Recentring Postdigital Education in the Pacific through a Critical-Ecological Lens

Digital education in Pacific Island Countries (PICs) has been influenced by structures, policies and funding from the Minority World (Raturi 2024). However, these promised opportunities fail to account for a context of diversity and culture in PICs contributing to unsustainable educational practices (Brown 2024).Drawing from a study on the sustainability of Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL), this paper examines case studies from an urban and a rural Fijian primary school. A thematic analysis of interviews with school leaders and teachers, alongside classroom observations, explored how social, cultural, economic, and political factors interact to shape TEL practices. To interpret these dynamics, we propose a Critical–Ecological Framework as an analytical lens that integrates insights from Critical Theory and Ecological Systems Theory to examine how power, culture, and structure shape TEL in context.The framework highlights how cultural relevance, resource constraints, and partnerships mediate technology use, emphasising that postdigital education must be locally grounded rather than imported. Findings reveal that while donor funding supports infrastructure, it often reinforces Minority-centric models, marginalises local agency, and fosters dependency, threatening long-term sustainability. Outdated technologies, limited funding, and curriculum legacies further exacerbate challenges, particularly in rural contexts. However, teacher agency, when supported by reflective practice and professional learning, enables creative, context-responsive, and culturally sustaining TEL practices.This research contributes to postdigital education in the Majority World by offering evidence-based insights that challenge dominant Minority one-size-fits-all narratives (Ruiz et al. 2025) and by advocating postdigital strategies that advance equity, transformation, and local educational sovereignty across Pacific contexts.