How do you create success for Pacific learners?

Fonofale is a Pacific model of health and wellbeing that uses the image of a Samoan fale, or house, to show how family, culture, spirituality, physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing, and wider context support a person’s life. In education, Fonofale can help teachers and organisations think more holistically about Pacific learner success.

Why Fonofale Matters For Pacific Learners

Fonofale matters in education because learner success is not only about content, assessment, or classroom technique. Pacific learners may be supported or constrained by family responsibilities, spiritual life, cultural identity, physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing, time, environment, and relationships. Fonofale gives educators a way to notice these dimensions without reducing learners to academic performance alone.

This is part of a series on learner centred teaching. There’s also updated Pacific content at the links below:

• Understanding Pacific Cultural Centredness
• How talanoa can build relationships
• Le Va – Understanding the sacred space in Pacific culture – Part 1
• Le Va – Understanding the sacred space in Pacific culture – Part 2
• Fonofale – Part 1
• Fonofale – Part 2
• What is Pacific cultural safety – Part 1
• What is Pacific cultural safety – Part 2
• What is Pacific cultural safety – Part 3

Where does this approach come from?

The Fonofale model is a holistic approach to health and well-being that is specific to Pacific cultures. This model is similar to the Te Whare Tapa Whā model developed by Sir Mason Durie, which is also widely used in the healthcare sector. The Fonofale model can be applied to education settings to support the success of Pacific Islander learners.

The Fonofale Pasifika model was developed by Fuimaono Karl Pulotu-Endemann (2009), who is a respected academic and nursing professional based in New Zealand. Born in Samoa, Pulotu-Endemann drew on his cultural background and expertise to create the Fonofale model. The model emphasizes the importance of balance and harmony across different dimensions of health and well-being, including spiritual, mental, physical, and social aspects.

What’s it for?

Similar to Te Whare Tapa Whā, Fonofale aims to promote holistic thinking about various aspects of life, including health, education, and culture, within Pacific Island communities.

The Fonofale model is composed of three main elements: the foundation, the roof, and the posts. Each element represents an essential aspect of Pacific cultural identity that must be taken into account to achieve holistic health and wellbeing.

The foundation represents the spiritual and cultural beliefs that underpin Pacific culture, while the roof represents the physical environment and the social and political contexts in which Pacific people live. The posts symbolise the different dimensions of Pacific identity, such as family, community, and individual identity.

By using the Fonofale Pasifika model, educators and health professionals can gain a deeper understanding of the cultural and spiritual needs of Pacific Island communities. This can help to create more effective and culturally appropriate interventions and strategies that promote health and educational success among Pacific learners.

What is it?

It’s a visual representation of Pasifika values and beliefs. We use the Samoan fale or house to describe the important factors of healthy development. Here are the parts below.

The foundation

This is the extended family – the foundation for all Pacific Island cultures. This foundation represents the core values and beliefs of Pacific people. It is the base of the model and supports the other elements.

It is made up of the cultural values and beliefs that are shared among Pacific peoples, such as the importance of family, respect for elders, and a strong connection to the environment.

These values are fundamental to the Pacific way of life and inform how Pacific people view themselves and their place in the world.

The roof

The roof of the Fonofale represents the cultural values and beliefs that are the the physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing of Pacific people and their shelter for life.

This element is crucial to the model because it acknowledges that the wellbeing of Pacific people is interconnected and interdependent. If one area of wellbeing is neglected, it can have a significant impact on the other areas.

This can include traditional as well as western ways of doing things.

The Pou (posts)

The posts of the Fonofale connect the family to the culture. They also depend on each other. These posts represent the different systems and structures that support Pacific peoples’ wellbeing.

These include the education system, health system, justice system, and social services. These systems and structures are essential for supporting Pacific peoples’ wellbeing and must be culturally responsive and inclusive to be effective.

They are:

Spiritual

This relates to the sense of wellbeing that comes from Christianity or traditional spirituality or a combination of both.

Physical

This relates to the wellbeing and physical health of the body.

Mental

This relates to the mind including thinking and emotional wellbeing as well as behaviours.

Other

This includes other things like gender, sexual orientation, age, social class, employment, and educational status.

Around the outside

The fale is surrounded by a protective layer. This includes:

• Environment. This relates to the relationships that Pasifika people have to their physical environment. This can be rural or urban.
• Context. This dimension relates to the “big picture’ for Pasifika including socio-economic or political situations.
• Time. This relates to the actual or specific time in history that impacts on Pasifika people.

In summary, the Fonofale model is a holistic representation of Pacific cultural identity that acknowledges the interconnectedness of Pacific peoples’ wellbeing, values, and beliefs. The model provides a useful framework for understanding the complex cultural identities of Pacific peoples and for guiding culturally responsive practices that promote the wellbeing of Pacific learners.

How is it relevant?

It’s relevant because you can use your knowledge of the Fonofale to enhance your teaching. As with Te Whare Tapa Whā, this knowledge is not limited to just working with the people groups it represents.

This approach is also relevant because it will help create a learning environment that is culturally safe for Pasifika learners.

What does it mean for me?

If you identify as Pasifika, the Fonofale is a framework that allows you to talk about how you probably already work with your learners.

If you are not Pasifika, the framework allows you to see your learners, particularly your Pacific Island learners in a different way, perhaps closer to how they see themselves.

Some questions to think about

Here are some questions from the learner’s point of view to help you focus on each part of the Fonofale model:

• Do I have support from my family to do this course? (Family).
• Does this course connect with my Pacific cultural values and beliefs? (Culture).
• Do I have the resources to do this course? (Physical).
• Do I believe that I can do this course? (Spiritual).
• Can I cope with the workload? (Mental).
• Is there anything that’s going to get in the way of my goals here? (Others).
• Are my surroundings, including home and work, going to help me achieve? (Environment).
• Can I afford to do this at the moment? (Context and time).

Implications

It may not always be possible to always attend to all dimensions of the Fonofale for all of your Pasifika learners. But one big implication is that if you have learners who are struggling, or who are not engaged, then the Fonofale may help you work out where the problem is and how to deal with it.

But one big implication is that if you have learners who are struggling, or who are not engaged, then the Fonofale may help you work out where the problem is and how to deal with it.

Interested in more?

I have additional updated content of Pasifika here below:

• Understanding Pacific Cultural Centredness
• How talanoa can build relationships
• Le Va – Understanding the sacred space in Pacific culture – Part 1
• Le Va – Understanding the sacred space in Pacific culture – Part 2
• Fonofale – Part 1
• Fonofale – Part 2
• What is Pacific cultural safety – Part 1
• What is Pacific cultural safety – Part 2
• What is Pacific cultural safety – Part 3

Introducing Pacific Cultural Centredness

Are you Interested in finding out more about how a Pacific worldview may impact your teaching and learning? Check out this playlist with Pale, Saylene and Graeme talking about Pacific cultural centredness, talanoa, Le Va and Pacific cultural safety.

Related Pacific Education Concepts

If you are using Fonofale to think about Pacific learner success, the next concepts to read are Pacific Cultural Centredness, Talanoa, Le Va, and Pacific Cultural Safety. For the wider pathway, start with Cultural Intelligence in Education.

FAQ: Fonofale In Education

What is Fonofale?

Fonofale is a Pacific model of health and wellbeing developed by Fuimaono Karl Pulotu-Endemann. It uses the image of a Samoan fale to represent the relationships between family, culture, spirituality, physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing, and wider context.

How can Fonofale support Pacific learners?

Fonofale can help educators look beyond academic performance and consider the family, cultural, spiritual, physical, mental, and environmental factors that shape Pacific learner success.

Is Fonofale only for health settings?

No. Fonofale began as a health and wellbeing model, but it can also support education, learner support, community work, and organisational practice when used carefully and respectfully.

How does Fonofale connect with cultural intelligence?

Fonofale supports cultural intelligence because it reminds educators that learning is shaped by identity, family, spirituality, wellbeing, relationships, and context. These dimensions affect how learners participate and succeed.