A tala session underway in Te Puna
Venusi Taumoepeau wants his recently-launched series Tala to get people talking – and it’s done just that. Supported by Student Success and the Pacific Centre, it’s based on the Pacific Island concept of Tala – or sharing your story – and is designed to enable and encourage students to hear stories that focus on creating connections and inspiring student success.
Venusi was drawn to use the tala concept after finding that students were capable of critical thinking (questioning and learning with an open mind), but they weren’t practising it enough. From his initial idea, he formalised the programme design, working with the former Student Engagement Fono led by Daisy Bentley-Gray, Student Support and Scholarship Manager Helena Finau and students from the project-based mentoring initiative, ‘The Koloa Initiative’.
From tala – the speaker sharing their story (just 15 minutes) – the format moves to a Q&A session, then ‘evolves’ to talanoa, conversation over food; guided through humour, respect, warmth and love.
During the talanoa students are encouraged to practice critical thinking, develop their confidence in questioning and exploring, and experience learning by sharing. The talanoa sessions are led by facilitators Sana Saleem, Gia Ngati-Smith and Ioane Aleke Fa’avae, with the support of Lani Mikao, the Pacific Centre and Student Success.
The speaker series is run within the open space of Te Puna, providing an informal ‘drop in’ venue, with familiar and comfortable seating, but with a level of intimacy due to the size of the group, which then moves into a quieter space for the talanoa.
Kamuka Pati sharing his story during the tala session
Nearly 40 students have participated in the first four sessions and Venusi has had some very positive feedback, from both students and staff, who also enjoyed hearing their colleagues’ stories (you can watch the speaker videos via the links below). The four speaker sessions have had a participant retention rate of close to 80%.
Venusi plans to put together a report on the concept, including the experience of the students watching the live stream on the Pacific Centre’s Facebook page, which was a suggestion by Ioane Aleke Fa’avae. He is also keen to explore other formats to make the series more accessible to a wider audience. He says the challenge will always be about keeping the groups small and informal to ensure the talanoa flows, with the right ratio of staff to students.
Venusi welcomes your feedback and input, as well as answer any questions you may have. Contact Venusi Taumoepeau.
The Talanoa, following Gia Ngatai-Smith’s tala talk session
Tala Talks speaker videos:
- Tala Talk: Kamuka Pati – Discovering education through people
- Tala Talk: Niko Falaniko – The dream that was never achieved
- Tala Talk: Gia Ngatai-Smith – Finding your voice in the Treaty of Waitangi
- Tala Talk: Rowena Fuluifaga – The Va – & the space between (still to come)