Aprendizaje de la lectoescritura con los estudiantes del aula multigrados de la

The opportunity to research my own place of work and to use the indigenous framework presented a multiplicity of roles and responsibilities for me, as a staff

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member and an indigenous Fijian. I have taught at the Fiji School of Nursing for 18 years and have taught two different Diploma of Nursing programmes at undergraduate levels. I was also mindful that I already had an exceptional amount of information regarding the school, the new curriculum and the operations of the institution. Maintaining objectivity with my data was one of the important issues that I needed to be aware of. Within the indigenous framework, it is important that the researcher does not appear to be already well informed and to outdo the participants. To downplay one’s awareness of the issues of research is seen as appropriate and respectful towards the participants. In a Fijian context, to be asking questions about issues that one should know is tantamount to playing ignorance or pretending to be a visitor/guest. When I explained the questions that I was going to ask, one of the participants remarked like this: “O kemuni ni kila vinaka sara tiko ga na kece kece…” meaning that I knew everything about the school and its affairs (the answers to my questions). In an indigenous research study, Nabobo- Baba described a similar reaction of her people at Vugalei when she started asking questions (Nabobo-Baba, 2006). Her people questioned her motives in asking those questions. To ask such questions was seen to be playing ignorant or being stupid as it implied that they (her people) have not brought her up correctly. The challenge was to maintain objectivity in my data and it was not easy for an insider researcher or for an insider and temporary outsider to pretend ‘not to know’ and ask questions to which he/she already knew the answers. Even though I was on study leave and a full time researcher, the fact remained I was staff and I had a lot of knowledge that my colleagues could access while I was there with them. During the study period, there were numerous occasions that I would be drawn into meetings and team discussions on assessments or examinations and other aspects of the curriculum. While I preferred to be an observer at most of the staff meetings, I would frequently be asked to contribute to discussions on the curriculum and students’ assessments. While I was mindful of the ethical aspects of researching into my own institution, I also felt as an indigenous Fijian I needed to offer assistance and direction when it was requested. In my first week at the school, during morning tea, I learned the nursing practice team had not completed the health assessment

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modules and they had only two weeks left before the students went out to the clinical areas. I observed the team discussing the odds and whether it was possible to complete their teaching in the following semester. Knowing that this was impossible for the team, I offered to complete the teaching for them. As I stood up, I was half expecting one of the teachers to counter my offer to teach, as I was only there to do my research but this did not happen. I quietly left the staff room and went into class using the power point lectures I had used at Massey University. Previous Fijian village- based studies by non-indigenous researchers stated that the success of any research within Fijian villages requires that the researchers are honest, have patience, are able to listen to them, are caring and are useful contributors to village or community functions (Defrain, Defrain, & Lepard, 1994).

As an indigenous Fijian, I had to be seen first as having concern for the institution and the welfare of the school. This meant that I also contributed to all the functions and obligations of the school such as contributing to the school farewell for its retiring principal and helping out with the Student Nurses’ Christian Fellowship Crusade by providing refreshments and sandwiches for the evangelist team. On the very first day at the school, I received two student nurses from my province who heard that I had ‘returned’ and came to inquire about their students’ tertiary allowance normally given by the province. I wanted to tell them that I was on leave and I did not know anything about their allowance or why it was not given earlier in the year. But in the indigenous Fijian worldview, being on study leave did not remove one’s traditional obligations. I contacted the provincial office and I was promised that the allowance would be distributed immediately. As I was the only person from my province at the school, I had to ensure that there is a system in place for these students so they did not miss out on getting their annual allowance. To just focus on the collection of data and information would have been seen as ‘un-Fijian’ and selfish. I also realised from this exchange with the students that western academic institutions in Fiji do not have formal indigenous processes or channels of communications that could be accessed by Fijian provincial councils and their members when the need arises.

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