Tutuila
Lio Va’auli

Pacific Strategic Lead

Tutuila Lio Vaauli Full shot CORE Education

Tutuila is of Samoan descent being born and raised in Aotearoa. He holds two tulafale matai (talking chief) titles from the village of Fasito’otai in Samoa. He is a fluent speaker of Samoan gagana fa’amatai (Samoan oratory language) and has extensive knowledge of Fa’asamoa (Samoan culture and values).

He has a deep interest in cultural identity and the cultural spaces the Samoan diaspora community are creating in Aotearoa. This is reflected in his thesis (honours) research where he explored the significant increase in mature aged Samoans enrolling in Samoan aganu’u (culture) and gagana (language) classes and the impact this had on their leadership roles.

Tutuila's extensive background in teaching spans a period of more than 25 years where he has taught both here in Aotearoa and Samoa in both the Primary and Secondary Schools sector. During his career as a teacher, Tutuila has been involved in extensive governance and management of teachers, challenging teachers' pedagogical thinking and beliefs, enabling them to make transformative changes in their practice.

Tutuila has worked and served in governance and management. His cultural lens and expertise has seen him lead various initiatives at community and grassroots level. His passions include research into Samoan aganu’u (culture) and gagana (language), Pasifika educational leadership methodologies and the Samoan diaspora community in Aotearoa.