(c) Talanoa
Talanoa is an informal means of communicating in Samoa, Tonga and Fiji
indigenous contexts (Nabobo-Baba, 2006: ‘Otunuku, 2011; Vaioleti, 2006,
2010). Talanoa has been subscribed to by many Pacific researchers as
an effective method of gathering narrative data in a ‘comfortable, non-
threatening manner’ (Koya 2013, p. 141). Talanoa sessions may be conducted
one-on-one or with small groups. In this study, the teacher-researchers
conducted talanoa sessions both one-on-one and with small groups of two
to four teachers.
(d) Questionnaires
The researchers administered questionnaires to 80 teachers, 10 Ministry
of Education officers and 10 teacher educators. The instrument included
both open-ended and closed questions to elicit a variety of responses on
pedagogical understandings and practices as well as perceptions of, and
current approaches to, teaching and learning.
(e) Document and policy analysis
The researcher undertook an analysis of national policy documents and
current thinking on education in Fiji to provide an understanding of the
ongoing discourse on education in Fiji and the Pacific.
(f ) Analysis of data
Applying a mixed-methods approach to data analysis, the researcher coded
and tabulated numeric data for comparative analysis purposes.^2 Patterns were
drawn from both narrative and numeric data applying Hycner’s explication
process (1999). This process has five phases (cited in Groenewald, 2004, p. 19):
i. Bracketing and phenomenological reduction.
ii. Delineating of meaning.
iii. Clustering of meaning to form themes.
iv. Summarizing narrative data, validating and, where necessary,
modifying it.
v. Extracting general and unique themes and making a composite summary.
2 Note on coding: Ministry of Education staff were coded as follows: Policy-makers/
Education Officers: P/EO; Teacher Educators: TE; Primary School Teachers: PT; Secondary
Teachers: ST.