An Indigenous Fijian Perspective: Prioritising Indigenous Fijian values and aspirations in decolonising Early Childhood Education.

As an Indigenous Fijian scholar and PhD candidate from the Faculty of Culture and Society at Auckland University of Technology, my doctoral research study underscores the crucial role of Indigenous Fijian values and aspirations in decolonising Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Fiji. I illuminate how prioritising these values in educating Indigenous Fijian children can contribute to the broader decolonisation of education. The formalisation of ECE in Fiji from 1990 to the late 2000s, while a positive step, has primarily been influenced by Western education systems and ways of thinking. This short article outlines Fijian early childhood education research needs, stressing the urgency and necessity of understanding Indigenous Fijian viewpoints in early childhood development, care, well-being, and education. Introduced is the Indigenous Fijian methodology known as 'veiwasei yaga’, which incorporates Talanoa discussions and the Fijian Vanua Research framework involving Fijian cultural practices and protocols. Shared are the preliminary phases of the study, which include some personal reflections on what decolonising the mind looked like and what indigenous wisdom meant in the early stage of this research.