How can talanoa be used effectively an an indigenous research methodology with Tongan people

Abstract

The nature of Pasifiki peoples conducting indigenous education research in New Zealand is now contested by some scholars and researchers. These scholars and researchers claim that the standard procedures for doing research on indigenous peoples are inappropriate and therefore advocate new, more grounded approaches. This raises questions such as, what do these research studies look like and can they actually be effective? This paper discusses the reality of doing talanoa research with a group of Tongan parents and caregivers of secondary school students in New Zealand. The research aimed to obtain rich descriptions of how the participants understand New Zealand school processes. The research was able to collect valuable data and, at the same time, observe participants' cultural values. It demonstrates that in undertaking talanoa focus groups with Pasifika participants, researchers will sometimes need to depart from more task-oriented practices in order to successfully collect data while practicing appropriate protocols with the participants.

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