Misplaced Pages

#420579

53-569: Sarra may refer to: Chris Sarra (21st century), Australian educator Janis Sarra , Canadian lawyer Sarra Manning (21st century), writer Sarra, Nablus , a town in the West Bank Ma'tan as-Sarra , an oasis in Libya See also [ edit ] Sara (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

106-537: A meeting two weeks ago in Sydney and people voted no confidence in him as a commissioner. They don't want him representing Aboriginal people in rugby league." In response to Knight's and Corowa's attacks in the media, Sarra offered to meet with Knight to address allegations the Aboriginal body lacked a voice in rugby league. Sarra said, "We won't solve anything with a public slanging match. Let's sit down and have

159-570: A respectful conversation about the issues concerned and what the solutions might be.' Larry Corowa responded: "We have asked One Community how much the All Stars game generates and they say they will get back to us at the next meeting, They don't want to tell us exactly how much money is made." Tom Calma Thomas Edwin Calma (born 1953), is an Aboriginal Australian human rights and social justice campaigner, and 2023 senior Australian of

212-416: A short period of time for many schools. That is true. But it is no excuse for not making the report accessible to the public. Transparency surely demands it. After this newspaper put questions to Sarra as to why there was no link to the report, a link was added with a summary of the findings. It cannot be said enough: what matters is how Sarra's taxpayer-funded programs are lifting student performance so that

265-399: A short period using a range of leadership approaches. He introduced a school uniform, school motto ('strong and smart') and school song. Students were assigned to keep different areas of the school tidy and litter-free, and students monitored their own absences in class and had to explain those absences to the school assembly each week. The school made an Indigenous studies program integral to

318-537: A strengths-based approach, rather than a punitive-based approach, can have an enormous beneficial impact. If you ask me about what it means to be inspiring and inspired - the Cherbourg model stands out. And it stands out because it combines Aboriginality with success. The success does not require transplantation to another cultural environment." In 2004 Education Queensland investigated several complaints against Sarra and upheld four complaints made by students where he

371-415: Is OK to dream great things. They must be places that say to children, 'I believe in you" Later, Sarra expressed regret about using the term, and explained his comments were born out of frustration and he did not intend to undermine the hard work and dedication of many white teachers working hard in remote communities. In his autobiography (page 310), Sarra explains that things have changed since then, and it

424-458: Is a fundamental human right of our children to have an education that makes them stronger, in a way that enables them to develop a rich and positive sense of their own cultural identity; and smarter, in a way that enables them to participate in a modern society as any other Australian would. If schools only seek to make Indigenous children smart, without developing any positive sense of cultural identity, then we do little more than assimilate them into

477-480: Is chairman and founder of the Stronger Smarter Institute, which works with schools to build a positive cultural identity for and among Aboriginal children and to set high expectations of behaviour and academic achievement. The Institute is an independent, not-for-profit organisation which operates nationwide to ensure Indigenous student aim for - and achieve - a brighter future Sarra assumed

530-564: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Chris Sarra In 1998, Sarra became the first Aboriginal Principal of Cherbourg State School in South East Queensland where his leadership improved the educational outcomes of its students. In 2005, Sarra left as principal of Cherbourg School and in 2006, with the support of the Queensland government, he established

583-413: Is no statistically significant evidence of improved attendance or test score performance. In the article Chris Sarra stretches the gap on credibility Janet Albrechtsen of The Australian wrote regarding the report: Sarra told The Weekend Australian he was "reasonably content with the tone and findings of the report". Not so content as to include them on the website. Sarra says the report covered only

SECTION 10

#1732775441421

636-557: Is now understood that for remote schools a teacher must be 'top gun'. In 2014, Sarra presented the Griffith Review annual lecture, where he called for the rejection of the victim status often being applied to being Aboriginal and argued for a new style of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal leadership to achieve honourable and sustainable outcomes. He said this relationship needs to be based on respect and high expectations rather than victimhood or victim blaming. Sarra has questioned

689-453: Is the ARLC's community arm, distributing grants to grassroots football including indigenous Rugby grants. In a letter to Sarra, Aboriginal Rugby great Larry Corowa stated: "Chris, how do you live with yourself in the knowledge that you played a prominent and key role in our demise from ARLIC [ARL Indigenous Council]?" Larry Corowa also addressed Sarra saying "Is this the Aboriginal way or

742-437: Is to be Indigenous and Indigenous views of what it is to be an Aboriginal Australian. In the book, Sarra called for Indigenous Australians to radically transform and not only reproduce the identity that Mainstream white Australia has fostered for them. Sarra showed that it is important for Indigenous students to have confidence in their own strength as any other group within society. In 2008, Sarra said that Aboriginal Australia

795-819: The Australian Human Rights Commission from 2004 to 2010 and as the Race Discrimination Commissioner from 2004 until 2009. During this time the Social Justice Report 2005 called on Australian governments to commit to achieving equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the areas of health and life expectancy within a generation (25 years) and advocated embedding a social determinants philosophy into public policy around health, education, employment, housing and behaviours in order to address Indigenous inequality gaps. This report laid

848-687: The Cobourg Peninsula in the Northern Territory . Between 1995 and 2002 Calma represented Australia's education and training interests as a senior diplomat in India and Vietnam ; in 2003, he served as senior adviser for Indigenous Affairs to Philip Ruddock , then Minister of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs . He has been co-chair of Reconciliation Australia since before 2005. Calma served as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner at

901-618: The Kimberley region of Western Australia), Gary Lennon (Executive General Manager Finance at National Australia Bank ) and Tanya Orman (NITV Channel Manager). By mid-2015 the Institute reported that it had supported over 2,000 graduates in over 530 schools through the Stronger Smarter Leadership Program, potentially influencing the classrooms of over 38,000 Indigenous students. Funding provided while

954-681: The Stolen Generations and since 2009 has been involved with the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ALNF) and he currently holds the post of co-chair. Since March 2010 Calma has been the Federal Government -appointed National Coordinator, Tackling Indigenous Smoking. Calma was instrumental in the establishment of the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples, the development of

1007-827: The 2017 Legends Commemorative Stamp "Indigenous leaders" series to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum . In May 2018 Calma was inducted into the ACT Honour Walk 2018, while in May 2022 he was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science . He was elected Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in November 2022. In January 2023 he was named Senior Australian of

1060-680: The Coconut way?" (As explained in The Advertiser: "The term "coconut" is a deeply offensive racial slur , suggesting an Aboriginal is black on the outside but white on the inside." ). Corowa said of the ARL Indigenous Council: "The council is there to tick the boxes for white fellas, for the NRL and John Grant." When Larry Corowa was asked if Chris Sarra should resign, he said: "Yes, he should resign immediately. The community had

1113-638: The Indigenous Education Leadership Institute, the forerunner to the Stronger Smarter Institute. From 2008 to 2013, the Stronger Smarter Institute was part of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) before Sarra's termination from his position in March 2013. His termination came after "statements made by Sarra last year that he was planning to leave QUT and education" and after being on leave from

SECTION 20

#1732775441421

1166-833: The Indigenous community, and in 2013 was named Australian of the Year for the ACT . On 30 October 2019, Calma was announced as a co-chair on the Senior Advisory Group of the " Indigenous voice to government ", convened by Ken Wyatt . Calma was born in 1953 in Darwin , Northern Territory. He is an elder of the Kungarakan people and member of the Iwaidja people , whose traditional lands are south-west of Darwin and on

1219-567: The Institute since July the previous year. Sarra has a Diploma of Teaching, a Bachelor Degree in Education and a Master of Education. In 2005, he completed his PhD in Psychology at Murdoch University. His PhD thesis Strong and Smart – Towards a Pedagogy for Emancipation: Education for First Peoples was developed into a book and published in 2011. His autobiography was published in 2012 by University of Queensland Press. In 2004, Sarra

1272-654: The Institute was based at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) The Stronger Smarter Learning Communities project and the Focus Schools Next Steps Initiative remained with QUT when the Institute became an independent organization. Funding provided to Stronger Smarter Institute A major assessment of the Learning Communities program was led by Allan Luke and published in 2013. The report described

1325-856: The Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Flag Award on the 240th anniversary of the United States of America's independence. In October 2016, Calma was appointed the inaugural chair of the Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity program led by the University of Melbourne and in January 2017 he was appointed an adjunct professor with the University of Queensland . In May 2017 Calma was one of three Indigenous Australians, along with Lowitja O'Donoghue and Galarrwuy Yunupingu , honoured by Australia Post in

1378-624: The Poche Centres for Indigenous Health Network. Calma joined the University of Canberra Council on 21 October 2008 and on 1 January 2012 he was appointed Deputy Chancellor of the University of Canberra. Calma took up his appointment as Chancellor of the University of Canberra on 1 January 2014, and was installed at a ceremony held at the National Press Club on 20 February 2014. Calma is the first Indigenous male to hold

1431-651: The Year . He was the sixth chancellor of the University of Canberra (2014-2023), after two years as deputy chancellor. Calma was the second Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person to hold the position of chancellor of any Australian university. Calma has been involved in Indigenous affairs at a local, community, state, national and international level and worked in the public sector focusing on rural and remote Australia, health, mental health and suicide prevention, education, justice reinvestment, research, reconciliation and economic development. Calma's 2005 Social Justice Report – focusing on Indigenous health equality –

1484-512: The curriculum in all years. Steps also included engaging with the community to help build a vision for the school, and engaging local indigenous people to work at the school. Classes and students with the lowest number of absences were rewarded, with encouragements such as free ice blocks from the tuck shop, or trips to McDonald's, or occasionally trips to Melbourne. Sarra's own report on his time at Cherbourg showed improvements were found in staff, student and community feelings of satisfaction with

1537-662: The foundation for the Close the Gap campaign, a collaboration of some 40 Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian health and human rights peak bodies and groups. Calma founded the Close the Gap Steering Committee for Indigenous Health Equality in 2006 and was its inaugural chairperson. He retired as co-chair of the steering committee in 2010. In 2008, Calma delivered the formal response to the government's National Apology to

1590-417: The government can say they are spending their money wisely given the critical goal of closing the gap of Year 12 completion. Chris Sarra's PhD, published in 2011 as 'Strong and Smart - Towards a Pedagogy for Emancipation' draws on Roy Bhaskar's theory of Critical Realism to demonstrate how Indigenous people have agency and can take control of their own liberation. The book contrasts white perceptions of what it

1643-617: The government's roll out of Direct Instruction (DI) in remote Aboriginal schools. In 2012 he said, "It is time for Aboriginal people and poor white Queenslanders to say we want high expectations and we want excellence from our schools because that is what is transformative, that is what enables us to transcend the challenges we confront day to day." In 2015, Sarra expressed concerns about the Cape York trial of DI, saying that other remote schools were getting better results in NAPLAN. He suggested

Sarra - Misplaced Pages Continue

1696-531: The inaugural National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Strategy, and the promotion of Justice Reinvestment. Calma was one of the first proponents of "justice reinvestment" in Australia, introducing the concept in the Social Justice Report 2009 . He also Chairs the not-for-profit organisation Ninti One Ltd, is the former chair the Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation and patron and chair of

1749-515: The lives of Indigenous Australians. On 20 May 2010, Calma was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Charles Darwin University in recognition of decades of public service, particularly in relation to his work in education, training and employment in Indigenous communities. On 15 February 2011, Calma was awarded an honorary doctorate of science from Curtin University in recognition of his work, advocacy and leadership in Indigenous health reform and Indigenous affairs. On 16 April 2014, Calma

1802-403: The mainstream. In this circumstance we all lose. In 2008, Sarra blamed poor outcomes for Aboriginal students on "white trash" school teachers. He said: If I'm an incompetent teacher filling the school day with photocopied worksheets, videos and Nintendo, it doesn't matter. Aborigines will get the blame. In its crudest form, remote communities are the place to tuck our white trash away. Sarra

1855-698: The operations and analysed the effects of the Stronger Smarter Learning Communities, addressed major issues facing Indigenous education by collecting and analysing new data, and provided a large scale picture of what is occurring in classroom pedagogy for Indigenous students. Regarding educational and attendance outcomes the report said: The analysis of school level attendance from 2008–2011, school-level NAPLAN gain scores from 2008–2011, and cohort-level NAPLAN gain scores from 2009–2010 show no evidence of positive SSLC [Stronger Smarter Learning Communities Project] effects. … There

1908-737: The plans to roll out DI across remote communities in Northern Australia could be a long-lasting and expensive mistake. Sarra was appointed to the newly independent Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) in February 2012. In February 2013 Percy Knight , the Chairperson of the ARL Indigenous Council was sacked. Percy Knight had only become Chairperson of the ARL Indigenous Council in August 2012. Chris Sarra

1961-608: The position of Chancellor of an Australian university. Pat O'Shane was the first female. Calma was appointed Professor with the University of Sydney's Medical School to chair the Poche Indigenous Health Network on 1 January 2015. Among his other roles, he has been a White Ribbon Ambassador since 2005, Patron of Wakakirri since 2009 and Patron of the Media Centre for Education Research Australia (MCERA) since 2018. On 30 October 2019, Calma

2014-524: The principal who replaced him did not share his vision, and Sarra spent a frustrating seven years on the sidelines, watching the school gradually slide with falling attendance and student results. However, in 2011 he was welcomed back to the school by the new principal who had re-adopted the Stronger Smarter Philosophy and was seeing the school starting to pick up again. Sarra explains the Stronger Smarter Philosophy as follows: It

2067-534: The role as chairman and appointed former Deloitte's Consulting Partner Lisa Siganto as Chief Executive Officer in 2014. On 6 November 2014, Indigenous senior executive, Darren Godwell was appointed as the Institute's new CEO, taking over from Lisa Siganto who moved to the Board. Independent directors have been appointed to the board including Herb Elliott AC MBE (former Deputy chairman, Fortescue Metals Group and Olympic gold medal winner), Paul Bridge (educator based in

2120-510: The school as well as a considerable decrease in the number of students identified as requiring additional support in reading and writing. Performance in Literacy and Numeracy overall showed slight improvement. Enrolments in the school increased from 144 in 1998 to 265 in 2002 as parents became more satisfied with the educational standards at the school. In reflecting on the positive changes in the school, Sarra said, "the most important things I did

2173-401: The school which saw increasing enthusiasm for student learning, dramatically improved school attendance and increased community involvement in education. An Education Queensland Review of Cherbourg in 2002 showed considerable improvements in attendance (50% in 1997 to 95% in 2002), as well as improvements in literacy in numeracy. Sarra reversed high absenteeism and low academic achievement in

Sarra - Misplaced Pages Continue

2226-462: The title Sarra . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sarra&oldid=751826877 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists Disambiguation pages with given-name-holder lists Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

2279-676: Was Queenslander of the Year, and in 2010 he was Queensland's Australian of the Year. Sarra sits on the Australian Rugby League Commission . In the late 1990s, Sarra became the first Aboriginal principal of Cherbourg State School in South-East Queensland. Under Sarra's leadership the school became nationally acclaimed for its pursuit of the ‘Strong and Smart' philosophy, which led to dramatic improvements in educational outcomes. Through strong leadership and clear vision he facilitated many changes at

2332-432: Was "found to have grabbed, held and shouted" at boys under his care. Sarra explained that he chose to confront bad behaviour rather than suspending children where they would miss school for six weeks." Ken Smith of Education Queensland stated, "Chris has recognised that in those instances he may have overstepped the mark”, and,has given a commitment that he won't do that in future." When Sarra left as principal in 2005,

2385-400: Was announced as a co-chair on the Senior Advisory Group of the " Indigenous voice to government ", convened by Ken Wyatt , along with by Professor Marcia Langton AM . The group comprises a total of 20 leaders and experts from across the country. Calma took a year's leave of absence from the role of co-chair of Reconciliation Australia in order to undertake his new role. In 2012, Calma

2438-577: Was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to the Indigenous community as an advocate for human rights and social justice, through contributions to government policy and reform, and to cross cultural understanding. In 2013 he was named the ACT Australian of the Year 2013 for his service and commitment to the Indigenous community as an advocate for human rights and social justice having dedicated his life to improving

2491-534: Was awarded an honorary doctorate from Flinders University in recognition of his work, advocacy and leadership in Indigenous health reform. In November 2014, Calma was awarded the Indigenous Allied Health Australia Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his lifelong dedication to improving the lives of Indigenous Australians and in 2017 was appointed their inaugural Patron. In 2007 Calma

2544-551: Was awarded one of four inaugural University of South Australia Alumni Awards for his service to society and in November 2015 was awarded the Public Health Association Australia's Sidney Sax Public Health Medal for notable contribution to the protection and promotion of public health, advancing community awareness of public health measures and advancing the ideals and practice of equity in the provision of health care. On 1 July 2016, Calma received

2597-504: Was being 'let down' by 'white trash' workers in education, health, policy and public services who hide in remote communities knowing they would never last in mainstream centres. Sarra said Aboriginal people were blamed and held accountable for the dysfunction in their communities, but the people providing them were not subject to the same scrutiny. Sarra said, "The schools we create must be places that Aboriginal children and parents can connect with. They must be places in which it

2650-584: Was believe in the people already at Cherbourg, as well as the new teaching team that was established, and be prepared to value and act upon what they had to say.". In 2008, Tom Calma , the then Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and National Race Discrimination Commissioner, said in a speech delivered to the Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals in Melbourne, "the Cherbourg experience shows that

2703-418: Was involved in events leading to the sacking. Percy Knight said of the sacking: "There is rampant racism within the NRL's administration and it is very toxic." Knight explained the reasons for tensions within the ARL Indigenous Council that lead to his dismissal: "There are no black fellas involved with One Community. We don't want to be grouped with Polynesians or Maoris. We are first Australians." One Community

SECTION 50

#1732775441421

2756-687: Was named by The Bulletin magazine as the Most Influential Indigenous Person in Australia; in 2008 he was named GQ magazine's 2008 Man of Inspiration for his work in Indigenous Affairs. Calma was named by Australian Doctor Magazine in 2010 as one of the 50 Most Influential People in medicine in Australia. In May 2012 Dr Calma was appointed an Adjunct Associate Professor at the National Centre for Indigenous Studies at ANU. In October 2015, Calma

2809-538: Was the catalyst for the Close the Gap campaign. Calma served as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner from 2004 to 2010 and as Race Discrimination Commissioner from 2004 until 2009 at the Australian Human Rights Commission . In 2012 he was awarded an Order of Australia , Officer of the General Division, in recognition of his work as an inspirational advocate for human rights and social justice and distinguished service to

#420579