Decolonising the Institutionalised Approach to Theological Education in a Pasifika Context

Learning from a ‘Whole of Life’ Participatory Approach

Abstract

In promoting learning from a ‘whole of life’ participatory approach, this essay responds to the
controlled classroom pedagogical approaches that have defined Western institutionalised theological
education in Pasifika. Western theological education curriculum, theory, and practice have shaped
its epistemological approach in various learning contexts, thereby downplaying and supressing
Pasifika indigenous ways of being, knowing,and learning. In contrast, learning from a‘whole of life’
participatory approach involves our communities and emphasises Pasifika indigenous realities and
knowledge systems as central to a decolonial approach to theological education. Focusing on
relational ontology is at the core of this participatory approach. This study therefore takes an
ontological turn in presenting a participatory approach to learning which allows for Pasifika
relational ways of understanding in knowledge production. It surveys a possible empirical ontology
of participatory learning embedded in indigenous realities and knowledge systems that provide for
learning from a ‘whole of life’ approach. This promotes the ‘whole of life’ vision of Pacific
Theological College,adopted from 2019 onwards, in alignment with the new Pasifika Communities
University.