Zoe-Lee Fuller 16343229

102085 Aboriginal and Culturally Responsive Pedagogies

Assignment 1: Essay 2000 words

Option 2: Sarras work suggests that his success has been achieved by his ability to
develop and embrace the Aboriginal identity of his students and the community.

What are these essential components of Sarras program and how do they build
positive, respectful relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
students and classroom expectations? Critically analyse this statement and
evidence of other research which supports this approach. Discuss if it is possible
for you as a future teacher to adapt this philosophy as a part your teaching
pedagogy what might be the challenges and ways you might address the
limitations of this work?

The knowledge, languages and histories of Indigenous Australia are the cultural
legacy of all Australians, yet much of White Australia continues to deny, or ignore,
their legitimacy. State and Federal Anti-Racism and Inclusion Policies (NSW DET,
2005; QLD DET, 2016; QLD GOV, 1991) preclude this, and yet it still occurs. Many
Indigenous Australians continue to inhabit positions of severe disadvantage and
marginalisation. Furthermore, five out of seven targets from the Closing the Gap
initiative have either not been met or are not on track (Australian Government,
2015). One Indigenous Principal and academic, however, has had much success with
his unorthodox approach in turning around an Indigenous Queensland school. The
success of Dr Chris Sarras program at Cherbourg State School is due not to the
philosophies of one man, as the supplied quote suggests, but rather, the ability to
influence the translation of the philosophy at a whole school and community level
into pedagogy at the individual classroom level. The success of the program in other
applications and settings is dependent upon this translation and addressing the
individual needs of the relevant school, its community, teachers and students.

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Sarras Stronger Smarter program provides a holistic approach to improving
educational outcomes for Indigenous students. It is underpinned by two guiding
principles: honouring the humanity of others; and developing high-expectations
relationships. The initiative involves three levels of participation: community, whole
school, and classroom. As a holistic approach, it is of the utmost importance that all
the principles and strategies are observed and adhered to. These components of the
program include:

Five interconnecting strategies:

Acknowledging, embracing and developing a positive sense of identity in

schools
Acknowledging and embracing Indigenous leadership in schools and
school communities
High expectations leadership to ensure high expectations classrooms,
with high expectations teacher/student relationships
Innovative and dynamic school models in complex social and cultural
contexts
Innovative and dynamic school staffing models in complex social and
cultural contexts

(Stronger Smarter Institute, n.d.).

As such, ultimately the initiative is about: valuing Indigenous knowledge, culture,

and identity; promoting the leadership of Indigenous individuals, such as community
elders, and their input, in schools and their greater communities; developing high
expectations relations between community and school, principal and teacher,
teacher and student; using these principles to address the complex needs of the
school and community; and employing Indigenous individuals, such as teachers,
teachers aides, and community elders, who are aware of these needs and capable
of contributing to their remedy.

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Sarra had great success in improving the educational outcomes of Indigenous
students, and their perceptions of Indigenous cultural identity, at Cherbourg State
School, using his philosophy and the above components (Sarra, 2003). He used many
practical strategies to achieve this. For example, during assemblies Sarra challenged
the negative stereotypes that students had encountered and would continue to
encounter in the future, especially when they moved onto a mainstream high school
(Sarra, 2011). He developed students pride in their cultural identity through the
school motto Strong and Smart and frequent use of phrases such as were young
and black and deadly (Sarra, 2011, p. 111) and all of us here are Aboriginal and
this means we should be proud! (Sarra, 2011, p. 114). In collaboration, he
developed a school song that fostered pride and unity in both the school and the
indigenous community (Sarra, 2011). Sarra reinstated a school uniform and
empowered students to keep the playground clean by appealing to their newfound
sense of pride and entitlement, after seeing well-presented students-in-uniform and
playgrounds of other schools (Sarra, 2011). He also used extrinsic incentives to
improve student attendance. He employed the Elder of the local Indigenous
community in a position of guidance and ministration, and to help make links with
the community. Furthermore, he developed and supported a team of teachers who
were willing to build High-Expectations Relationships with students.

The various components of Sarras Stronger Smarter program build positive,

respectful relationships with Indigenous students and classroom expectation
through its guiding principles. First and foremost, honouring the humanity of others,
in order to develop High-Expectation Relationships (Stronger Smarter Institute,
2014). In order to do this, teachers and school administrators must first work to
understand the habitus, a system of durable, transposable dispositions that is
progressively inscribed in peoples minds (Bourdieu, 1984, p. 471), that is, the social
and cultural influences on their personal beliefs, judgments and behaviour. They
need to understand how the habitus may influence how they interact with
Indigenous people, and how this may in turn impact their teaching and expectations

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of Indigenous students. Racial assumptions must be critically examined and
addressed (Keddie, Gowlett, Mills, Monk & Renshaw, 2012). These dispositions must
be relinquished in order to forge positive interactions and relationships with
Indigenous people (Sarra, 2014). Doing so will allow teachers to build positive,
respectful relationships with Indigenous students and their community.

Building High-Expectations Relationships with Indigenous students requires teachers

to be both firm and fair in their interactions. In such relationships, teachers must be
culturally responsive and respectful, value the strengths and contributions of others,
and develop a classroom culture of trust and communication (Richards, Brown &
Forde, 2006). In order to be firm, which can be described as critically reflective
relating (Spillman, 2003, as cited in Stronger Smarter Institute, 2014), teachers must
have the strength to challenge discriminatory beliefs in all their forms and functions,
be they of the self or others, whether they occur in the classroom, playground or
staffroom. Being fair, or socially-just relating (Mills, 2008, as cited in Stronger
Smarter Institute, 2014), requires teachers to be empathetic and compassionate,
listening to and accepting of the perspectives students bring to the classroom. This
enables them to foster the safe spaces in which the challenging conversations of
critically reflective relating may occur. When teachers do these things in their
classrooms, use culturally responsive pedagogy, they will build positive, respectful
relationships and expectations with their Indigenous students (Richards, Brown &
Forde, 2006). This in turn, as documented by much research, will dramatically boost
Indigenous students school outcomes: in school attendance, school completion, and
academic achievement.

There is much research to support the success of teachers high expectations of

students, and positive, respectful teacher-student relationships, for improving the
educational outcomes of all students. These are particularly useful in addressing
issues of disadvantage in Indigenous and otherwise marginalised students. Strong
correlations have been found between teachers expectations and student
achievement (Friedrichet al., 2015). Walkey, McClure, Meyer and Weirs (2013)
study suggests that promoting low expectations for student outcomes may reinforce

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low academic achievement, thus teachers should communicate high expectations of
students. Rubie-Davies, Hattie and Hamilton (2006) found that teachers had lower
expectations of Maori students achievements, as compared with their expectations
of New Zealand European and Asian students, and that by the end of the year, the
Maori students academic achievements were significantly lower than the other
students. The authors concede that this may be due to negative stereotyping and
consequent embodied racism. Rubie-Davies et al. (2010) found that teachers often
interact with their students in ways that enable students to fulfil their expectations,
thus when teachers have high expectations of their students they act in ways that
enable students high achievement.

McGrath and Van Bergens (2014) literature review found that teacher-student
relationships could influence, both positively and negatively, student behaviour,
peer relationships, student attitudes towards school, students academic
engagement and achievements, and perhaps, indirectly, student attendance. This
same study also found that teacher-student relationships are predictive of student
outcomes, and furthermore that positive teacher-student relationships can act as a
predictive factor against the risk factors in a students life. Another study found that
learner-centred teacher-student relationships were associated with positive student
outcomes (Cornelius-White, 2007). Furthermore, research has found that the quality
of teacher-student relationship is more important for students of marginalised
ethnic background than for mainstream students (den Brok, van Tartwijk, Wubbels &
Veldman, 2010).

Culturally responsive pedagogy also has much success and support for improving the
outcomes of disadvantaged and marginalised students. Keddie et al. (2013) highlight
the significant role educators critical awareness of their own racial assumptions, and
recognition and appreciation of Indigenous cultures and perspectives, played in the
success of one Australian schools effort to overcome racism. Whitinui (2014) found
that including Indigenous cultural activities as learning opportunities in class
curriculum could increase cultural awareness, recognition and validity. Bodkin-
Andrews, ORourke and Cravens (2010) research findings imply that teacher efforts

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to support and nurture student self-concepts, such as cultural identity, will positively
affect educational outcomes. As such, this brief literature review provides much
evidence in support of the various strategies employed by Sarra in the Stronger
Smarter initiative.

Despite the evidential support for Sarras principles and strategies, review of the
Stronger Smarter initiative in multiple schools have failed to improve educational
outcomes comparable to that at Cherbourg State School. The Stronger Smarter
Learning Communities (SSLC) Evaluation Report (Luke et al., 2013) describes
research findings regarding the efficacy of the SSLC Project on 57 Hub schools and 70
Affiliate schools nationwide. These findings indicate that in many of these schools
the SSLC Project has had success in influencing the school culture to reflect the
presence of Indigenous cultures, communities and identities (Luke et al., 2013, p.
30). The report also indicates an increase in the employment of Indigenous staff, the
general presence and leadership of Indigenous peoples within schools, knowledge of
and engagement with local Indigenous communities, and focus on integrating
Indigenous knowledge and issues into classroom curriculum (Luke et al., 2013).
Despite all these gains, the report claims that there were no significant
improvements in attendance, achievement or standardised test scores (Luke et al.,
2013). Furthermore, the report identifies that the schools failed to translate high
expectations promotion into systematic changes in classroom pedagogy that might
close the gap (Australian Government, 2009) on Indigenous student achievement
(Luke et al., 2013, p. 30).

The question of why these schools failed to translate the philosophy into pedagogy
must be addressed. Sarra (2014) says that unless we can relinquish long held,
stifling beliefs (p. 7), any policy or initiative aimed at improving educational
outcomes will fail. This can be seen in the failure of the Close the Gap initiative
(Australian Government, 2015). Given Sarras assertion, one must query the
teachers dedication to the cause, which the SSLC Evaluation Report fails to do. The
research study ought to have tested teachers perceptions of Indigenous students
and how they related to them. The report fails to make any mention of the teachers

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efforts in this regard. It does, however, report that the general Indigenous
communities local to and involved with the studied schools continue to experience
the schools as working from deficit assumptions (Luke et al., 2013, p. 32), the same
sorts of assumptions that teachers are supposed to understand and challenge in
order to have successful, positive relationships with Indigenous people.

This discrepancy between the Cherbourg case study and reviews of the SSLC
program in other schools raises the question: is the Stronger Smarter initiative
philosophy or pedagogy? Perhaps Sarras program ought to be regarded in terms of
ideology: the program endeavours to change school culture by replacing the
dominant discourse in a school with an alternative ideology more favourable to
Indigenous students (Sarra, 2003, 2011, 2014). Perhaps this itself is the pedagogy?
The belief in a students capacity for achievement, something that we teachers take
for granted in regards to white, or mainstream, students, is highly influential on
Indigenous students achievement, as the preceding literature review identified. In
order to determine whether this is merely philosophy or actual pedagogy, pedagogy
must be defined. Child Australia (n.d.) defines pedagogy as encompassing anything
teachers do to help their students learn (p. 1). This includes the interactions
between teachers and students, and any instructional techniques and strategies
that allow learning to take place (Siraj-Blatchford, Sylva, Muttock, Gilden & Bell,
2002, p.10).

Sarra (2011) repeatedly points out that all the deficits in Cherbourg state school, all
aspects of the school and its students, that were below standard when he arrived,
could have been improved through teacher efforts if they had stopped to consider
their own influence rather than blame the students, the parents, the community and
the Department of Education. While many aspects of the program as described by
Sarra (2011) sound like philosophy, if this is what teachers need to enact in order for
learning to occur, then it becomes pedagogy. Thus, from a birds eye view, at the
whole school and community level, it is about philosophy. From the ants view,
however, it is pedagogy, because it is about what teachers do in the classroom with
and for their students.

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I believe that culturally responsive, humanistic, or learner-centred, pedagogy is the
way we should teach all students, and educational policies should reflect these
philosophies. There is, however, an often-notable difference between policy and
implementation, intention and action, and this has been demonstrably implied in the
discrepancies between the Cherbourg case study and the review of the other
schools. As such, for a white teacher, I see translating Sarras philosophy into
pedagogy through relinquishing beliefs and attitudes of the habitus, and persuading
others to do the same, to be the greatest challenge of implementing the Stronger
Smarter program. Rising above the habitus, above and beyond social conditioning,
can be exceedingly difficult to do, particularly in the absence of collective, proactive
effort (Min Shim, 2012). This determined and communal sort of effort is required
because the habitus reproduces itself effortlessly, for it creates the conditions that
created it initially, and embeds itself in both the social and individual imagination as
though it were innate common sense (Bourdieu, 1993, 1998). Furthermore, as
schools provide the breeding grounds for social reproduction (Bourdieu & Passeron,
1990), it is both logical and essential that the fight against social and cultural
discrimination begin in schools.

From little things big things grow, and so I will start small in my future career. In
order to transfer the Stronger Smarter values from philosophy to pedagogy, I will
start with me, and my beliefs. In order to become a culturally competent teacher I
will keep a reflective journal in which I may contemplate my thoughts and resulting
behaviours, my cultural identity and that of others (Student Achievement Division,
2013). I will learn about the cultures, languages and histories of my indigenous
students and I will include Indigenous and culturally relevant texts in my classroom
curriculum (Richards, Brown & Forde, 2006). I will make a raucous racket of the
silent apartheid, and I will not commit racism by cotton wool (Rose, 2015). My
students, and I, deserve better. I will value the unique perspectives my students
have to offer (Stronger Smarter Institute, 2014). I will integrate Yunkaportas (2009)
pedagogies of the eight ways of learning into my teaching practice. I will do my best
to relate to students as a human first, and a teacher second, and will build positive,

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High-Expectations Relationships with them (Stronger Smarter Institute, 2014). I will
challenge deficit conversations in the classroom, playground and staffroom
(Stronger Smarter Initiative, 2014). Lastly, I will do what I can to influence my
colleagues to my way of thinking. Failing this, I will not allow their attitudes to
corrupt my own.

And so, the call goes out to all of White (and multi-ethnic) Australia: we must honour
the Indigenous population as Australias first people. We must accept their histories
as our own, value their languages and knowledge as our cultural legacy. We must
see and treat the Indigenous population as humans first, irrespective of ethnic,
cultural or lingual, difference. Sarras Stronger Smarter program shows us that as
long as we can do this, we can close the gap, but first, we must close the gap
between us and them within ourselves. This may well be one of the most
significant challenges in politics and education that Australia has faced; nevertheless
Sarra shows us that it is possible. More than that, regardless of the challenges or the
hard work that lay ahead, we need change, for Indigenous Australia, and for
ourselves.

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