Six decades ago, after World War 2, many Pacific families migrated to Aotearoa, leaving behind their aiga (families), fanua (lands), nu’u (villages) and traditional ways, but migrating with commitment and aspirations for their children to have an education that would lead to better employment and a positive future. However, the children of many of these Pacific migrants have experienced underachievement in the New Zealand education system, the realities of which can result in poverty, low-paid jobs, high unemployment, poor health, a high incidence of youth suicide and poor housing. This research is about ‘talatalaina ole upega lavelave’, untangling the tangled net of the issues that so adversely affect children and their families.

The issues have motivated Pacific families and communities to work collaboratively with schools to ensure their children make a better start for their learning, health and wellbeing. Pacific parents’ educational aspirations are carried through by the waves of the echoing sound of the Foafoa (conch shell) from the Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa (Pacific Ocean) to the Land of the Long White Cloud, Aotearoa. The sound reminds them of the hope and the purpose they brought or bring to their migration, which includes securing a better future for their children through education.

For approximately the last 40 years, the New Zealand Ministry of Education has developed and led robust Pacific strategies to guide planning and implementation of programmes designed to lift Pacific learners’ engagement and achievement across all school sectors. These strategies have included the development of several Pacific education plans from 2001 to 2017 and then beyond with the development of the Action Plan for Pasifika Education 2020–2030 (Ministry of Education, 2020a).

Ongoing Pacific education reviews and monitoring systems over the years have provided useful reports on student underachievement and key recommendations for future improvement. One particularly important resource has been the Ministry of Education’s Tapasā: Cultural Competency Framework for Teachers of Pacific Learners (Ministry of Education, 2018a). The primary aim of this framework has been to improve teachers’ and educators’ understanding of culturally responsive practices so they can better engage with Pacific children and thereby help raise their educational achievement.

The Ministry of Education has also been influential over the years in leading key Pacific initiatives and teachers’ professional development (PLD) programmes designed to improve student engagement and the partnership between schools, families and communities. These initiatives include, among others, home–school partnerships, the Pacific Islands School Community Parent Liaison Project (Gorinski, 2005), and Talanoa Ako previously known as the Pacific PowerUp programme.

The current strong emphasis on supporting children’s learning in their early (preschool) years so children have a better start from the time they enter compulsory schooling was initiated by the government’s A Better Start: E Tipu e Rea project. The project was a response to one of the government’s National Science Challenges, established in 2014 “to tackle the biggest science-based issues and opportunities facing New Zealand” (Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, 2013). Since it was launched in 2016, A Better Start: E Tipu e Rea - National Science Challenges has brought together a “community of learners” in both education and health to lead research projects directed towards helping students make a better start in their learning. A Better Start supports the work that the Ministry of Education has implemented over many decades in response to the questions that Pacific families and communities continue to ask as to why their children’s educational achievement is so slow to improve.

My interest in educational leadership combined with my Indigenous Samoan leadership and Samoan epistemology inspired my research. A considerable body of research shows that effective leadership is a catalyst for influencing schools to make changes that turn low student achievement into achievement. Moreover, in regard to Pacific students, the research emphasises the need for schools to make school achievement for these students a priority and to ensure the school culture reflects those students’ cultural needs. Research furthermore shows that the critical indicators of success on both these fronts within schools include access to culturally responsive and inclusive pedagogical practices; acknowledgement and valuing of Pacific cultural identities, languages and cultures; and close connections, through respectful relationships and partnerships, with Pacific families and communities.

My doctoral research is an inquiry into the educational leadership characteristics effective in bringing about the changes in schools that support Pacific children to make a better start in their learning, health and wellbeing. At a more specific level, my inquiry also sought to identify strategies that school principals use to inspire and empower teachers to improve students’ learning in culturally inclusive and responsive ways.

I selected three different educational leadership groups to contribute their voices as I carried out my investigation: Samoan Matai Indigenous leaders, Pacific community leaders and school principal leaders. I used thematic analysis to interpret the conversations and discussions I had with these leaders both individually and in groups. My analysis of what they said led me to identify eight key leadership qualities that need to underpin and inform the strategies school principals use to help guide teachers as they strive to support Pacific students’ learning, health and wellbeing: ta’imua (lead from the front), tausimea (keeper of measina, treasures) tautua (service), teu le va (nurturing relationships), fa’asinomaga (identity), ta’iala (vision), auala a’oa’o (pedagogy), and agaga ma le loto (emotional and spiritual connections).