Photo caption: Lesieli Peseta says Pacific students need to be encouraged in academic fields.
Graduating from Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) with a Bachelor of Physical Education in 2015, Peseta returned to her studies last year to complete her Master of Education with a focus on Pacific leadership in educational contexts.
“I wanted to become a better advocate for our people and be a leader for our community. There aren’t many Pasifika in leadership positions in their given fields,” Lesieli says.
“We are in a system that doesn’t cater for Pasifika people and that doesn’t understand what it looks like to be Pasifika. We need to be visible to encourage others to aspire to leadership roles.
“For me, being Pasifika is about understanding where we are from. The biggest part of that is our values – primarily service to our community. Being Pasifika is about looking after and out for each other. What we do now is going to affect the next generation and beyond.”
Lesieli says that to effect change, Pacific people need to be upskilled so that they can have a seat at the table where they can help influence policy.
“There haven’t been many opportunities for us to get there in the past but I’m hoping that is starting to change. I am purposefully pacing myself so that I can provide a Pasifika voice,” she says.
Peseta has been a teacher at Avonside Girls’ High for seven years. With the benefit of a scholarship from the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, she was able to return to full-time study last year to undertake her masters.
Now Director of Pasifika at Avonside, she is working on a strategic plan that will enable students to aspire to and achieve those higher honours.
“With the student learning at heart, we have asked for feedback from our students about how learning can be improved, supported and what is working for them now. We’re asking teachers about the types of support they need and how they would like this delivered to ensure they are well equipped to work with Pacific students,” Lesieli explains.
Parents were asked about the aspirations they have for their child, what they would like to see more of at school and how the school can work in partnership with them to help their child succeed.
Peseta says Pacific students need to be encouraged in academic fields and not just thought of as being good at sport or celebrating Polyfest.
“Polyfest should be used as an avenue to help our Pacific students excel in any chosen field. It’s about how we embrace their identity, but we must also use it as our vehicle to create more success.”
Born in New Zealand, Peseta has Tongan parents and is married to a Samoan. Her cultural mix typifies the new generation of Pacific peoples who might have to navigate three cultural worlds.
“It’s about trying to teach my students – and others in the community – about each aspect of their culture. It’s not about which world they fit in, it’s about how they can navigate these many worlds,” she says.
When not at school, Peseta is involved in several Pacific community groups and supports her husband, Albany, with the Tagata Mai Saute Academy – a Christchurch-based Pacific cultural and performing arts organisation – they co-founded during lockdown.
The academy is built around the simple but powerful idea – giving Pacific children in Christchurch a sense of identity and a sense of belonging.
Telling Pacific stories through song and dance, the programme is a huge success, now taught in 20 Canterbury schools, travelling to five or six a day with turnarounds sometimes as tight as 10 minutes. On top of that is the community programme that Peseta helps support.
Seven schools are currently on the waiting list to join the programme.
Hundreds of young performers recently filled the Christchurch Town Hall for Sau Ia-Fest 2026 – a celebration of Pacific song, dance and culture that has become the South Island’s only school-based programme of its kind. It involved 600 young performers and approximately 2000 attendees.
Dr Kris LaVenia, a Senior Lecturer in UC’s Faculty of Education, says Peseta encouraged people to think more broadly about whose knowledge informs our understanding of leadership.
“Her contributions were a valuable reminder that leadership is understood and practised in culturally grounded ways, and that our learning is stronger when we make space for a wider range of perspectives and traditions.”
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