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This paper draws on a study that examined the experiences of four high-achieving Pasifika physiotherapy degree level students to identify factors contributing to their success. As peer students, they identified five approaches that assisted them to become high achievers within the tertiary environment. This paper refers specifically to these approaches as peer-based Pasifika pedagogies (PbPP) and broadly as culturally responsive practices. The aim of this paper is to examine how Pasifika pedagogies, such as PbPP provide culturally responsive practices that can address the 'culture of silence' while promoting the vā relationality, the cultural nuances and norms of their worldview as well as aligning it with modern pedagogies or tools to enhance success among Pasifika students in the New Zealand tertiary education context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A general inductive analysis was applied to 98 submissions made to a recent review of New Zealand’s tertiary education system, primarily to enable those interested to engage with multiple viewpoints about this highly complex educational system. The analysis yielded three substantial themes that reoccur throughout the submissions and that may warrant further research. The three themes relate to: competition, incorporating willingness and ability to compete at different levels in the sector; trust, incorporating expectations of being trusted to provide high-quality educational support for all learners as well as, to varying degrees, an expectation that the broad outcomes of this high-quality educational support should be trusted, rather than measured, by all stakeholders; and the purpose of the educational endeavour being considered and whether or not different parts of the sector do, or should, emphasise different purposes. The analysis yielded a model or theory about the underlying structure of the experiences illustrated by the 98 submissions that may assist those interested in tertiary education to address the new models of tertiary education being considered by the review. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]