scholarly journals Tauhi Vā Māfana: Tongan leadership and culture in the New Zealand Public Service

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mele Katea Paea

<p>How does knowledge of cultural practices help us think differently about how leadership is understood and practised in a particular context? This thesis presents a Tongan leadership model from a Tongan perspective. It is based on a study of cultural practices that shape the ways in which Tongans perceive and experience leadership differently. The location of the study is the New Zealand Public Service, and the approach taken here is to reflect on Tongan leadership from a strength-based perspective, promoting the leadership capabilities that Tongans bring with them into another cultural context.  The core of this thesis is a deep empirical study of Tongan leadership based on Tongan public servants’ perceptions and experiences of Tongan identity and Tongan leadership practices in New Zealand. The theoretical framework is based primarily on a Tauhi Vā (nurturing relationships) approach that draws on sources, which explore and discuss the key conceptual foundations of Tongan culture. It draws on the central value of māfana (warm love/inner warm passion) as the driver for leadership as Tauhi Vā Māfana (nurturing warm relationships).  The thesis also argues that the methodology for exploring leadership as cultural practice should be located in the cultural practices being studied. It further explores the research question, what is the most culturally appropriate way to study leadership as cultural practice? In this case, the methodology for this study is therefore grounded in a Tongan perspective called Talanoa Māfana (talking about the truth in love/warm relationships). This is based on a type of ‘oral communication’, carried out in both group and individual contexts. The thesis set out to build on existing talanoa methodology to develop Talanoa Māfana providing new insights into cultural practice as methodology alongside cultural practice as the topic of study.  The study first asked participants what ‘being Tongan’ meant to them and what their experiences of leadership were. Moving into the public service context, it asked how their Tongan identities shaped their work in the New Zealand Public Service, and how they would like to see their leadership practices supported in this context. Drawing on the findings, this study conceptualises Tongan leadership as Tauhi Vā Māfana. It is based on the dynamic interplay between fāmili (familial relationships), māfana, fua fatongia (fulfilling obligations), and faka`apa`apa (sacred wisdom) within a given socio-cultural context. Tauhi Vā Māfana presents leadership as a cultural practice of nurturing warm relationships, in which people are influenced to change in a given context. This concept describes the types of leadership capabilities that Tongan participants bring to the New Zealand Public Service and goes on to explore the challenges that they face in trying to act on these capabilities in a non-Tongan cultural context.  This thesis presents a Tongan model of leadership, and so brings to the wider leadership literature an empirical study that considers leadership as cultural practice. It is part of the emerging wider conversation about the importance of understanding leadership in terms of how people perceive and experience it from within their own socio-cultural backgrounds and in specific contexts. It challenges leadership scholars and practitioners to think about how they could use the knowledge of cultural practices to understand and utilise leadership differently, in the face of the dominance of Western leadership models. This study is also a wider invitation to consider the relevance of its themes and methodology to developing alternatives to organisational research based on Western perspectives, such as the emerging literature on Pacific and indigenous perspectives.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mele Katea Paea

<p>How does knowledge of cultural practices help us think differently about how leadership is understood and practised in a particular context? This thesis presents a Tongan leadership model from a Tongan perspective. It is based on a study of cultural practices that shape the ways in which Tongans perceive and experience leadership differently. The location of the study is the New Zealand Public Service, and the approach taken here is to reflect on Tongan leadership from a strength-based perspective, promoting the leadership capabilities that Tongans bring with them into another cultural context.  The core of this thesis is a deep empirical study of Tongan leadership based on Tongan public servants’ perceptions and experiences of Tongan identity and Tongan leadership practices in New Zealand. The theoretical framework is based primarily on a Tauhi Vā (nurturing relationships) approach that draws on sources, which explore and discuss the key conceptual foundations of Tongan culture. It draws on the central value of māfana (warm love/inner warm passion) as the driver for leadership as Tauhi Vā Māfana (nurturing warm relationships).  The thesis also argues that the methodology for exploring leadership as cultural practice should be located in the cultural practices being studied. It further explores the research question, what is the most culturally appropriate way to study leadership as cultural practice? In this case, the methodology for this study is therefore grounded in a Tongan perspective called Talanoa Māfana (talking about the truth in love/warm relationships). This is based on a type of ‘oral communication’, carried out in both group and individual contexts. The thesis set out to build on existing talanoa methodology to develop Talanoa Māfana providing new insights into cultural practice as methodology alongside cultural practice as the topic of study.  The study first asked participants what ‘being Tongan’ meant to them and what their experiences of leadership were. Moving into the public service context, it asked how their Tongan identities shaped their work in the New Zealand Public Service, and how they would like to see their leadership practices supported in this context. Drawing on the findings, this study conceptualises Tongan leadership as Tauhi Vā Māfana. It is based on the dynamic interplay between fāmili (familial relationships), māfana, fua fatongia (fulfilling obligations), and faka`apa`apa (sacred wisdom) within a given socio-cultural context. Tauhi Vā Māfana presents leadership as a cultural practice of nurturing warm relationships, in which people are influenced to change in a given context. This concept describes the types of leadership capabilities that Tongan participants bring to the New Zealand Public Service and goes on to explore the challenges that they face in trying to act on these capabilities in a non-Tongan cultural context.  This thesis presents a Tongan model of leadership, and so brings to the wider leadership literature an empirical study that considers leadership as cultural practice. It is part of the emerging wider conversation about the importance of understanding leadership in terms of how people perceive and experience it from within their own socio-cultural backgrounds and in specific contexts. It challenges leadership scholars and practitioners to think about how they could use the knowledge of cultural practices to understand and utilise leadership differently, in the face of the dominance of Western leadership models. This study is also a wider invitation to consider the relevance of its themes and methodology to developing alternatives to organisational research based on Western perspectives, such as the emerging literature on Pacific and indigenous perspectives.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mele Katea Paea

<p>This dissertation presents research focused on leadership processes among Pacific public servants at multiple levels in the New Zealand Public Service. The current study was guided by this research question: What are the leadership processes currently employed by Pacific public servants in the New Zealand Public Service? This study also explored participants' views on the effect of Pacific cultural backgrounds and organisational contexts on their current experience of leadership processes. The exploration of the topic was developed within a post-positivist research paradigm, using phenomenological methodology to examine the leadership processes of Pacific public servants. It employs qualitative case studies of two New Zealand Public Service organisations in the Wellington region. I employed two data collection tools in these case studies. The first was the use of in-depth interviews, and the second was an analysis of relevant organisational documents. A total of sixteen Pacific public servants participated in my study, eight from each case organisation. The findings indicated that the Pacific participants understood leadership as a social process of collective influence within a context. Participants perceived participating, networking and relationship building, learning about leadership from cultural contexts, and practising the Pacific value of va as important leadership processes for their performance in the organisations in which they were working. This study also found that the organisations' key roles and leadership values, which are embedded in Pacific cultures, shaped participants' experiences of the leadership processes. The findings also highlight some factors that contribute to and constrain the Pacific public servants' leadership processes. This emphasises the need for diverse policies to encompass leadership development. This study also highlights the need for leadership support for Pacific public servants at all levels in their New Zealand organisations. Practical and future research recommendations gained from the findings are discussed. The study contributes to the field of leadership research on Pacific public servants in New Zealand, and provides a different perspective on leadership processes in general leadership theory.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cerlin Pesti ◽  
Tiina Randma-Liiv

Abstract The aim of this article is to explore and explain the 2012 civil service reform in Estonia. The study builds on the concept of public service bargain, which facilitates the operationalization of changes in the civil service system. Although public service bargain has attracted a lot of interest of public administration scholars, it has not been previously applied in the civil service research in Central and Eastern Europe. The theoretical part synthesizes previous literature on typologies of public service bargain, thus elaborating an analytical framework for the empirical study. The empirical study addresses the following research question: did the civil service reform change the public service bargain in Estonia and if so, how ? The empirical research was carried out by relying on desk research, secondary literature on Estonian administrative reforms and participant observation. The study builds partly on the materials collected for the EUPACK case study on Estonia. The analysis shows that the civil service reform brought along changes in all three components of public service bargain: reward, competency and loyalty, although the agency-type bargain was retained. The shift towards the managerial public service bargain is evidenced in the greater emphasis on flexibility in employment relations, the use of fixed-term contracts, increased private-sector-style practices at all levels of the civil service, an emphasis on performance management, and the reduction of job security. Despite the widespread criticism of NPM, the Estonian civil service reform presents a “textbook case” of managerial NPM-oriented reform. It is argued that substantially diminished rewards may contribute to a vicious circle of temporary civil servants, including problems with recruiting new officials and a further increase in their turnover, ultimately leading to a “temporary state”. The loyalty of civil servants may in turn shift towards instrumental, short-term and easily influenced or changing loyalty, thus challenging the fundamental values of democratic governance.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mele Katea Paea

<p>This dissertation presents research focused on leadership processes among Pacific public servants at multiple levels in the New Zealand Public Service. The current study was guided by this research question: What are the leadership processes currently employed by Pacific public servants in the New Zealand Public Service? This study also explored participants' views on the effect of Pacific cultural backgrounds and organisational contexts on their current experience of leadership processes. The exploration of the topic was developed within a post-positivist research paradigm, using phenomenological methodology to examine the leadership processes of Pacific public servants. It employs qualitative case studies of two New Zealand Public Service organisations in the Wellington region. I employed two data collection tools in these case studies. The first was the use of in-depth interviews, and the second was an analysis of relevant organisational documents. A total of sixteen Pacific public servants participated in my study, eight from each case organisation. The findings indicated that the Pacific participants understood leadership as a social process of collective influence within a context. Participants perceived participating, networking and relationship building, learning about leadership from cultural contexts, and practising the Pacific value of va as important leadership processes for their performance in the organisations in which they were working. This study also found that the organisations' key roles and leadership values, which are embedded in Pacific cultures, shaped participants' experiences of the leadership processes. The findings also highlight some factors that contribute to and constrain the Pacific public servants' leadership processes. This emphasises the need for diverse policies to encompass leadership development. This study also highlights the need for leadership support for Pacific public servants at all levels in their New Zealand organisations. Practical and future research recommendations gained from the findings are discussed. The study contributes to the field of leadership research on Pacific public servants in New Zealand, and provides a different perspective on leadership processes in general leadership theory.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Vicki Marie Culling

<p>This thesis investigates New Zealand women's menstrual knowledge within a cultural, social and historical context. An analysis or dominant menstrual discourses and their impact on women's menstrual knowledge was undertaken from a feminist poststructural perspective. At the outset, my initial objectives were to examine and record the social construction of menstruation and to determine the extent to which it impacted on New Zealand women's menstrual knowledge. Following a reading of feminist poststructuralism, the initial objective of measuring and quantifying women's menstrual knowledge changed to an approach focusing on discourse. Similarly, I moved to a new methodological focus on feminist epistemologies. As a result, the thesis examines the effects of New Zealand cultural practices and social meanings on women's 'knowing' about menstruation. It seeks to establish the boundaries and markers that both construct and constrain women's menstrual knowledge.  Thirty-seven New Zealand women ranging in age from fourteen to eighty-six years contributed their narratives during open-ended interviews. The women's stories located various discursive practices that impacted on their menstrual knowledge and on their adherence to a common or popular menstrual etiquette. Discourses that construct and confine what, and how, women know about their menstrual cycle are identified and discussed. These scientific, medical, and consumerist discourses intersect and overlap to constitute a dominant menstrual discourse. Menstrual product advertising is identified as a prevailing context that surrounds young women as they become menstruants. Discursive practices such as euphemisms, notions of cleanliness and hygiene, authority through technology, and the commodification of feminist imagery contribute to representations that devalue and stigmatise menstruation. This dominant menstrual discourse can be maintained or disrupted through the way mothers impart menstrual knowledge to their daughters. Mothers are faced with the contradiction of preparing their daughters for an experience that is presented as normal yet constructed within strategies of concealment that menstruating women are expected to follow. When young women do become menstraunts, they are faced with the menstrual 'script' that includes the emotional themes of embarrassment, anxiety and ambivalence. The formal acquisition of menstrual knowledge takes place in our schools and again is positioned within a contradictory framework. Menstruation is conveyed as 'ordinary' yet the teaching of the menstrual cycle is often 'extraordinary' 'Menstruation' is routinely taught in sex-segregated classes, in the evening, in the company of parents and often located within scientific and medical discourses.  This thesis offers new insight into the different ways New Zealand women construct knowledge about our bleeding bodies. Its uniqueness rests with die theoretical framework used to analyse research data. A feminist poststructuralist discourse analysis enabled the positioning of the women's accounts within a social, historical and cultural context, and the identification of a new way of analysing the impact of discursive practices upon meaning and experience of menstruation.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Vicki Marie Culling

<p>This thesis investigates New Zealand women's menstrual knowledge within a cultural, social and historical context. An analysis or dominant menstrual discourses and their impact on women's menstrual knowledge was undertaken from a feminist poststructural perspective. At the outset, my initial objectives were to examine and record the social construction of menstruation and to determine the extent to which it impacted on New Zealand women's menstrual knowledge. Following a reading of feminist poststructuralism, the initial objective of measuring and quantifying women's menstrual knowledge changed to an approach focusing on discourse. Similarly, I moved to a new methodological focus on feminist epistemologies. As a result, the thesis examines the effects of New Zealand cultural practices and social meanings on women's 'knowing' about menstruation. It seeks to establish the boundaries and markers that both construct and constrain women's menstrual knowledge.  Thirty-seven New Zealand women ranging in age from fourteen to eighty-six years contributed their narratives during open-ended interviews. The women's stories located various discursive practices that impacted on their menstrual knowledge and on their adherence to a common or popular menstrual etiquette. Discourses that construct and confine what, and how, women know about their menstrual cycle are identified and discussed. These scientific, medical, and consumerist discourses intersect and overlap to constitute a dominant menstrual discourse. Menstrual product advertising is identified as a prevailing context that surrounds young women as they become menstruants. Discursive practices such as euphemisms, notions of cleanliness and hygiene, authority through technology, and the commodification of feminist imagery contribute to representations that devalue and stigmatise menstruation. This dominant menstrual discourse can be maintained or disrupted through the way mothers impart menstrual knowledge to their daughters. Mothers are faced with the contradiction of preparing their daughters for an experience that is presented as normal yet constructed within strategies of concealment that menstruating women are expected to follow. When young women do become menstraunts, they are faced with the menstrual 'script' that includes the emotional themes of embarrassment, anxiety and ambivalence. The formal acquisition of menstrual knowledge takes place in our schools and again is positioned within a contradictory framework. Menstruation is conveyed as 'ordinary' yet the teaching of the menstrual cycle is often 'extraordinary' 'Menstruation' is routinely taught in sex-segregated classes, in the evening, in the company of parents and often located within scientific and medical discourses.  This thesis offers new insight into the different ways New Zealand women construct knowledge about our bleeding bodies. Its uniqueness rests with die theoretical framework used to analyse research data. A feminist poststructuralist discourse analysis enabled the positioning of the women's accounts within a social, historical and cultural context, and the identification of a new way of analysing the impact of discursive practices upon meaning and experience of menstruation.</p>


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 75-91
Author(s):  
Kashi Raj Pandey

While writing and reading have certain specific uses in the broader aspect of life and cultural practices, this paper focuses on improving a researcher’s practice as a teacher and learner in inclusiveness, multiplicity, multiculturalism, and possibility of various perspectives in any given contexts. Taking auto-ethnography as a methodological referent in writing narratives, that deals with my own and students’ lived experiences about journaling and its impact on transformation, this research looks into the dialectical nature of knowing through reflection about self practices whilst taking the cultural context of teaching in multiple perspectives. Responding to a number of questions including how a habit of maintaining journal helps the practitioner in cherishing multicultural thoughts, this work is equally a room that tries to find answers to the research question-- When and how do the learners realize a need for cross-cultural understanding? Along with participants’ narratives and other related theories this paper also covers the researcher’s encounter with Dr. Inspection, and a letter to the Subject Committee. In addition, an acrostic poem and a Haiku also give the picturesque of the ongoing discourse among teachers and students, teachers and management and management and students in any educational institutions being Mount Kailash University (MKU)1, a prototype.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jer.v3i0.7854Journal of Education and Research March 2013, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 75-91


2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-95
Author(s):  
Vili Nosa ◽  
Kotalo Leau ◽  
Natalie Walker

ABSTRACT Introduction: Pacific people in New Zealand have one of the highest rates of smoking.  Cytisine is a plant-based alkaloid that has proven efficacy, effectiveness and safety compared to a placebo and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for smoking cessation.  Cytisine, like varenicline, is a partial agonist of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, and blocks the rewarding effects of nicotine. Cytisine is naturally found in some plants in the Pacific region, and so may appeal to Pacific smokers wanting to quit. This paper investigates the acceptability of cytisine as a smoking cessation product for Pacific smokers in New Zealand, using a qualitative study design. Methods: In December 2015, advertisements and snowball sampling was used to recruit four Pacific smokers and three Pacific smoking cessation specialists in Auckland, New Zealand. Semi-structured interviews where undertaken, whereby participants were asked about motivations to quit and their views on smoking cessation products, including cytisine (which is currently unavailable in New Zealand). Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim, with thematic analysis conducted manually. Findings: Pacific smokers reported wanting to quit for loved ones and family, but did not find currently available smoking cessation products effective. Almost all participants had not previously heard of cytisine, but many of the Pacific smokers were keen to try it. Participants identified with cytisine on a cultural basis (given its natural status), but noted that their use would be determined by the efficacy of the medicine, its cost, side-effects, and accessibility. They were particularly interested in cytisine being made available in liquid form, which could be added to a “smoothie” or drunk as a “traditional tea”.  Participants thought cytisine should be promoted in a culturally-appropriate way, with packaging and advertising designed to appeal to Pacific smokers. Conclusions: Cytisine is more acceptable to Pacific smokers than other smoking cessation products, because of their cultural practices of traditional medicine and the natural product status of cytisine.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-11
Author(s):  
Bala Augustine Nalah ◽  
Azlinda Azman ◽  
Paramjit Singh Jamir Singh

Harmful cultural practices have psychosocial implications on stigmatization and vulnerability to HIV infection among HIV positive living in North Central Nigeria. To understand this, we conducted qualitative interviews with purposively selected 20 diagnosed HIV positive to explore how culture influences stigmatization and HIV transmission. Data was collected using audio-recorder, transcribed, and analyzed through thematic analysis using ATLAS.ti8 software to code and analyze interview transcripts. The coded data were presented using thematic network analysis to visualize the theme, sub-themes, and quotations in a model. The findings reveal that lack of education was a significant determinant for the continual practice of harmful cultural rites, thereby increasing the risk of HIV infection and stigmatization. Hence, six cultural facilitators have been identified to include female genital mutilation, lack of education, tribal marks and scarification, postpartum sexual abstinence during breastfeeding, sexual intercourse during menstruation, and gender inequality, polygamy, and inheritance law. We conclude that educational teachings and advocacy campaigns be organized in rural schools and public places on the implications of harmful cultural practice to health and psychological well-being. We recommend that the social workers and behavioral scientists should collaborate with other agencies to employ a behavioral-based intervention in eliminating cultural practices and HIV stigma.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Yu Zhang ◽  
Su-hua Wang ◽  
Shinchieh Duh

We provide a framework of analysis for Chinese ways of learning that extends beyond the individual level. The theoretical framework focuses on Confucian principles of <i>xiào</i> (孝, filial piety), <i>guăn</i> (管, to govern), and <i>dào dé guān</i> (道德觀, virtues), which leads us to argue that directive guidance as a cultural practice nourishes Chinese-heritage children’s learning as early as in infancy. To illustrate how directive guidance occurs in action for infants, we present an empirical study that examined the interaction of mother-infant dyads in Taipei, Taiwan, when they played with a challenging toy. The dyads co-enacted directive guidance more frequently than their European-American counterparts in the USA – through hand holding, intervening, and collaboration – while infants actively participate in the practice. We discuss the early development of strengths for learning that is fostered through culturally meaningful practices recurrent in parent-infant interaction.


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