The keynote-as-storied-discussion: a Pacific departure

Abstract

It is a rare event when senior scholars and actors in a field come together; more so when that takes place in the company of new and emerging scholars. Even rarer are such occasions in the Oceania region, where distance can mediate against key players coming together in time and space. When the stars align, the opportunity must be seized. This article portrays aspects of an event when, due to otherwise unfortunate circumstances, three senior Pacific educators, scholars, and leaders offered glimpses of their experiential learning and leadership by presenting a storied discussion of leadership. The account given here discusses ideas derived from that storying. It is an examination of the form used to enact the educators’ pedagogical purpose; keynote-as-storied-discussion. This innovative way of delivering a keynote leverages the intersectional value of the tone-setting intent of a keynote, the emotional and experiential layering of storying, the pedagogical potential of woven narrative strands, and the discursive exchange of ideas.

Whose voice is heard?

“…These include choosing leadership, assuming responsibility, mentoring, ownership, the influence of 'ordinary' people, being authentic, and tautua /service to communities. The storied approach leverages the potential of narrative for teaching (Sanga, Johannson-Fua, et al, 2020;.…”

Grounding our collective Talanoa: Enabling open conversations

“…In the current postcolonial era, online and digital learning has forced us to engage and re-think ako-teaching and learning, education, and communication across countries' boundaries. COVID-19, the pandemic that continues to impact lives around the world, remains an influence in our discussions, notions and understanding of talanoa and vā, a core life force inherent in Moana (Oceania) peoples' relational sense-making and meaning-making (Sanga et al, 2020). Negotiating the socio-spatial relations in cyberspace is what Koya-Vaka'uta (2017) affirms as the sensemaking of the "multiple complexities [associated with the] various aspects of the vā played out as abstract spaces in real time and place" (p. 61).…”