“They Felt our Pain”: Pasifika Students’ Experience of Counsellor Educators

Abstract

A qualitative study was undertaken to explore several elements of Pasifika students’ learning experiences as counselling students in Aotearoa New Zealand tertiary institutions. This article discusses one of the key areas identified from the data, namely Pasifika counselling students’ experiences of counsellor educators. An Indigenous Pacific framework using teu le vāand talanoa was applied to the research design and underpinned the ethicsof this study.

Four focus groups were conducted to facilitate talanoa with eight current Pasifika students and seven graduates from five counsellor education programmes in 2021. Participants spoke about the importance of relationality with the educators, the cultural understanding of the educators, and their preferred styles of class facilitation and delivery. The findings provide some recommendations for supporting Pasifika counselling students, supervisees, and colleagues.