NZEI National Pasifika Fono 2018 - Day 2

Here are my notes for day 2 of the workshop

Fa’anana Efeso Collins (Auckland Councillor) was the MC for day 2. 

Keynote Speaker: Gilbert Enoka - Smoothing the Waters

'He is internationally renowned for his 18-year history with the All Blacks, first as their mental skills coach and now as All Blacks Manager - Leadership. He has been with the All Blacks for over 200 tests and during that time the team has won back-to-back Rugby World Cups, one Laureus Award (for the best team in the world), 14 Bledisloe Cups, three Grand Slams, seven Tri Nations and five Rugby Championships.' (Taken from NZEI Pasifika Fono site)

'Great to Great' - A Personal Story

1. What one word or phrase would you use to describe where you and your role in your work currently stands - today?
2. What does next level of performance look like for you and your role in your work?

2011 & 2015 - All Blacks back to back world champs

Strong lessons for those who are chasing great and pursuing greatness:

1. Set the challenge high! Vision needs to mobilise the heart and spirit. Aim: to be the most dominant team in the history of world rugby. Set vision high, pull current reality up to meet the vision. 
2. Get the right Mindset. Above the line (open, curious, committed to learning) and below the line (defensive, closed, committed to being right). Below the line - different belief, negative. Above the line - listen deeply, creative, innovative, location - where am I? most people go below the line
3. Having a clear mind. 
4. Be deliberate with your energisers. All Blacks played overseas (France) - had to energise staff and players. Did pig racing (not real pigs), whoever wins gets paid money. Releases brain chemicals, releases stress. All Black groups had a task to take a group photo in front of iconic things. Energisers allow to release stress and grow. 
5. Coming together as One Force - a surging mass of Black. Black Jersey defines us. AIG (had to have this company coz a few All Blacks associated with it , Silver Fern connects everyone to this country. Uniting energy to understanding. Video of Tana Umaga leading the haka. Coming together as One Force - a surging mass of Black. ‘Vision, Belonging, Environment, Values’ - If split on a triangle, 

1. Sense of Belonging is at the bottom of the triangle. Need to feel that you belong. Use peoples names. Sense of belonging is huge. 
2. Environment is second. Reinforces persons sense of belonging. Environment is shaped in a way that connects what people have to do. 
3. Values.
4. Vision. 

Person who has a strong sense of belonging is more likely to adhere to values and vision of a company, school, job etc. 

6. Fear is okay. Can’t have courage without fear. You have permission to get the jitters, the butterflies, the fear. Feel it…move through it…just don’t get stuck…..keep moving! Willie Apiata - ‘Fear kept me alive’. Richie McCaw was a great leader. 

Gilbert Enoka - Jan 2016 - NZ order of merit award. Grew up in a children's home. 

Greatness will always be up to the choices we make and the opportunities we take. 

Journey with Joshua Iosefo - Workshop 1

Ice breaker - important to know the world the kids are from

23 yrs old

Samoan/Niuean AUT graduate

Joshua is well known for his spoken word poem 'Brown Brother' that he wrote when he was only 17. He also spent some time working at our school in the Intermediate block with students back in 2013.

Purposeful Currents:

The Chosen Current

* Joshua pulled out of a high decile school to attend a decile one school. Noticed that there were obvious differences e.g. many kids had not lunch. Finally believed he was smart. Developed more empathy towards his peers. Current changed for him as he became the top of the class student.

* Inquiry learning. Kids were protesting about an issue and realised that they were agents of change.

* Noticed that older kids tended to drop out of school by Year 11.

* 'Listen to the whispers in your life' - Oprah

Unwanted Currents

* 'Can you not' currents

* He struggled to make friends in high school

* Felt disconnected to his peers

* Important to build resilience in students

Conflicting Currents

* 'Crap, I didn't think about that' current

* When entering Tertiary study, students feel most vulnerable and most anxious

* Some subjects chosen at college are not suitable for Tertiary study in some areas

* Pressure on students to juggle study, sport, family, commitments, jobs etc

Currents - What’s your current situation?

I thoroughly enjoyed this workshop. Joshua is an engaging and energetic speaker. He did really well to remind us how we need to recognise and understand that our students live in a different world to when we were students. We were asked to reflect on our current teaching situation and think about where our 'waka' is in this current situation. 

Keynote Speaker 2: Dr Jemaima Tiatia-Seath

“Pushing the Boundaries”

Epeli Hau’ofa - ‘Our Sea of Islands’ 1991

“We should not be defined by the smallness of our islands, but by the greatness of our oceans”

Sia Figiel - ‘Where we once belonged’ and ‘Freelove’

‘Caught between Cultures’ - Jemaima Tiatia

Received some support and backlash. Discussed issues e.g. church, financial commitments etc

Racism: As a 17yr old, experienced some racism. was not considered academic material. pushed her to prove them wrong. 

Need to be open to diversity. Allow youths to follow their own path. 

Dealt with youth suicide and Tongan youth. Worried about working with Tongan communities. 

Approaches to suicide are different for different cultures.

Suicide - 20 years experience

• Connection. disconnection is where we lose our youth, ethnic identity, racism, social support, 
• Mental health literacy - schools, need to get better at identifying signs of depression, withdrawal etc
• Not just a health focus but a sociocultural approach
• Access, cultural competency
• Gay community + messaging - need to get safe messages out there
• Showing vulnerability, ok to show weakness, ok to grieve
• Pacific resilience isn't built - how do we frame this resilience? what is it? kids who are leaders, responsible etc…that's resilience
• Pacific frameworks - normalising/be the mainstream

Way finding through her work. Uses model of the waka and the roles of people in the waka

1. front of the waka, Stroke, the researcher
2. Caller - research teams, advisors, university
3. 4&5 - Engine Room - family, values, spirituality
4. (6) Steerer - Youth, communities - they get a complete view of whats in front of them. Youth are the ones who should have the solutions for suicide

Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction - on the panel, 6 on the panel. 

'Diary of a Mad Brown Woman' - Vasa Fia Collins

Workshop 4

Lack of diversity in workplace

Still a long way to go for our PI students

Lack of PI leaders in schools

Cognitive Heuristics

Can't just have a gender mix, need diversity mix too

Increased Creativity and innovation needs diversity and diversity of thought

Everyone has cultural capital. How do we ensure that peoples talents are utilised

Important to have leadership buy in

Diversity is powerful

 - images, visual mihi, stories about our life, cool ice breaker, 

Cognitive heuristics is a mental shortcut that allows people to solve problems and make judgements quickly and effectively. Not always fair or accurate - biased

People are bad at recognising their own biases.

Cognitive Heuristics and Leadership

5% of decisions are made consciously and the rest is made unconsciously

Blind Auditions: US Orchestras. Likelihood of selecting a female improved by 500% previously made up of white males

Lots of bias in names too. 

iceberg model - conscious mind = tip of iceberg (choice), rest below = unconscious bias (beliefs, emotions, habits, values etc)

Critter State (basic needs, are we alive or dead?) vs Smart State (thinking outside of the box)

Brains feel under threat by Difference

harder for different/diverse people to share ideas in a group coz ideas are not always accepted. 

By age of 5 kids have already developed stereotypes. Doing something ‘like a girl’ is sometimes viewed as an insult.

Cognitive heuristics - empathetic response was higher for people who viewed faces of same race compared to faces of other races.

Invest in relationships with people who are different to us.

Overall Reflection: 

I think that the selection of speakers and workshops at the Fono was fantastic and I only wish that I was able to attend all the workshops. The two MCs Karl Vasau and Efeso Collins were awesome, full of island humour and kept the Fono running smoothly. I valued the fact that I was there with a couple of work colleagues (Andrea and Sally) so that we could bounce ideas of each other. The lunches provided by Waipuna Hotel were delicious. 

I can't wait to attend the next Fono. My only suggestion would be to provide some workshops based around the use of digital technology and possible career paths for our Pasifika students in either the Tech Industry or in STEM based industries. 

Actually I would also love for there to be a Pasifika Fono for Intermediate and/or College age students (Year 7 to Year 10) where they can be surrounded by other like minded peers and Pasifika role models in a wide range of industries: Sports, Media, Arts, Tech, Science/Medicine etc. Teachers can only do so much to encourage all of our students to succeed, but our students need to believe in themselves too, and have access to the support systems to help them to succeed.