INSPIRING ISLANDER - KATERINA TEAIWA: ON BOARD THE CANOE

Professor Katerina Teaiwa has been named the 2021 Australian University Teacher of the Year for her visionary approach to teaching and mentoring students in Pacific studies at The Australian National University (ANU).

Watch the video "On Board The Canoe" above which was made as part of Katerina's submission for the award.

Awarded by Universities Australia, the accolade celebrates the work of some of the nation's best university educators.

Teaiwa, from the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, has taught Pacific studies for more than 20 years and convened the innovative Pacific Islands field school from 2010-2019 and ANU Asia Pacific Week in 2020 and 2021.

Katerina currently has an exhibition "Project Banaba" showing at 'Te Uru' Waitakere Contemporary Gallery - a traveling multimedia installation that commemorates the history of Banaba, also known as Ocean Island.  Project Banaba explores the untold New Zealand phosphate mining history in Banaba Island; and the resilience of the Banaban community in the face of social and political adversity.

Alongside Project Banaba, Te Uru presents the special project, Te Kaneati – a community-led exhibition that highlights the experience of Auckland's thriving Banaban community. 

The exhibition opened on the 5th of March and is on until the 29th of May.

Born and raised in Fiji, Teaiwa is of Banaban, I-Kiribati and African-American heritage, and is the first indigenous female from the Pacific to become a professor at ANU.

Her teaching methods are creative, unique and meaningful, and include experiences such as embarking on a metaphorical voyage in a canoe to gain a sense of the Pacific's vast and diverse social and cultural dimensions.

However, Teaiwa says while metaphoric canoes and embodied teaching and learning are highly compelling for students, nothing beats travelling to the Pacific.

"We continually partner with universities, colleges, arts councils, non-governmental or intergovernmental organisations and communities in the Pacific and provide opportunities for students to represent the best of Australia while listening to and learning from Pacific peoples," Teaiwa says.

She says she is thrilled to receive an award that recognises her teaching contribution at ANU.

"I am so grateful to Anna Buckley, the ANU Centre for Learning and Teaching, the many generous colleagues and students who wrote in support of this nomination, and to the School of Culture, History and Language and College of Asia and the Pacific for supporting her creative Pacific approaches to teaching over many years. 

"My vision is to see Pacific studies taught at every level of education from primary school right through."

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