Reconceptualising inclusive education in the Pacific

ABSTRACT

The Pacific Regional Education Framework (PacREF) 2018–2030 proposes an ambitious agenda for a transformative and sustainable educational intervention across 15 countries. This paper discusses an approach to inclusive education in the countries of the Pacific islands as they begin to engage with this educational framework. We argue that inclusive education has been heavily influenced by ideas from outside the Pacific. Pacific cultural understandings of community relationships and responsibilities in particular are often overshadowed by imported ideas from outside the region. The influence of ‘outsider' perspectives and practices reflect continuing colonial domination, weakening local capacity-building within teacher education institutions in the region. The Pacific Island countries (PICs) are highly dependent on donor partners and this dependency is frequently informed by deficit views. The idea of inclusive education begs the question of ‘Inclusion into what?’ The dominance of Western ideas may ignore the relational context of Pacific cultures, reinforcing ideas of cultural deficit. This paper reviews inclusive education in the Pacific within the context of policy borrowing and cultural tensions between Pacific and Western frameworks. It also considers the experience of teacher educators working within an institutional context that itself is heavily influenced by imported structures and ideas.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusive education
• Pacific
• indigenous culture
• colonial
• teacher education
• relationality
• funding

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ann Cheryl Armstrong

Ann Cheryl Armstrong is an Associate Professor in Inclusive Education and the Associate Dean, Research and International at the Faculty of Arts, Law and Education at the University of the South Pacific. Prior to this she worked at the University of Sheffield, the University of Sydney and the University of Western Sydney. Over the past 21 years, Ann Cheryl has worked in several countries across the world and has contributed to the transformation of many education programmes and systems. She has published widely on inclusive education, professional learning in education and education in developing countries. <[email protected]>

Seu’ula Johansson-Fua

Dr. Seu’ula Johansson-Fua is the Director of the Institute of Education at the University of the South Pacific. She has worked in the Pacific region for 15 years as an academic practitioner working with national teacher education institutions and national ministries of education. Seu’ula’s research interest are in educational leadership, educational planning and systems improvement in small island states.

Derrick Armstrong

Professor Derrick Armstrong is the former Deputy Vice Chancellor Research, Innovation & International at the University of the South Pacific. He has held academic positions in the UK at Lancaster University and later at Sheffield University (where he was the Inaugural Director of the Centre for Childhood and Youth). Prof. Armstrong was appointed as Dean of the Faculty of Education & Social Work at the University of Sydney in 2005 and subsequently as Deputy Provost and Pro-Vice Chancellor Teaching & Learning and then Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) and Registrar. He joined USP in 2015. Over his career he has authored 9 books and over 100 academic articles.