Working with Groups ● 95discuss the given issue. If the discussion is ongoing, the group facilitator
may consider rotating members or asking members to pair up or join
others with whom they have not had the chance to talk. Discussions
from the small groups must be fed back in a constructive way to the
larger group.Group Work with Pacific Young PeopleThe preceding section offered a snapshot of group work: its definition,
processes, and facilitation. For students interested in group work, an insight
into its application can be helpful. This section explores the example of group
work with Pacific young people in New Zealand.
The numbers of Pacific people in New Zealand continue to rise, as a result
of both natural increase and immigration. It is projected that by 2026 the
Pacific population will comprise about 10 percent of the total New Zealand
population. A significant characteristic of the Pacific population is its youth-
fulness; according to the website of the New Zealand Ministry of Pacific
Island Affairs, as of January 31, 2015, 38 percent (about 100,344) of the
Pacific population is under the age of 15 years. The majority of these young
people are New Zealand born, and their sense of Pacific identity is drawn
from family, community, and specific island affiliations. Although many are
socialized into maintaining this sense of identity and adherence to the values
of their Pacific community, others resist this socialization. Socialization,
acceptance, and repudiation take place in a context characterized by shifting
identities, mediated through education, employment, popular culture, social
media, and other technological innovations.
Regardless of the economic and social opportunities available in
New Zealand, Pacific people continue to experience a marginalized position
in relation to the dominant European-derived population. Despite education’s
contribution to social mobility, Pacific people represent the “highest propor-
tion of people with no [educational] qualifications” (Statistics New Zealand
and Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs 2010, 8). Older and island-born Pacific
people continue to hold primarily low-skilled occupations, with wide impli-
cations for “children and young people’s access to education, families’ access
to affordable housing, health services and decent standard of living” (Vakaoti
2013, 201). In addition, Pacific young people continue to be disproportion-
ately exposed to other structural issues, such as family violence and racism.
Sports, culture, the arts, and fashion appear to be the only activities that
celebrate the achievements of Pacific young people (Vakaoti 2013). This trend
is concerning, because celebrations of individual abilities do little to address
the structural impediments to the development of Pacific people in general.