Challenging Neoliberal Tertiary Education Systems in Aotearoa New Zealand Through Pacific-Centred Pedagogical Strategies

Abstract

This article explores the contours and constraints of Aotearoa New Zealand’s neoliberal tertiary education system and presents Pacific-centred strategies for teaching social work which contradict, and yet can be deployed within, this system. A critical analysis of neoliberal ideology, discourse, and managerial practice as it plays out in the tertiary education space is followed by an articulation of Pacific values and worldviews which sit uneasily in this context. Drawing primarily on their experiences teaching social work at the bachelor’s level within a large Polytechnic in Auckland (Unitec Institute of Technology), the two main authors of this article identify pedagogical strategies which are not only culturally appropriate for a student body that includes a significant number of Indigenous students, but also aligned with social work principles and values. The authors argue that teaching approaches aligned with Pacific ways of being can serve as a counterbalance to the larger economic and social policy contexts which structure contemporary educational settings in Aotearoa, and act as a form of counter hegemony in relation to pervasive neoliberal discourses.