N.Z., pp67-69
• Of Daffodils and Heilala: understanding (cultural) context in Pacific Literature. In Franklin, C., Hsu, R. and Kosanke, S., Navigating Islands and Continents: conversations and contestations in and around the Pacific. East West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, pp40-50.
• Pacific Cultures in the Teacher Education Curriculum Project: a research report. Directions 22(1): 3-18

1999

• Negotiating Cultures: women in higher education management. In Cohen, D. et al(eds) Winds of Change: women and the culture of universities Conference Proceedings, Vol.I Sydney University of Technology, Sydney, pp43-51
• Songs of Love: new and selected poems. MANA Publications, Suva, Fiji. 137pp.
• A Pacific Perspective of Collective Human Rights. In Tomas, N and Haruru T.T. (eds), Collective Human Rights of Pacific Peoples, International Research Unit for Maori and Indigenous Education, University of Auckland, N.Z. pp 1-10

1998

• Of Daffodils and Heilala: understanding (cultural) context in Pacific Literature. Directions 19(1):3-17
• Learning to Be. Proceedings of an UNESCO Asia/Pacific Conference on Education for the 21st Century, Melbourne, Australia.
• Becoming Tongan: An Ethnography of Childhood book review. The Contemporary Pacific, Spring Issue, University of Hawaii Press.
• (with Matthewson, C.) Designing the Rebbelib: staff development in a Pacific Multicultural environment. In Latchem, C. and Lockwood, F. (eds), Open and Flexible Learning, Routledge, London

1997

• Cultural considerations in distance education. In Rowan, L., Bartlett, L. andEvans, T. (eds), Shifting Borders: globalisation, localisation and open distance education, Deakin University Press, Geelong, pp23-34
• Towards a Pacific Concept of Education for Cultural Development. Journal of the Polynesian Society 106:119-124

2010 - International

• Towards cultural democracy in teaching and research. Keynote address, Staff Development Symposium, Whitieira Polytechnic, Wellington, July.
• Matanoa: the art of forgetting in the university education of Pasifika people. Keynote, Critiquing Pacific Education @ University, AUT, Auckland, July.
• ESD Activities at the USP: a report to the UNESCO Global Monitoring and Evaluation Committee, Paris, Sept.
• University students and the UN Year of Forests: report of a IYF Symposium, the CEC/IUCN Steering Committee Meeting, Vac, Budapest, Oct.
• Of Waves, Winds & Other Things: a way ahead for the Rethinking Pacific Education Initiative, Plenary address, RPEIPP Symposium, USP, Dec.

2010 - Regional & local fora

• The Pacific Regional Strategy for Culture and Education: implications for USP, Talanga Seminar Series, SOE/USP, March.
• The work of the Joint ILO/UNESCO Committee of Experts on the UN Recommendation Concerning Teachers & Higher Education Personnel (CEART), Pacific Association of Teacher Educators (PATE) Symposium, Apia. June.
• The educational significance of the UN Year of Forests: introduction to a Postgraduate Symposium on the UNYoF, USP, August.

2007

• April 3-5: Keynote address, Social Policy, Research and Evaluation (SPRE) Conference, Wellington, N.Z. Title: Acknowledging Change and Valuing Difference: re-thinking social dynamics for Pacific societies.
• May 23-26: Plenary paper, Pedagogies and Cultures of Knowledge Conference, Singapore. Title of address: Teacher education and development with specific references to Oceania.
• August 1-5: Keynote address, Education for Sustainable Development Symposium, Tokyo, Japan. Title of paper: Learning to be: a perspective of education for sustainable development from Oceania.
• Sept. 3-7: Keynote address, Comparative Education Conference, Sarajevo. Title of paper: Nurturing relationships and honoring responsibilities: a Pacific perspective of education and inter-cultural dialogue.
• Sept. 17-19, Plenary paper, Meeting of the Asia Pacific Scientific Committee on Research in Higher Education. Title of paper: The role of higher education in regional development with specific references to USP..
• October 29-Nov.4. Keynote address, International Geographic Union Conference. Taiwan. Title of address: Indigenising the Academy: re-presenting and re-searching the Pacific.
• November 15. Keynote address, Pacific Writers Forum 10th anniversary, USP, Suva. Title of paper: Creating cultures: art in higher education in Oceania
• November 19-22. Keynote address, UNESCO Round table on the Status of Teachers, Nadi. Teacher education and development: global trends and challenges, with specific references to CEART, 2006.
• November 29-Dec. 2. Keynote address, Australian and New Zealand Comparative Societies Conference, Auckland. Title of paper: Education for transformation: re-thinking the agenda of schooling
• December 4-7. Keynote address, New Zealand Association for Research in Education, Christchurch. Title of paper: Re-searching and re-thinking Pacific education: further observations

2006

• UNESCO Forum on higher education, research and knowledge. Regional meeting, Seoul, Korea, Jan 18-20.
• Considerations of culture in Ethics Education. Paper presented at the UNESCO Ethics of Knowledge Production Conference, Dunedin, Fe,12-14
• Attended a meeting to consider the Asia Pacific ESD Framework, Bangkok, Mr.8-10
• Presented a paper on Teacher education and ESD, Asia Pacific UNESCO Experts meeting on Re-orienting teacher education to address sustainability, Thailand, May 1-3.
• Keynote address, Making places and spaces: towards cultural and cognitive democracy in higher education in Oceania, Pacific Epistemologies Conference, Suva, July 3-5
• Keynote address, Indigenous Education, Council of Pacific Education Round table, Nadi, Aug.21-31
• Keynote address, Culturally Inclusive Evaluation, Australasian Evaluation Society Annual Conference, Darwin, Sept.4-7
• Paper presented to Informal Donor Meeting on Education for Sustainable Development, Sydney, Sept.11-13
• Attended UNESCO Consultation on Pacific ESD Framework, Nadi, Sept 21-23
• Keynote address, Pacific Postgraduate Symposium, Dunedin, Sept 28-29
• Attended 9th Session of CEART, Geneva, Oct.30-Nov.3
• Keynote address, The cultural challenge of university teaching, at Communication skills in university education conference, Auckland,Nov.20-Dec.1st.
• Keynote address, Reclaiming an education: a Pacific perspective of education for sustainable development, UNESCO/APEID Conference, Bangkok, Dec.6-8

2005

• Re-thinking Pacific education. Paper presented at a Staff seminar, McMillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, April 2005
• Promoting gender and equity in higher education. Paper presented to the UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Knowledge and Research Third Scientific Committee Meeting for Asia and the Pacific, Seoul, Korea. April 25 & 26, 2005
• UNESCO Initiatives in teacher education for peace and inter-cultural understanding. Plenary Paper, Inter-faith Peace Symposium, Multi-Faith Centre, Griffiths Univesity, Natham Campus, Brisbane. Aug.10-12, 2005
• Teacher education for peace and sustainable development: examples from Oceania. Keynote address, International Symposium on a Culture of Peace, Asia Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding, Seoul. Aug.25-27, 2005
• Some issues in primary education. Address, Teacher Trainers Workshop, School of Humanities, USP. Sept.1, 2005.
• Partnerships in teacher education. Keynote Address, Fiji Principals Workshop, Oct.26, 2005
• The Pacific Plan: implications for Education. Panel paper, Pacific Education Advocacy Workshop, Nadi. Nov.12-16, 2005
• The future of the past: a Pacific perspective of leadership. Keynote address, World Indigenous People's Conference, Waikato University, Hamilton, New Zealand, Nov. 26-30, 2005.

2004

• Pacific Association of Teacher Educators' Conference, National University of Samoa, Apia, may 2004. Title: Re-thinking teacher education in Oceania : Issues and Challenges.
• French Research in the Pacific Conference, Noumea, New Caledonia. Represented the Vice Chancellor's Office, August 2004.
• United Nations Global Seminar Series on Identity and Ethnicity,University of Hawaii, Honolulu. Title: Ko hai, ko au, ko momo: multiple identity formation, March 2004
• Pacific Circle Consortium Annual Conference, Institute of Education, Hong Kong, April 2004. Title: Citizenship education on whose terms? a Pacific perspective.
• World Council for Curriculum and Instruction Conference, Wollongong, July 2004. Title: Education and globalisation: a view from Oceania.
• International Islands Studies Conference, Kin Men Island, Taiwan, November 2004. Title: Le'o e peau: towards cultural and cognitive democracy in the discourse on sustainable development of Pacific Island Communities.

2003

• Staff development for culturally inclusive teaching and learning. Staff Development Colloquium, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland(Feb).
• VAA - a foundation for peace and inter-cultural understanding. Keynote address, UNESCO Conference on inter-cultural understanding, Jyvaskyla, Finland (June)
• Partnership for progress: towards cultural democracy in teacher education with particular references to Oceania. Keynote address, International Council for Education in Teaching (ICET), Melbourne (July)
• Equity In and Access to what kind of (higher) education. a case for the inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge Systems in the definition of 'knowledge' in higher education. UNESCO (Asia/Pacific)Regional Committee on Research and Knowledge in higher education meeting, New Delhi, Sept.
• Acknowledging Indigenous Knowledge Systems: the struggle for cultural and cognitive democracy in Oceania, Keynote address, Education International and Council for Pacific Education. Conference on the Education of Indigenous Peoples, Suva, Dec.5-8th.

2002

• Vaa – a foundation for peace and inter-cultural understanding. Paper presented at the Asia Pacific Center of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) Experts workshop, Holiday Inn, Suva (July)
• A Tree of Opportunity for teachers of tomorrow. Keynote address, Council of Pacific Education Biennial Conference, Nadi (August 26-29)
• Re-presenting and Re-searching Oceania: a suggestion for synthesis. Keynote address,Pacific Island Health Research Fono, Auckland, (Sept.2-6)
• Culturally inclusive teaching and learning in higher education. Keynote address,International conference on higher education in the 21st century,Sarawak, Malaysia (Sept.23-27).
• Re-claiming and re-centering Pacific education. Keynote address, Re-thinking Vanuatu Education, Port Villa, (Oct.14-18)
• Learning to Be. Public lecture, Fiji Institute of Educational Research, Suva (Nov).

2001

• Towards a Pacific philosophy of education: the role of teachers. Keynote address, Fijian Teachers' Association annual meeting, Suva (Jan).
• What lies ahead. Address on behalf of the USP on the occasion of a farewell ceremony to the Vice Chancellor, Registrar and Deputy Bursar, Suva.(Feb)
• Creating a decent society. Graduation address, Fiji Institute of Technology, Suva. (April)
• Towards cultural democracy in Pacific education: an imperative for the 21st century. Keynote address, Re-visiting Pacific education colloquium, USP, Suva, (April).
• A tree of opportunity. Presentation on behalf of Pacific Education Research Initiative, to Pacific Islands Ministers of Education, Auckland, (May).
• Towards multicultural literacy: an imperative for a democratic society. Keynote address, Suva head-teachers' annual conference, Suva, (May).
• Towards culturally inclusive teacher education with specific reference to Oceania. Keynote address, World Congress of Comparative Education Societies, Seoul, (July).
• Reclaiming Pacific images: a view of communication and peace. Keynote address, International Association of Media and Communication Research conference, Budapest (Sept).
• Women and university management in Oceania: summary paper. Australian senior women's colloquium, Brisbane, (Nov).
• Sustainability and the university: the cultural challenge. Keynote address, Asia/Pacific symposium on sustainability in higher education, Griffiths University, Brisbane (Dec.).

2000

• Making places and spaces. Paper presented at the Fiji Association of Women Graduates Biannual Conference, Suva, Fiji
• Open and Flexible Learning for Whom? Revisiting Distance Education. Keynote address, Annual Conference of the Asian Association of Open Universities, Manila, Philippines.
• De-colonising Pacific Studies: indigenous knowledge and wisdom in higher education. Plenary address, Pacific Studies 2000, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii.
• For Peace Sake: re-searching and re-claiming an education for the 21st century. Keynote address, New Zealand Association for Research in Education Annual Conference, Waikato University, Hamilton, N.Z.
• Interfacing Global and Indigenous Knowledge. Plenary address, UNESCO PROAP/ACEID Annual Conference, Bangkok, Thailand.
• Teachers and teaching: a global perspective. Address to staff of the School of Education, University of Auckland, N.Z.

1999

• Challenges for education in the 21st Century. Address to South Auckland Educational Providers, organised by Skill N.Z.
• A Woman's perspective of Reproductive Health in Pacific Island Countries. Keynote address, Pacific Regional Conference on Human Reproductive Health, Suva, Fiji
• A Matter of Life and Death: schooling and culture in Oceania. Keynote address, Innovations in School Effectiveness, N.Z. Ministry of Education, Wellington.
• Language and Identity. Address to the Tongan Teachers' Association, Mangere, Auckland (in the Tongan language)
• Arts, Culture and Higher Education in the Pacific. Keynote address, International Conference for Higher Education in the Arts, Auckland,N.Z.

1998

• Culture in the teacher education curriculum. Address to educational providers in the Auckland region, University of Technology.
• Cultural Learning for cultural literacy. Major address on the occasion of the renaming of Skill NZ Boardroom, Kakala Room, in Wellington.
• Learning to Be: a view from the Pacific Islands. Keynote address, UNESCO Conference on Education for the 21st Century, Melbourne, Australia.
• Equity in and access to what kind of education for Pacific Island learners? Keynote address, Australian Open Learning Forum, Perth, Australia.
• Poetry Readings to Forms 5 and 6 students in Tongan schools (approximately 600 students), Nuku'alofa, Tonga.
• Negotiating Cultures: women in higher education management in the Pacific. Keynote address, Winds of Change Conference, Sydney University of Technology, Australia.
• Human Rights: a view from the Pacific. Opening address, Conference on Collective Rights of Indigenous Peoples, University of Auckland, N.Z.
• Towards a Policy of Cultural Development. Address to the Fiji Ministry of Culture special meeting, Suva, Fiji.
• Cultural Considerations in human resource development. Address to staff of the Pacific Community, Suva, Fiji.
• Cultural Considerations in curriculum development. Keynote address, Fiji Curriculum Conference, Suva, Fiji.
• Collective Rights and Perceptions of Personhood. Paper presented at a UNESCO Symposium on Cultural Rights, UNESCO Office for the Pacific States, Apia, Samoa.

(For further information on published articles and papers, please contact Professor Thaman)

Lectures/Meetings

• IUCN CEC meeting, Vac, Budapest (Regional vice –chair for CEC)
• USP Council Meeting, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.
• Lecture to ED459 on Pacific Research Paradigms
• USP Council meeting, Laucala.
• MEEG Meeting – (Global Committee for Monitoring & Evaluation) of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), UNESCO Paris.

Institutional Networking and Collaboration

The major teacher education network in the South Pacific Island region is the Pacific Association for Teacher Education (PATE). The Executive Committee of this association is made up of the principals of all the teacher education institutions in the region, and the current president is Gatofaoa Tili Afamasaga, Dean of Education at the National University of Samoa, Apia, Samoa. The Secretariat is the Institute of Education at the University of the South Pacific, Suva, FIJI. PATE co-sponsored the collaborative research project on the teacher education curriculum and a major teacher education conference held in Fiji in 1999. For further information on PATE, contact the Director of the Institute of Education, USP, Box 1168, Suva, FIJI or e-mail taufeulungak(at)usp.ac.fj

Materials Production

A major activity of the UNESCO Chair is related to materials production and information sharing in the area of teacher education in the Pacific Islands. The following Modules have been published jointly with the USP's Institute of Education, which provides editorial assistance and distribution. Copies may be obtained by writing to: Director of IOE, University of the South Pacific, Suva, FIJI or e-mail: taufeulungak(at)usp.ac.fj

IOE/UNESCO Chair Modules published in 2000

1. Thaman, Konai. Towards Culturally Democratic Teacher Education
2. Taufe'ulungaki, Ana. Vernacular Languages and Classroom Interactions in the Pacific
3. Nabobo, Una. Incorporating local knowledge in teaching about Education and Society: a Fiji case study.
4. Tupuola, Anne-Marie,. Making Sense of Human Development: beyond Western concepts and universal assumptions.
5. Bakalevu, Sala. Ways of Mathematising in Fijian Society.
6. Sanga, Kabini. Learning From Indigenous Leadership