This document discusses the growing Indigenous population in Australian schools and the need to prepare for this change. It notes that: - The number of Indigenous students enrolled in Queensland state schools grew 19.1% from 2011-2015. - Many regions outside of Far North Queensland are seeing the highest growth rates. - From 2018 onward, there will be a significant increase in the number of Indigenous children enrolling in schools. Schools need to ensure culturally strong and inclusive learning environments through strengths-based approaches like the Stronger Smarter Institute's focus on high expectations relationships, identity, leadership and partnerships. This will help equip educators and create the best outcomes for all students.

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John Bray
The “Black Baby Boom” – Are we ready?
Within Indigenous Australia there is a population bubble equal in significance to the post-war baby
boom in mainstream Australia. The leading edge of that bubble arrives at school in January 2018.
The Stronger Smarter Institutebelieves this massivedemographic changeshould shapeconversations within our
schools and communities.Stronger Smarter Institute CEO Mr Darren Godwell asks " Are we ready for the future
and preparingfor the immense opportunities that will need to be co-created within our school communities as the
number of indigenous enrolments increase?" This reality will requireschool leadership teams to ensure their
explicitimprovement agendas and associated school improvement strategies are aimed at what really matters –
equippingeducators and school leaders with the processes,practices and behaviors thatarestrength based and
co-created with Indigenous people.
The numbers
Figure 1 outlines the numbers and annual growth rate of indigenous people born over the fifteen-year period
between 2001 and 2016. For comparison,the projected annual growth rate of the total Australian population for
the same period are: 0-4 years = 2.1% and 5-9 years = 1.1% (ABS, 2015).
Figure 1 – Indigenous Annual Growth Rates (ABS, 2015)
Figure two provides a larger pictureof the total age brackets of the number of indigenous peoplein Australia.The
circled area highlights thenumbers of young children who areabout to enrol in our schools over the next five
years.
3.4%
annual
growth
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Figure 2 – Australian Indigenous Population Profile(ABS 2011)
Are we ready? What does the Queensland figures show?
Queensland State Schools
Table 1 shows the total number of indigenous students enrolled by region in Queensland state schools in August
2015.From 2011 to 2015, enrolments grew by 19.1 per cent. With the highest enrolment numbers being in far
North Queensland,it is interestingto note the greatest growth rates are in the southeast regional areas. Are we
ready?
Region 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Central Queensland 4 836 4 947 5 009 5 204 5 514
DarlingDowns South West 4 186 4 436 4 750 4 979 5 237
Far North Queensland 10 199 10 419 10 844 11 260 11 396
Metropolitan 5 420 5 682 5 785 6 148 6 303
North Coast 5 742 6 190 6 626 7 148 7 578
North Queensland 6 597 6 735 6 878 7 093 7 288
South East 4 425 4 818 5 305 5 662 6 007
Queensland 41 405 43 227 45 197 47 494 49 323
Table 1 – Indigenous student enrolments by region (DET, Qld August 2015)
What does this mean for Queensland state schools? Examining school cultures. A strengths-based approach to
community and individual transformation
For all of the students, in the “black baby boom” who will be enrollingin stateschools fromJanuary 2018, this will
require a significantfocus for all of our school communities to ensure the best possiblelearningenvironments are
established.These learning environments arethose that embrace a set of the five Stronger Smarter Meta-
strategies. These strengths-based approach strategies areinterconnected and are context-specific. A school will
use the processes of buildingrelationshipsand co-creation to determine which strategies are a priority and what
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they might mean within the context of the school.The collectiveleadership of these strategies embraces the need
for local approaches for the unique and diversecommunities as described in the National Aboriginal and Torres
StraitIslander Education Strategy 2015. The interconnected nature of the meta-strategies will mean that as
schools work on one area, they will also startto improve other areas. The Stronger Smarter Meta-strategies are
 Acknowledging, embracingand developing a positivesenseof identity in schools
 Acknowledging and embracingIndigenous leadership in schoolsand school communities
 ‘High expectations’ leadership to ensure ‘high expectations’classrooms,with ‘high expectations’
teacher/student relationships
 Innovativeand dynamic school models in complex social and cultural contexts
 Innovativeand dynamic school staffingmodels in complex social and cultural contexts .
As a school Principal I often was involved in discussions around “school cultures”and itis clear frommy
experience the term “culture” is vastly misunderstood, overused and influenced through a diverse understanding
of the term. Equippingeducators and school leaders with the processes,practices and behaviors thatarestrength
based and co-created with their communities will providethe best learning and work placeenvironments. This is
the development of a cultureof learningtogether. This relies heavily on the degree of trustand the quality of our
relationships. Trustis thecomplexity factor in this process and one where focused leadership skillsarerequired.
The answers to any school issueare already there in the collectiveideas of the people. It is easier to create a new
culturethan to change an existingone!
Understanding school culture: implications for indigenous students
A number of researchers haveexamined the characteristicsof school cultures thatsupportIndigenous students,
and why ‘school climate’is an importantfactor in improvingresults for Indigenous students (e.g. the ACER 2000 –
2006 study of 13 Australian schools,Jensen 2014,Helme & Lambe 2011 and Purdie & Buckley 2010). Ockenden
(2014) suggests that schools can play a rolein reducingthe impacts that social background can haveon school
achievement. School communities need to providea learningenvironment where Indigenous students want to
attend, learn and succeed.
Hattie (2015) emphasises “a belief that we can make a difference for the children from poorly resourced families is
a critical startingpoint”to build a positiveschool cultureand the mantra needs to be, ‘I can make a profound
positivedifference to every person who crosses theschool gate into my classor school regardless of their
background.’ As school leaders,we should know this already and areworking on this mindset with our staff every
day. Aren’t we? We don’t need to be told this do we, or is thatwe are so busy with the busy work of school that
we assumethat we can work together with this positivemindset?
Purdie& Buckley 2010 and Jensen 2014 recognise that a school cultureor school climatethat works for
Indigenous students is the same as a high quality school culturethatworks for all students. This is a critical point
and one that the Stronger Smarter Institute stands by. That is,the Stronger Smarter Meta-strategies are focused
on indigenous processes for indigenous students,and these processes if used effectively, will benefitall students
from any cultural background.
The school culturecharacteristicsdescribed by these researchers are:
 A strongand effective school leadership isclearly critical to improvinga school culture. This needs to not
be justone leader, but a leadership team.
 The leadership team needs to set new expectations for teachingand learningand model the expectations
in order to bringeveryone on board.
 The school culturehas to be based on high expectations for all students. These high expectations need to
aimnot justfor levels of similarschools,butfor state and territory levels.
 Actions need to be guided by core beliefs aboutthe learningcapacities of Indigenous students,and these
core beliefs need to be shared across theschool staff.
 There needs to be an orderly learningenvironment, with a safe school culturethat is free from bullying
and racism. This is a pre-condition for school turnaround.
 The high expectations and school values need to be a shared vision acrossthewhole school community.
 The school needs to be welcoming to the whole community, and the community should be involved in
planning and providingeducation. This is a collaborativeprocess.

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We heard this tune distinctively atthe Queensland Department of Education and Training 2015 Principals’
Conference - A great school has a great school down the road, on day 2 when the theme was collaboration and
how importantthis is for school improvement. I have said it,my school communities have said itand I bet your
school communities say it – “we have a positiveschool culture and we collaborate”.Whatdoes this really mean?
Do you and your staff really interrogatewhat “culture and collaboration”are? This is where the Stronger Smarter
Institute works in collaboration to bringthe three spheres of personal,school and community closer together until
there are high levels of authentic engagement.
High expectation relationships – the Stronger Smarter Approach to building school culture and collaboration
A key pillar of the Stronger Smarter Approach is high expectations relationshipsasopposed to high expectations
rhetoric. “Sometimes high expectations rhetoric espouses lofty ideals thatare often imposed with good intentions
from the outsiderather than negotiated with the individualsto be affected” (Sarra,Australian SenateOccasional
Lecture Series,November 2015).
As school leaders,we know from our own evidenced based practice that school community partnerships through
collaboration arefundamentally importantand that positiverelationships with the parents and carers of our
students are at the foundation to a child’s education in our schools.Wealso recognisethe great opportunities and
the challenges thatschool community partnerships create. School educators and leaders need to be equipped
with the processes,practices and behaviors thatarestrength based and co-created with indigenous people that
will enablethem to confront these challenges head on.
From the outset, the Stronger Smarter Approach is founded on core beliefs. These beliefs guide our work and
expectations.
The Stronger Smarter Institutebelieves every child deserves a great education in the community where they live.
We believe in the power of the education profession,and we know there is many great teachers and school
leaders and they matter. However, we also recognisethatwe can’t keep usingthe same strategies and expect
something to change. In schools with diversestudent populations,this may mean a transformativecultural
change for the school.
Our experience is that any group of people already holds the collectiveknowledge and wisdom to successfully
meet the complex challenges they face. In other words, the ingredients for transformativechangealready existin
every community. The Stronger Smarter Approach looks atexistingstrengths and empowers communities to work
together to pursueinnovativestrategies that will work in their local contexts.
We believe that co-creatinga way forward together with local Indigenous communities is essential for success,
and that imposingexternal solutions will notwork. We recognise that the areas where this approach is most
needed is in lowsocio-economic areas,culturally diverse student populations,remote areas,and for students
where English is nottheir firstlanguage. So, the Stronger Smarter Leadership programis justnot an Indigenous
program!
Our team members experience of working with over 2000 educators across the country reveals that
transformativecultural changein schoolsand school communities is possiblewhen it begins with a shiftin
thinking. We ask educators to have high expectations for all students through the concept of ‘Strong and Smart’
where for an Indigenous student, being smart at school doesn’thave to mean being ‘mainstream', it can be a part
of their Indigenous cultural identity.
We also ask educators to not only raisetheir expectations for their students, but to raisetheir expectations for
themselves. This is the difference. A High Expectation Relationship is FORthe student and not “of” the student.
That is,it is a mutual obligation. Our approach is to work for collective personal and organisational change,where
everyone recognises his or her own rolein enacting that change.
A framework for High-Expectations Relationships
The Stronger Smarter Institutehas developed a framework set on High-Expectations Relationships. This
framework, as outlined in Figure 3, covers the domains of self,student, peer, parents/ carers and community and
describes High-Expectations Relationships through the elements of understandingpersonal assumptions,creating
spaces for dialogue,and engaging in challengingconversations.

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Figure 3 – The framework for high expectation relationship
A High-Expectations Relationship isan authentic two-way relationship thatis both supportiveand challenging.
The Stronger Smarter Instituteresearch into High-Expectations Relationshipsdraws on both our work with school
and community leaders across Australia and thecritically reflectiveconversations held as partof the Stronger
Smarter Leadership Program. By describingHigh-Expectations Relationships,we areableto show the types of
behaviours,dispositionsand capabilities required by teachers to enact high-expectations for all students in the
classroom,and to build strongconnections with parents and the school community.
There has been considerableresearch undertaken in Australia on whatneeds to be happeningin schools to
supportIndigenous students. The recently released 2015 National Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander Education
Strategy (figure 4) recognises the importance of three priority areas:
 Leadership, quality teachingand workforce development
 Culture and Identity
 Partnerships
Figure 4: Priority areas. 2015 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Strategy
Through the Stronger Smarter Approach and High-Expectations Relationships,the Institute is showingschools how
they can address these three priority areas through high-expectations classrooms with strongteacher-student
relationships,and welcomingschool environments with strong connections to the local community. The Institute
believes that these strongrelationshipsand collaborativeapproaches arefoundational to ensuringthe success of
other programs and strategies within the school.

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The Stronger Smarter Leadership Program
So what does that mean for an educator who commits to the Stronger Smarter Leadership Program? What does
that mean for a Principal who,together with their leadership team and school community, will commit to the
program?
The Institute’s flagship initiative,the Stronger Smarter Leadership Program, is designed to train people in the
‘how’ of the processes of the strength based approach of High-Expectation Relationships. Weprovideprofessional
development that trains participants in thepractices,behaviours and processes of applyingHigh-Expectations
Relationshipsin a demanding,professional context.
The Stronger Smarter approach asks teachers to take responsibility and ‘put a mirror on
ourselves as educators.’
The High-Expectations Relationships framework has a key element of critical self-reflection and seekingpersonal
feedback to acknowledge the specific dispositions,strengths,weaknesses and cultural assumptionsthatshape
´self’. Participants areasked to reflect on their day-to-day 'transactions' with students and to contemplate
whether or not they are colludingwith a negative stereotype. Against the backgrounds of such reflection, an
educator can make up their own mind about whether their personal and professional rhetoric matches the day-to-
day realities of their exchanges with children and colleagues. Teachers need to recognisethe dynamic that
underpins failurefor many Aboriginal students,and start to confront problems of lowattendance and low
achievement, rather than layingthe blame on the children and the complexities of their communities (Sarra
quoted in Perso, 2012). High-Expectations Relationshipsneed to be initiated by focusingon gaininga deeper
understandingof both oneself and others as uniquecultural beings.
Graduates from the Programtell us that they return to their schools with a much greater level of confidence in
their ability to develop relationships with the local community,to develop a collegiateworkingenvironment
within the school,and to build strength, resilienceand high expectations with students in their classrooms.
Sounds evangelistic,doesn’t it? It has to be. It is a strengths based approach. Any organisation in the modern
world, likethe teachingprofession,that requires collaborativeinterrelationship with colleagues and community
members requires this approach. This is the High-Expectation Relationship approach.
The Stronger Smarter approach asks teachers to take responsibility and ‘put a mirror on
ourselves as educators.’
Our experience is that the concepts of ‘Stronger Smarter’ and ‘High-Expectations Relationships’and doingthings
with community, not to community, arerelevant across all schools. The Stronger Smarter Approach provides
schools with a set of processes,strategies and tools that they can use to co-create the school changeagenda and
school priorities thatarerelevant in their local context.
The benefits of the Stronger Smarter Approach are evident in the feedback we get from school leaders:
“The whole philosophy and approach underpins what we do for our kids in our school, whether they’re Aboriginal
or non-Aboriginal.”
Steve McAlister, Forbes North Public School, Provincial NSW
“It’s been a really empowering and ground-breaking process for our school. It’s built integrity, it’s built spirit and
it’s built a belief within teachers that working together and having high expectations… well I know it has lifted the
performance across the school. Aitkenvale is Strong and Smart”
Judd Burgess, Aitkenvale State School, Townsville, Queensland
“I do believe we’ve come together a lot more since we started training at Stronger Smarter, and we get a lot of
parents’ feedback saying that we are a school that really does understand community, and that they feel
comfortable and welcome.”
Michael Taylor, Principal, Casino West Public School, Provincial NSW

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The Stronger Smarter Institutehas developed as a mature and modern organisation thatis well regarded as one of
the leadingleadership development providers in the country.
The Prime Minister MalcolmTurnbull asked Dr Chris Sarra (theStronger Smarter Institute’s founder and current
Chairman of the Board) at the 2015 NRL Grand Final in a casual meeting, to listthree things that can be done to
improve indigenous education across Australia,.Dr Sarra did notreply immediately. Instead,Dr Sarra went away
and addressed the question later in November 2015 in his speech at the Australian Senate, Occasional Lecture
Series.
I suspect the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is right when he says there has never been a more exciting time
to be an Australian and that this is a time for hope. Let us share in that sense of hope in three profoundly simple
ways:-
1. Acknowledge, embrace and celebrate the humanity of Indigenous Australians;
2. Bring us policy approaches that nurture hope and optimism rather than entrench despair;
3. Do things with us, not to us!
(Sarra, 2015:28)
In conclusion,itis clear thatthe ‘black baby boom’ that our schools areaboutto experience requires a focused
and strategic approach.The Stronger Smarter institute will work with school communities for all students.
We believe in the transformativepower of high expectations relationshipsso we armthe leaders of school
communities with the tools,belief and confidence they need to create the conditions thatgive all children the
opportunity to be the best they can be.
If you would likemore detail about the work of the Stronger Smarter Instituteand also accessfreeresources,
position papers,onlineleadership modules and meet the team go to: http://strongersmarter.com.au
john.bray@strongersmarter.com.au
John Bray joined QASSP in 2001,and has been a Principal in many schoolsin Queensland and the Northern
Territory. In term 4 2015,John accepted the position of Director, Partnerships,Communication and External
Relations with the Stronger Smarter Institute.
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics,2014, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Population Projections, State/Territory,
data cube: SuperTABLE, viewed 10 November 2014,< http://stat.abs.gov.au//Index.aspx?QueryId=1111>
Bishop,R. & Berryman, M. (2006). Culture Speaks. Huai Publishers.Wellington:NZ.
Buckskin,P. (2012).Engaging Indigenous students: The importantrelationship between Aboriginal and Torres
StraitIslander students and their teachers. In: Price,K. (ed). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education.
Cambridge University Press.
Department of Education and Training,Queensland – August 2015
http://education.qld.gov.au/schools/statistics/enrolments.html
Marzano,R. J. (2010).Art & Science of Teaching: High-Expectations for All. Educational Leadership,September
2010,p,82-84. .
Ockenden, L. (2014). Positive learning environments for Indigenous children and young people. Resource Sheet
no. 33 produced by the Closingthe Gap Clearinghouse. Canberra: Australian Instituteof Health and Welfare
& Melbourne: Australian Instituteof Family Studies.
Purdie, N., Tripcony,P., Boulton-Lewis, G., Fanshawe, J., and Gunstone, A. (2000). Positive Self-Identity for
Indigenous Students and its Relationship to School Outcomes [A project funded by the Commonwealth
Department of Education Trainingand Youth Affairs].Queensland University of Technology.

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Perso, T.F. (2012). Cultural Responsiveness and School Education: with particular focus on Australia’s First
Peoples: A Review & Synthesis of the Literature. Menzies School of Health Research, Centre for Child
Development and Education,Darwin Northern Territory.
Sarra,C (2015) Australian SenateOccasional Lecture Series, 13 November 2015, High Expectations Realities
through Authentic High Expectations Relationships: Delivering beyond the Policy Rhetoric, aph.gov.au
Stronger Smarter Institute (2014). High-Expectations Relationships. A Foundation for Quality Learning
Environments in all Australian Schools. Stronger Smarter Institute Limited Position Paper
Torff, B. (2011). Teacher beliefs shape learning for all students. Phi Delta Kappan. 93:3, p.21-23.

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