Sonia M Fonua
Biographic Data
| ID | 794397 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sonia M Fonua |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sonia M |
| FAMILY NAME | Fonua |
| SIGNATURE | FONUA S M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Auckland |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6626-6715 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 11 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Talatalanoa-vā
While Māori (Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand) and Pacific pass rates remain low across Aotearoa New Zealand’s education sectors, focus persists on students changing rather than on whether educators are equipped to engage and support Māori and Pacific students. Many higher education (HE) educators in Aotearoa New Zealand have limited familiarity with Māori and Pacific onto-epistemologies, affecting their embracing of knowledge systems a…
Engaging with Tapa and Ngatu
The making and gifting of koloa faka-Tonga (women’s valuables, also known as koloa) has been an integral part of Tongan identity and culture for as long as anyone can remember. Working collaboratively on tapa and ngatu provides space for discussions and understanding, and reflections of Tongan identity and culture. The practice of gifting koloa has continued outside of the Kingdom of Tonga as Tongans migrate for new opportunities, including Aotea…
Se’i lua’i lou le ulu taumamao
In Aotearoa New Zealand, despite decades of education policy reforms attempting to address Moana/Pacific underachievement, Moana/Pacific knowledge is often still absent in universities. Moana/Pacific scholars have long argued that recognising and including indigenous knowledges in university curricula has positive benefits for students, institutions and wider society. We posit that embedding indigenous knowledges within institutions is the diffic…
Coloniality, institutional racism and white fragility
Coloniality in Aotearoa’s education systems has persisted by forcing Māori to assimilate into Western norms, tracking Māori into subordinate occupational roles, and constraining Māori self-determination. Through use of storytelling, we demonstrate how these trends carry on in present-day tertiary education settings. We also issue to colleagues and management in the tertiary education sector a wero (challenge) to inspect dimensions of white fragil…
Fata ho poto
Engagement and success are prominent in education discussions, research and policy in Aotearoa New Zealand and globally. Yet, little is known about how successful Tongan science learners define engagement, enjoyment or success, and which teaching and learning experiences have enhanced or detracted from their engagement, enjoyment and success during their studies. This article shares the stories of 26 successful Tongan science learners who partici…
Responding to the call
Recent provocations by Māori and Pacific/Pasifika academics have called for a collective response to the under-representation of Pacific/Pasifika academics in universities across Aotearoa New Zealand. Drawing from Indigenous concepts and frameworks foregrounds Pacific language and ideas as being central to our worldviews and validates the lived realities of Pacific peoples in higher education. We, the authors, collectively respond to Naepi et al.…
Navigating the digital va-vā
Core Moana/Pacific cultural values and practices are usually considered as unimportant, irrelevant or ineffectual in academic practice or tertiary teaching and learning spaces. While Moana/Pacific ways of knowing and being have flourished for thousands of years, in recent times they have been constantly dismissed and devalued by mainstream or dominant cultures. Nonetheless, those educators who hold Moana/Pacific values as central to their lives, …
The Manulua Framework
When researching with Moana (ocean) or Pacific peoples, a key research consideration is which methodological approach will best acknowledge, engage, and value what is shared. The Manulua (two birds) Framework explores the experiences of successful Tongan science learners in Aotearoa New Zealand and the Kingdom of Tonga. The Manulua Framework draws on four very different theoretical or conceptual frameworks and methods, complementing (1) Tongan an…
Indigenous education within urban contexts and negotiations in the diaspora
Indigenous education within urban contexts is diverse within Oceania. Pacific peoples’ movements in the diaspora, including their educational journeys and responsibilities, are ongoing and fluid. This paper employs talanoa vā, an indigenous Pacific approach to understanding the negotiations of educational processes and practices in urban education contexts across the diaspora of Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, and Aotearoa-New Zealand. We utilize talanoa as …
Lalanga ha kaha’u monu’ia – Helping science educators to embed Indigenous knowledge, values and cultures in their courses for Māori and Pacific science student success
Māori and Pacific students are not achieving in science in comparison with other ethnic groups in Aotearoa New Zealand. At the same time, evidence of engagement with their traditional ways of knowing and being in university science settings is limited. Most formal science curricula globally are founded on Western modern science, and this focus can contribute to the underachievement of Indigenous students in science, particularly if Indigenous kno…
Open to critique
Bridging/foundation programmes are often provided by tertiary institutions to increase equity in access and academic performance of students from under-served communities. Little empirical evidence exists to measure the effectiveness of these bridging/foundation programmes on undergraduate academic outcomes. This research identifies the predictive effect of academic outcomes achieved within a bridging/foundation programme, targeted towards indige…
Indigenous education within urban contexts and negotiations in the diaspora
Indigenous education within urban contexts is diverse within Oceania. Pacific peoples’ movements in the diaspora, including their educational journeys and responsibilities, are ongoing and fluid. This paper employs talanoa vā, an indigenous Pacific approach to understanding the negotiations of educational processes and practices in urban education contexts across the diaspora of Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, and Aotearoa-New Zealand. We utilize talanoa as …
Open to critique
Bridging/foundation programmes are often provided by tertiary institutions to increase equity in access and academic performance of students from under-served communities. Little empirical evidence exists to measure the effectiveness of these bridging/foundation programmes on undergraduate academic outcomes. This research identifies the predictive effect of academic outcomes achieved within a bridging/foundation programme, targeted towards indige…
Lalanga ha kaha’u monu’ia – Helping science educators to embed Indigenous knowledge, values and cultures in their courses for Māori and Pacific science student success
Māori and Pacific students are not achieving in science in comparison with other ethnic groups in Aotearoa New Zealand. At the same time, evidence of engagement with their traditional ways of knowing and being in university science settings is limited. Most formal science curricula globally are founded on Western modern science, and this focus can contribute to the underachievement of Indigenous students in science, particularly if Indigenous kno…
Responding to the call
Recent provocations by Māori and Pacific/Pasifika academics have called for a collective response to the under-representation of Pacific/Pasifika academics in universities across Aotearoa New Zealand. Drawing from Indigenous concepts and frameworks foregrounds Pacific language and ideas as being central to our worldviews and validates the lived realities of Pacific peoples in higher education. We, the authors, collectively respond to Naepi et al.…
Navigating the digital va-vā
Core Moana/Pacific cultural values and practices are usually considered as unimportant, irrelevant or ineffectual in academic practice or tertiary teaching and learning spaces. While Moana/Pacific ways of knowing and being have flourished for thousands of years, in recent times they have been constantly dismissed and devalued by mainstream or dominant cultures. Nonetheless, those educators who hold Moana/Pacific values as central to their lives, …
The Manulua Framework
When researching with Moana (ocean) or Pacific peoples, a key research consideration is which methodological approach will best acknowledge, engage, and value what is shared. The Manulua (two birds) Framework explores the experiences of successful Tongan science learners in Aotearoa New Zealand and the Kingdom of Tonga. The Manulua Framework draws on four very different theoretical or conceptual frameworks and methods, complementing (1) Tongan an…
Indigenous education within urban contexts and negotiations in the diaspora
Indigenous education within urban contexts is diverse within Oceania. Pacific peoples’ movements in the diaspora, including their educational journeys and responsibilities, are ongoing and fluid. This paper employs talanoa vā, an indigenous Pacific approach to understanding the negotiations of educational processes and practices in urban education contexts across the diaspora of Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, and Aotearoa-New Zealand. We utilize talanoa as …
Se’i lua’i lou le ulu taumamao
In Aotearoa New Zealand, despite decades of education policy reforms attempting to address Moana/Pacific underachievement, Moana/Pacific knowledge is often still absent in universities. Moana/Pacific scholars have long argued that recognising and including indigenous knowledges in university curricula has positive benefits for students, institutions and wider society. We posit that embedding indigenous knowledges within institutions is the diffic…
Coloniality, institutional racism and white fragility
Coloniality in Aotearoa’s education systems has persisted by forcing Māori to assimilate into Western norms, tracking Māori into subordinate occupational roles, and constraining Māori self-determination. Through use of storytelling, we demonstrate how these trends carry on in present-day tertiary education settings. We also issue to colleagues and management in the tertiary education sector a wero (challenge) to inspect dimensions of white fragil…
Fata ho poto
Engagement and success are prominent in education discussions, research and policy in Aotearoa New Zealand and globally. Yet, little is known about how successful Tongan science learners define engagement, enjoyment or success, and which teaching and learning experiences have enhanced or detracted from their engagement, enjoyment and success during their studies. This article shares the stories of 26 successful Tongan science learners who partici…
Engaging with Tapa and Ngatu
The making and gifting of koloa faka-Tonga (women’s valuables, also known as koloa) has been an integral part of Tongan identity and culture for as long as anyone can remember. Working collaboratively on tapa and ngatu provides space for discussions and understanding, and reflections of Tongan identity and culture. The practice of gifting koloa has continued outside of the Kingdom of Tonga as Tongans migrate for new opportunities, including Aotea…
Talatalanoa-vā
While Māori (Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand) and Pacific pass rates remain low across Aotearoa New Zealand’s education sectors, focus persists on students changing rather than on whether educators are equipped to engage and support Māori and Pacific students. Many higher education (HE) educators in Aotearoa New Zealand have limited familiarity with Māori and Pacific onto-epistemologies, affecting their embracing of knowledge systems a…
Sociology (9 works) · Aotearoa (8 works) · Indigenous (8 works) · Gender Studies (7 works) · Pedagogy (6 works) · Ethnic group (4 works) · Higher education (4 works) · Higher Education Practises and Engagement (4 works) · Island Studies and Pacific Affairs (4 works) · Political science (4 works)