Transformations from within: Rethinking Pacific Education Initiative. The development of a movement for social justice and equity

The paper reports on an initiative undertaken by a group of Pacificeducators – “insiders”who have undertaken various activities and workof embedding Indigenous graduate attributes into teacher educationcourses, in leadership training of young and emerging young Pacificleaders and in communities, research that takes into account indigenousknowledge systems. This is at the University of the South Pacific anda number of other universities and colleges of education in the regionincluding Victoria University in NZ. The effort of the Rethinking PacificEducation Initiative (RPEIPP) hence provides the background to thedevelopment and implementation of holistic Indigenous graduateattributes. The approaches taken by the RPEIPP Pacific wide in therethinking and redefining of education and other courses in schools aswell as universities and colleges in the region, ensure that aspects ofindigenous peoples cultures and related worldviews and life values andphilosophies inform the work of educators. This is besides the normalprovision of global knowledge, skills and values that dominate schoolingand higher education in particular.RPEIPP is highly transformative and with the assistance of NZAid, isalmost totally internally driven, implemented and progressively evaluated.While the first ten years of the initiative focused on teacher education,leadership, research and publications, the future should perhaps move toother parts of the Pacific region, most notably Micronesia and the NorthWestern Pacific. Another dimension could also engage in comparativestudies or researches of systems and curricula