Debi Futter-Puati
Contact
Location: Rarotonga, Cook Islands
Information
Campus Director | University of South Pacific
Areas of expertise:
Pacific health & wellbeing
Teacher Education
Indigenous Research Methodologies & Practice
Health & Physical Education
Mental Health
Sexual Reproductive Health
Drug Education
Food and Nutrition
Available for:
Masters & PhD Research Supervision | Advisory Committees | Collaborative Projects | Project Management | Mentorship & Career advice | Media Enquiries | Panelist & Speakerships
“Taka’i koe ki te papa ‘enua,
’Akamou i te Pito’enua,
A’u i tō’ou rangi.
You step onto solid land,
affix the umbilical cord,
And carve out your world.”
This quote is meaningful to Debi as it highlights the importance of culture, knowing who you are and where you are from, which is integral to positive self worth and personal identity.
About
Debi is the Director of the Cook Islands campus, University of the South Pacific. As Director, she is responsible for research, teaching and learning, and development of academic programmes in the Cook Islands. Additionally she is an executive member of Te Vairanga Kite Pakari – the Cook Islands Research Association
She is an expert on Cook Islands research methodologies, and her work on methodologies has been widely cited. Prior to her role at USP, Debi worked at a variety of universities in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia in teacher education, specialising in Health and Physical Education. An example of her HPE expertise is being asked to provide professional development for practicing teachers by the Australian Council for Health and Physical Education and Recreation Victoria, on Sexuality and Relationships Education in Primary Schools.
Debi has written numerous Health and Physical education curriculum and resources for the New Zealand and Cook Islands Ministries of Education and the New Zealand Health Teachers association. She has also developed and provided training for the Pacific Chiefs of Police writing and facilitating two training curricula for the Pacific Prevention of Domestic Violence programme (PPDVP). She then implemented training the trainers with two police officers from each Pacific nation. These training packages from the PPDVP programme were then adopted by the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations project on human rights training and violence awareness for police peacekeeping operations.
Her most recent project has been the development of the Certificate in Cook Islands Studies where tertiary level papers will be offered in the areas of Cook Islands Culture, History, Sciences (Land Sea and Sky), Arts, Language and Customary Law and Land Tenure. These courses will be offered by USP Cook Islands from 2025.
Debi grew up in Wellington and has lived in the Cook Islands for 20+ years with her family, children and grandchildren.
Academic Qualifications
2017 | Doctor of Philosophy - Education, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
2009 | Master of Arts (Honours) - History, University of Auckland
2001 | Postgraduate Diploma in Special Education Studies, Victoria University of Wellington
1995 | Advanced Teachers Diploma, Victoria University of Wellington
1991 | Higher Teachers Diploma, Victoria University of Wellington
1987 | New Zealand Trained Teachers Certificate, Victoria University of Wellington
1985 | Diploma of Teaching, Victoria University of Wellington
Professional Memberships & Affiliations
Chair of the Board - Te Puna Vai Marama: Cook Islands Centre for Research and Policy Studies
Executive member - Te Vairangi Kite Pakari: Cook Islands Research Association
Member - Cook Islands Research Committee
Country lead researcher and advisor - ‘Building Teaching Capacity for Inclusive Education’ in the Pacific.
An MFAT-funded four-year project across five Pacific nations with the Institute of Education, USP.
Accolades
2024 | Research Award, University of South Pacific
Recent Publications
Futter-Puati, D (in press). Unpick. Re-stitch: Tivaevae. “Tīvaevae: connection, collaboration, and new directions in Cook Islands research”. Special Issue: Pacific Dynamics: Journal of Interdisciplinary Research.
Futter-Puati, D. & Uri-Puati, J. (in press). Development of Pito’enua: an indigenous Cook Islands Model of Health and Wellbeing. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples.
Futter-Puati, D. (2023). E Vaine Toa, E Rangatira: Marjorie Tuainekore Crocombe (D.Litt), 1930–2022. The Journal of Pacific History, 1-6. doi:10.1080/00223344.2023.2179716
Futter-Puati, D. (2023). Inangaro | Desire: The ‘writing in’ of māpū | young Cook Islanders’ sexual and relationship desires into resources for sexuality and relationships education. In A. Kelly-Hanku, P. Aggleton, & A. Malcom (Eds.), Sex and Gender in the Pacific – Contemporary perspectives on sexuality, gender and health. New York: Routledge.
Futter-Puati, D. (2021). Tivaevae Episto-Methodology: Use of Cultural Metaphor in Indigenous Communities. In R. E. Rinehart, J. Kidd, & K. N. Barbour (Eds.), Ethnographic borders and boundaries: Permeability, plasticity, and possibilities (pp. 91-118)
Futter-Puati, D., & Maua-Hodges, T. (2019). Stitching tivaevae: a Cook Islands research method. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, online. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1177180119836788
Futter-Puati, D. (2017). Api’ianga tupuanga kopapa: Sexuality education in the Cook Islands. Sexuality and Relationships Education, Years 9 and 10. Retrieved from https://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/eserv/rmit:162037/Futter_Puati_Project.pdf
lisahunter, Futter-Puati, Debi, & Kelly, Janette. (2015). Pulling the monstrosity of (hetero)normativity out of the closet: Teacher education as a problem and an answer. In A. Gunn. & L. Smith (Eds.), Sexual Cultures in Aotearoa/New Zealand Education. Dunedin: Otago University Press.
Elsden-Clifton, Jennifer, & Futter-Puati, D. (2015). Creating a health and sustainability nexus in Food Education: Designing third spaces in teacher education, Australian Journal of Environmental Education, online, 1-13. doi:10.1017/aee.2014.44
New Zealand Ministry of Education. (2015). Relationship Education Programmes: Guide for schools. Wellington, New Zealand: Curriculum Teaching and Learning Group
Futter-Puati, D., Gillespie, L. & Tasker, G. (2014). Promoting health and wellbeing through relationship education. The New Zealand Education Gazette, 39(11), p. 4-5.
Futter-Puati, D., Bryder, L., Park, J., Littleton, J., & Herda, P. (2014). Partnerships for health: Decimating tuberculosis in the Cook Islands, 1920-1975. Health & Place, 25, 10-18.
Futter, Debi. (2009). Cook Islands: The “Strengthening Project” In V. Whitman, C. Aldinger & E. Carmen (Eds.), Case Studies in Global Health Promotion – from Research to Practice (pp. 387-393). New York: Springer.
Cook Islands Ministry of Education. (2006). Oraanga e te Tupuanga Meitaki: Health and Physical Wellbeing Curriculum. Rarotonga, Cook Islands Ministry of Education. Principal Writer.