Talanoa Numeracy

Welcome to Talanoa Numeracy, a resource designed to infuse Pacific flair, wisdom, and energy into the teaching and learning of numeracy.

The lessons in this Educator Pathway aim to develop your numeracy instructional skills. In short, they will make teaching numeracy easier by focusing on engaging learners in rich numeracy discussions. This is the perfect place to find fun, engaging numeracy activities and a model to introduce them effectively.

What is the Talanoa Numeracy approach?

Talanoa is the Pacific art of storytelling and discussion that leads to consensus and decision-making. Storytelling and discussion are powerful tools for educators and learners to make sense of and apply numeracy. Storytelling places numeracy in meaningful contexts, while discussion facilitates learning and understanding.

The Talanoa Numeracy approach supports educators in engaging Pacific learners with numeracy in a meaningful way, helping them develop their own understanding and practical application of numeracy in their lives. What works for Pacific learners benefits all learners.

Key outcomes for learners:

• To feel ownership of numeracy as a tool in their lives.
• To strive for excellence.
• To use numeracy to solve problems and express themselves in the world.
• To bring Pacific flair and creativity into numeracy teaching.

Additionally, the Talanoa Numeracy approach enhances learner agency. The strategies described in this document help learners:

• become more intentional about their decisions and actions
• plan their learning effectively
• manage the learning process, including their actions and emotions
• reflect and make changes when necessary.

Pacific peoples have a rich history of talanoa, giving them natural tools to engage deeply in numeracy if opportunities are provided. This project supports educators and learners in using a talanoa approach to foster meaningful numeracy conversations and critical thinking.

This Educator Pathway is a work in progress, with new content under development and ongoing improvements to existing resources.

Currently, the Pathway introduces a talanoa model applied to financial literacy.
Future examples will include:

• using music to engage learners with numeracy
• planning sports events
• using a ‘tasi’ to teach children number skills.

We hope you find these resources useful and inspiring!

Ia manuia lau malaga
May your journey be successful!