Learning Media - Te Pou Taki Kõrero

Fōlauga Ualoa

Fōlauga Ualoa is a magazine-style journal designed to appeal to secondary school students who are reading gagana Sāmoa.

A 2005 review of Fōlauga, the gagana Sāmoa school journal, identified a need for a separate resource for students at secondary school. The Fōlauga series was split into two, with Fōlauga levelled at a primary school audience, and a new resource, Fōlauga Ualoa, for secondary school students.

Our Pasifika team made a conscious decision to move away from tired, clichéd images and ideas about Sāmoa (such as frangipani and coconuts). To ensure that this resource would appeal and have relevance to older, urban students reading in gagana Sāmoa, the team developed Fōlauga Ualoa, using a magazine-style format. The journal therefore has the look and feel of the kind of recreational text secondary students easily pick up and read. We commission work for Fōlauga Ualoa from our rich network of writers, and we also encourage high school students to create work for the series.

Fōlauga Ualoa aims to capture the attention of a young adult readership who are exploring questions of identity and culture in gagana Sāmoa. With its mix of opinion, music reviews, interviews, and urban stories, as well as its focus on political and social concerns, Fōlauga Ualoa speaks directly to these young learners in a voice they will recognise.