Tongan migrants migrated to New Zealand with specific purposes in mind. One purpose is for Tongan children to gain the benefits of good education that New Zealand has to offer. However, there is a growing concern for Tongan parents and New Zealand teachers and schools about the quality and impact of education Tongan children receive. The study is titled, “Talanoa: A contribution to the teaching and learning of Tongan Primary School children in New Zealand” centres on Tongan parents who are recent migrants from Tonga and have primary school children. The research focuses on alternative approach in teaching and learning pedagogies of Tongan children in New Zealand. The research approach is drawn from Tongan language and cultural practices called talanoa, a communal act of social, political and critical dialogue for a purpose. The methodology is qualitative in design, drawing extensively from Tongan language and culture to research the koloa (values) of talanoa that Tongan parents practise at home. The method of data collection employed is talanoa (critical dialogue) conducted in groups with Tongan parents to capture their perceptions, views and experiences of talanoa in their various homes. In examining this unique context, data is analysed using the Tongan concept koloa. The values of talanoa when explored from the participant’s perspective are more clearly understood. The findings of the study indicate that Tongan migrants’ home practice of talanoa offers a teaching and learning pedagogy which is valued as a best approach in teaching their children. The findings further indicate that talanoa can be extended beyond the homes and into many classroom environments.

This paper aims to explore a Tongan notion of development –'fakalakalaka' – in light of Western notions of development. Two case studies of international development aid schemes illustrate the impact of Tongan development ideas in practice. Drawing on a number of ethnographers' work on Tonga, 'fakalakalaka' appears broader than the Western notion of development. The latter is characterised by influential ideals of controllability and industrialisation. The notion of development among Tongans, on the other hand, tends to be directed by an underlying persistence that, for instance, reflects Tongan core values regarding social organisation. The production of textile 'koloa', controlled by women, emerges as central to the accomplishment of this three-dimensional development notion of intertwined physical, mental and spiritual aspects. The importance attributed to this specific kind of textile has increased in recent years and found two additional roles, or development strategies, in Tongans' contemporary transnational world.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [137]-147).