Navigating national priorities, regionalism and internationalisation in National Universities of Moana Oceania

Abstract

This thesis explores how national universities in Moana Oceania navigate national priorities, regionalism, and internationalisation. Focussing on five institutions - the National University of Samoa, Tonga National University, Solomon Islands National University, National University of Vanuatu and Fiji National University - the study is guided by the primary question: How are national priorities centred in national universities of Moana Oceania? Two secondary questions explore the impacts of regionalism and internationalisation on achieving these priorities. The research is framed through social constructionism alongside the Moana Oceania concepts of motutapu and wansolwara, which centre on relationality, the sacredness of place, and shared oceanic connectivity as foundations for knowledge-making and exchange. Methodologically, the study employs critical (Indigenous) ethnography and multiple descriptive case studies, drawing on talanoa, tok stori, and storian as culturally grounded, responsive, and relational knowledge-sharing, supported by collaborative sensemaking and critical policy analysis. The findings revealed three interrelated insights. First, national universities consistently positioned themselves as sites of nation-building and moral leadership, where higher education is inseparable from cultural identity, linguistic and epistemic continuity, and service to communities and the nation. Second, regionalism is experienced as both an anchor and a source of tension. Regional frameworks and institutions can provide solidarity, standards and voice, but often appear distant from the specificity of national contexts and priorities when driven by external agendas. Third, internationalisation is characterised by uneven power relations, donor dependency and epistemic asymmetry, but has the potential to be re-imagined as knowledge diplomacy when partnerships are relational rather than transactional, grounded in Indigenous leadership, reciprocity and equitable agency. Across the five case studies, centring Indigenous worldviews enabled a shift from peripheral adaptation to epistemic sovereignty and leadership in redefining what relevant higher education looks like in and for Moana Oceania. Conceptually, the thesis explores the idea of a ‘relational university’, elaborating on how national universities are being re-envisioned as institutions whose purposes, partnerships, and governance are anchored in Indigenous ethics of relationality, responsibility, and collective wellbeing, with practical and policy implications for regional cooperation and more equitable international engagement.