New wellbeing initiative helping Samoan ECEs grow their rolls, bucking national trends

A new initiative rooted in Pacific culture is helping early childhood education centres support both teachers and pupils to thrive.

Tāfesilafa’i, which is embedded in fa’a Samoa, is rebalancing the scales so aoga amata (Samoan early childhood education centres) have the same access to support and resources as that of their mainstream equivalents.

Funded by the Ministry of Education’s Pacific Education Innovation Fund, and supported by Healthy Families Waitākere since its formation in 2019, aoga amata around the country are being provided with wrap-around support to both faiaoga (teachers) and students.

The initiative is underpinned by strong evidence that enhancing teacher wellbeing and child wellbeing leads to more nurturing learning environments.

Irene Palea’i-Foroti, Fa’atonusili, Director for Sosaiete Aoga Amata Sāmoa I Aotearoa (SAASIA), says she knows Tāfesilafa’i works as evidenced by growing rolls at a number of centres.

“While early learning centres (mainstream and language nests) attendance is in decline due to the ongoing effects of COVID-19, aoga amata attendance levels have increased,” Irene says.

“The continuing support from the stakeholders, who have been instrumental in establishing this initiative, to enable our aoga amata, teachers, children and parents to dream their dreams, to grow and to achieve what they may never have thought possible before.

“Faiaoga share the children are happy and engaged in their learning, and we are the living evidence, our children, parents and communities - this is all the evidence we need to see to know Tāfesilafa’i is working.”

A critical element to Tāfesilafa’i is providing a place for faiaoga from aoga amata to come together, connect, and exchange resources, fostering confidence in incorporating Samoan culture into pedagogy.

It also identified the immediate stressors faiaoga experienced, and as a result the initiative is now ensuring aoga amata have the same access to support and resources as their mainstream equivalents. This has meant equipping faiaoga with laptops and allowing them to apply for external funding and source educational resources online – all of which was not happening prior to Tāfesilafa’i.

Tāfesilafa’i has the aspirations and ability to scale nationally, and as the initiative enters its fourth phase, Healthy Families Waitākere is looking to build capability and capacity of its sustainability partner, SAASIA, to carry the initiative forward.