Frances is a poet and artist passionate about the state of education and development in the Pacific. Her doctorate study explored the heritage art forms of tapa and tattooing in Samoa and Tonga as sites of knowing, learning being and becoming.

Frances’s talk encourages us to seriously consider the history and layers of meaning in the cultural motifs and symbols that surround us here in the Pacific.


Frances Cresantia Koya Vaka’uta is Associate Dean Research & Internationalization at the Faculty of Arts, Law & Education, at The University of the South Pacific. She teaches curriculum studies, education in small island developing states with a particular interest in Education for Sustainable Development and Rethinking Pacific island Education.



This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx