• RESEARCH PAPER PRESENTATION (1-4 presenters suggested) (30 minutes): 

  • Presenters will share research findings related to education in the Asia-Pacific. Research in progress are welcome also. Emphasis should be placed on findings that can lead towards practical change in K-20 educational settings, both formal and informal. About 700-1000 words.

• HANDS-ON or PRACTITIONER SESSION (1-4 presenters suggested) (60 minutes): 

  • Presenters will engage attendees in curriculum and instructional activities to be implemented with students. These are generally workshops and demonstrations. Audience participation is encouraged. These sessions can also be designed to promote a variety of discussions (e.g., early childhood, primary, and secondary curricula and programs; early childhood, primary, and secondary teacher education and support; education policies and practices; higher education leadership; student engagement, etc.). About 300-500 words.

• ROUNDTABLE SESSION (1-2 facilitators) (45 minutes): 

  • Facilitators will lead a small group in conversations around a particular topic. All participants in a roundtable will have the opportunity to share their ideas and opinions. Participants will be asked to read or watch a piece in advance to be ready for discussion. About 300-500 words.

We encourage proposers to consider the conference theme and its five subthemes.

The theme, He Wa'a He Moku, He Moku He Wa'a, is a metaphor that captures the essence of Pacific education. The metaphor works on multiple levels - recognizing that educators serve as both stable foundations (islands) and dynamic vehicles for growth (canoes), while students are both grounded in their cultural communities and launched toward new possibilities. The theme emphasizes the interconnected nature of Pacific educational communities, where traditional wayfinding wisdom guides modern pedagogical practice, and where every learning space becomes both a sanctuary of belonging and a vessel of transformation.

Subthemes

Aloha ʻĀina: Rooting Education in Love for the Land.  Aloha ʻĀina—love and respect for the land—is both a cultural foundation and a call to action, reminding us that our relationship with place shapes who we are and how we learn. For Pacific peoples, the ʻāina is not merely a backdrop for education but our first teacher, providing sustenance, identity, and the wisdom of generations who have cared for these islands with reverence and reciprocity. As educators, we are challenged to cultivate this profound connection in our students: How do we create learning experiences that ground them in the stories, ecosystems, and responsibilities of their ancestral lands? How do we prepare young people not just to succeed in the world, but to serve as fierce protectors and nurturers of the places that hold them? By weaving Aloha ʻĀina throughout our educational practices—from place-based curriculum to environmental stewardship to Indigenous land management—we honor the inseparable bond between people and place, fostering a generation that understands their thriving is intimately tied to the health and vitality of the ʻāina itself.

Mauli: Nurturing the Life Force in Pacific Education. Mauli—the sacred life force that pulses through all living things—calls us to reimagine education as an act of cultural sustenance and spiritual renewal. In our Pacific traditions, mauli connects the breath of our ancestors to the aspirations of our children, reminding us that learning is not merely the transfer of information but the cultivation of wholeness, purpose, and belonging. As we gather to strengthen our educational pathways, we must ask: How do we protect and amplify the mauli within our students, especially when they navigate systems that may not recognize their inherent worth? How do we design curricula, pedagogies, and policies that honor the life force embedded in our languages, stories, and communal ways of knowing? By centering mauli in our work, we commit to education that breathes vitality into our communities, ensuring that every learner feels the power of their ancestors flowing through them and carries forward the strength to shape a thriving Pacific future.

Kuleana: Embracing Our Generational Responsibility. Kuleana—our sacred responsibility and privilege to serve—reminds us that education is an intergenerational trust, carrying forward the wisdom of our ancestors while preparing our descendants to navigate an ever-changing world. In Pacific cultures, kuleana is both deeply personal and profoundly collective; it binds us to our families, communities, and the yet-unborn generations who will inherit the choices we make today. As educators and leaders, we must continually ask ourselves: What is our kuleana to the students in our care, and how do we help them understand their own responsibilities to their people and places? How do we build educational systems that honor the kuleana entrusted to us by those who fought to preserve our languages, cultures, and self-determination? By centering kuleana in our work, we acknowledge that every curriculum decision, every policy, and every interaction with our youth carries weight beyond the present moment—it is our contribution to an unbroken chain of care, ensuring that Pacific knowledge, values, and communities not only survive but flourish with strength and dignity across all the generations to come.

Pilina: Strengthening the Connections That Sustain Us. Pilina—the connection of relationships that binds us to one another, to our ancestors, and to all creation—lies at the heart of Pacific ways of knowing and being. In our educational work, pilina reminds us that learning never happens in isolation but flourishes through the connections we nurture: between students and kumu, between schools and communities, between Indigenous knowledge and contemporary practice, and between the wisdom of our kūpuna and the innovations of our youth. As we strengthen our consortium, we must ask: How do we create educational spaces where pilina is not just acknowledged but actively cultivated? How do we repair connections that colonization has severed while forging new relationships that honor our collective strength? When we center pilina in our pedagogy, policies, and partnerships, we recognize that our students' success depends not on individual achievement alone but on the richness of their relationships and their deep sense of belonging within networks of care. By weaving strong pilina throughout Pacific education, we create resilient communities where every person understands their place in the larger whole and draws strength from the connections that have sustained our people across oceans and generations.

Ea: Reclaiming Educational Self Determination. Ea—self-determination, and the breath of life restored—challenges us to envision and enact education on our own terms, guided by indigenous values, priorities, and visions for the future. For too long, many communities have navigated educational systems designed without community voice, systems that often diminish rather than elevate our languages, epistemologies, and ways of being. True ea in education means more than access or inclusion; it demands that we exercise authority over what our children learn, how they learn it, and who decides what constitutes success and excellence. As we gather to strengthen our collective power, we must grapple with critical questions: What does it mean to build educational institutions that are accountable first to our communities rather than external mandates? How do we prepare our students not merely to participate in existing systems but to transform them—or create alternatives altogether? By embracing ea as our guiding principle, we commit to educational self-determination that honors our ancestors' resistance, responds to our communities' needs, and ensures that indigenous peoples control the knowledge, resources, and structures that shape our children's futures, breathing life into a vision of education where we are authors of our own destiny.