Activating Sacred Vā Relationality in Higher Education

Abstract

This reflective commentary explores the tensions and possibilities of navigating higher education in Aotearoa as a Samoan educator grounded in Indigenous relational ethics. Written through Wayfinding and Critical Autoethnography, it draws on Samoan Indigenous Reference—Fa’aSamoa (SIR–FS)—to illuminate how globalised academic expectations intersect with the lived realities of aiga (family), vā (relational space), and tapu (sacredness). As a practitioner within a university context undergoing structural and epistemological shifts, I reflect on the ethical labour of holding space for Pasifika learners within a transnational, neoliberal, and outcomes-driven sector. Wayfinding and Critical Autoethnography enable a layered methodological approach that weaves ancestral wisdom, poetic storytelling, and personal reflection. This piece shares how I navigate the demands of institutional research and teaching while staying anchored to Indigenous principles of collective wellbeing, intergenerational continuity, and spiritual responsibility. Rather than offering a singular solution, this commentary invites readers into the vā: a sacred space between epistemologies, pedagogies, and futures. It asks how educators might honour Indigenous ethical frameworks while negotiating the border-crossing landscapes of higher education. In doing so, it contributes a grounded Pasifika voice to broader dialogues on reflexivity, inclusion, and the decolonial reimagining of education in Aotearoa.