Chris Sarra facts for kids

Chris Sarra is an Australian educator who has worked to improve schooling for Indigenous students. He is the founder and Chairman of the Stronger Smarter Institute. Chris grew up in Bundaberg, Queensland, as the youngest of ten children. His parents had Italian and Aboriginal backgrounds. When he was a student, Chris faced challenges like racism and unfair treatment, which many Indigenous students experience.

In 1998, Chris Sarra became the first Aboriginal Principal of Cherbourg State School in South East Queensland. Under his leadership, the school saw big improvements in how well its students learned.

Chris left Cherbourg School in 2005. In 2006, with help from the Queensland government, he started the Indigenous Education Leadership Institute. This later became the Stronger Smarter Institute.

From 2008 to 2013, the Stronger Smarter Institute was part of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Chris has a Diploma of Teaching, a Bachelor's Degree in Education, and a Master of Education. In 2005, he earned his PhD in Psychology from Murdoch University. His PhD paper, Strong and Smart – Towards a Pedagogy for Emancipation: Education for First Peoples, was later turned into a book in 2011.

His life story was published in 2012. In 2004, Chris was named Queenslander of the Year. In 2010, he was Queensland's Australian of the Year. Chris Sarra is also a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission.

Cherbourg State School: Strong and Smart

In the late 1990s, Chris Sarra became the first Aboriginal principal of Cherbourg State School. This school is in South-East Queensland. Under Chris's leadership, the school became well-known across Australia. This was because of its focus on the ‘Strong and Smart' idea. This idea led to big improvements in how students learned.

With strong leadership, Chris made many positive changes at the school. Students became more excited about learning. School attendance greatly improved, and the community became more involved in education.

An official review of Cherbourg in 2002 showed major improvements. Attendance went from 50% in 1997 to 95% in 2002. Reading and maths skills also got better. Chris quickly turned around low attendance and poor school results. He did this using different leadership methods.

He brought in a school uniform, a school motto ('strong and smart'), and a school song. Students were given tasks to keep different parts of the school tidy. Students also tracked their own absences in class. They had to explain these absences to the school assembly each week. The school made an Indigenous studies program a key part of the lessons for all years.

Other steps included working with the community to create a vision for the school. They also hired local Indigenous people to work at the school. Classes and students with the fewest absences were rewarded. These rewards included free ice blocks or trips to McDonald's. Sometimes, they even got trips to Melbourne.

Chris Sarra's own report on his time at Cherbourg showed improvements. Staff, students, and the community felt more satisfied with the school. There was also a big drop in students needing extra help with reading and writing. Overall, reading and maths results showed some improvement.

More students enrolled in the school, from 144 in 1998 to 265 in 2002. This happened as parents became happier with the school's education quality. Chris said that the most important things he did were to believe in the people already at Cherbourg. He also believed in the new teaching team. He was ready to value and act on what they had to say.

In 2004, Education Queensland looked into some concerns about Chris Sarra. They found that in a few cases, he had been too firm with some boys. Chris explained that he chose to deal with bad behaviour directly. He preferred this over suspending children, which would make them miss school. An Education Queensland official said Chris understood he might have gone too far. He promised not to do that again.

When Chris left as principal in 2005, the new principal did not share his vision. Chris watched for seven years as the school's attendance and student results slowly dropped. However, in 2011, he was welcomed back by a new principal. This principal had brought back the Stronger Smarter Philosophy. The school then started to improve again.

Stronger Smarter Institute

Chris Sarra is the chairman and founder of the Stronger Smarter Institute. This organization works with schools. It helps build a positive cultural identity for Aboriginal children. It also sets high expectations for their behaviour and school achievements. The Institute is an independent, not-for-profit group. It works across Australia. Its goal is to help Indigenous students aim for and achieve a brighter future.

Chris became chairman and appointed Lisa Siganto as Chief Executive Officer in 2014. On November 6, 2014, Darren Godwell became the Institute's new CEO. Lisa Siganto then joined the Board. Other independent directors have joined the board. These include Herb Elliott, Paul Bridge, Gary Lennon, and Tanya Orman.

By mid-2015, the Institute reported that it had supported over 2,000 people. These people were graduates from over 530 schools. They went through the Stronger Smarter Leadership Program. This program could help improve the classrooms of over 38,000 Indigenous students.

Funding for the Institute

The Stronger Smarter Institute has received support from various groups.

• The Myer Foundation provided funding in several financial years.
• In September 2009, the Education Minister announced $16.4 million for a project.
• In July 2010, the Telstra Foundation gave $1.2 million.
• In September 2011, the government promised another $30 million.
• In July 2013, QGC, an energy company, donated $497,000 to the Institute.

Chris Sarra's Views on Education

Chris Sarra's PhD paper, published in 2011, is called 'Strong and Smart - Towards a Pedagogy for Emancipation'. In this book, Chris talks about how Indigenous people can take control of their own freedom. The book compares how white people see Indigenous identity versus how Indigenous Australians see themselves. Chris called for Indigenous Australians to change and not just accept the identity that mainstream white Australia has given them. He showed that it is important for Indigenous students to feel confident in their own strength, just like any other group.

Chris Sarra has also spoken about how Aboriginal people are sometimes blamed for problems in their communities. He felt that those providing services were not always checked in the same way. Later, Chris said he regretted some of his words. He explained his comments came from frustration. He did not mean to disrespect the hard work of many white teachers in remote areas. In his book, he explains that things have changed. Now, it is understood that teachers in remote schools need to be highly skilled.

In 2014, Chris Sarra gave a lecture. He asked people to stop seeing being Aboriginal as a "victim status." He called for new leadership from both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. This leadership should aim for respectful and lasting results. He said relationships should be based on respect and high expectations. They should not be based on blaming victims or feeling like a victim.

Chris has also questioned the government's use of a teaching method called Direct Instruction (DI) in remote Aboriginal schools. In 2012, he said that Aboriginal people and poor white Queenslanders should demand high expectations and excellence from their schools. He believes this is what truly helps people overcome daily challenges. In 2015, Chris worried about the DI trial in Cape York. He said other remote schools were getting better results in tests. He suggested that rolling out DI across remote communities could be a costly mistake.

Australian Rugby League Commission Role

Chris Sarra was appointed to the new Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) in February 2012.

In February 2013, Percy Knight, who led the ARL Indigenous Council, was removed from his role. Chris Sarra was involved in the events leading to this. Some people, like Percy Knight and former Rugby great Larry Corowa, expressed strong concerns. They felt that the Aboriginal voice within rugby league was not being heard. Larry Corowa asked Chris Sarra to resign. He said that the community had voted no confidence in Chris as a commissioner.

In response to these public comments, Chris Sarra offered to meet with Percy Knight. He wanted to discuss the claims that the Aboriginal body lacked a voice in rugby league. Chris said, "We won't solve anything with a public argument. Let's sit down and have a respectful conversation."

Honours

• 2016 Person of the Year, NAIDOC Awards
• 2004 Queenslander of the Year
• 2010 Queensland's Australian of the Year
• QUT: 2004 Chancellor's Outstanding Alumnus and Faculty of Education Award Winner