Influential writer, practitioner and researcher of global education trends, Pasi Sahlberg presents a series of conversations with passionate national and international education thought leaders discussing the urgency for Australian education reform.
In the Utzon Room | Talks & Ideas, Creative Learning
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Tuesday, 18 May at 6.30pm - Pasi Sahlberg in conversation with Dr Chris Sarra and Fiona Kelly
Wednesday, 15 September at 6.30pm - Pasi Sahlberg in conversation with leading researchers detailing the impacts of screen time on young learners
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$25 |
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“If we all think the same way, none of us probably thinks very much.”
Pasi Sahlberg
Influential writer, practitioner and researcher of global education trends, Pasi Sahlberg presents a series of conversations with national and international thought leaders sketching the rationale and urgency for reform of the Australian education sector.
As part of his work as Professor of Education Policy at the Gonski Institute, Pasi Sahlberg wants to initiate a conversation with the Australian community about how this can be addressed.
In these conversations, Sahlberg will lead dialogues on international standards, policy and the importance of play for children. These conversations will be directed by audience participation and will actively engage guests in thinking deeper and broader about the current problems of education.
Sydney Opera House is proud to be aligned with the Gonski Institute for Education in a new partnership to compliment and challenge our work on creativity and learning in schools.
Presented by Sydney Opera House and Gonski Institute for Education at UNSW Sydney.
Finnish educator and author Pasi Sahlberg writes on the chasm of inequality that exists in the Australian school system.
Pasi Sahlberg is an author, scholar and educator who has worked as a mathematics and science teacher, teacher-educator, research and policy-maker in Finland. He has studied education systems and advised on education system reforms around the world, publishing over 170 academic and professional articles and 22 books on the topic. His most recent book is Let the Children Play! How more play will save our schools and help children thrive (with William Doyle, 2019). He has held numerous advisory roles in international organisations like the World Bank, the European training Foundation, and has been education policy expert to the OECD, European Commission and Finnish Governments Foreign Ministry and numerous others.
His research concludes that Australia has schools that are up there with the best in the world; but we tolerate a system where some students experience significant disadvantage. As part of his work as Professor of Education Policy at the Gonski Institute, Pasi Sahlberg, along with former NSW Minister for Education Adrian Piccoli, wants to initiate a conversation with the Australian community about how this disparity can be addressed, leading dialogues on international standards, policy and the importance of play for children.
Tuesday 18 May, 6.30pm
Sahlberg’s second conversation is with one of Australia’s most influential Indigenous educators, Dr Chris Sarra, a Gurang Gurang / Taribelang man and the founder and Chairman of the Stronger Smarter Institute and Fiona Kelly who is a proud Barkindji/Ngiyampaa woman and Executive Principal of the thriving Menindee Central School in far western NSW on the Darling River.
Sahlberg will participate alongside these two leading practitioners offering local, national and International perspectives on education with First Nations youth. The three will discuss strategies that work, the challenges that exist and tell stories from lived experiences of many years teaching and learning.
The event includes time for audience questions and two original songs composed and performed by Menindee Central School students.
Dr Chris Sarra is a Gurang Gurang / Taribelang man, and founder and Chairman of the Stronger Smarter Institute. He is currently the Director General of the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships in Queensland. His illustrious career spans more than 30 years in positive education reform for Indigenous students from schools to universities based on the Stronger Smarter philosophy.
Dr Sarra is a highly sought-after advisor on Education, Indigenous policy reform and strategy. Prior to his role with the Queensland Government he was a Professor of Education with the University of Canberra and Co-Chair of the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Committee. Other numerous honours include NAIDOC Person of the Year 2016, Queenslander of the Year, Australian of the Year finalist, NRL Commissioner, and a 2018 New York Marathon finisher.
Ms. Fiona Kelly, a proud Barkindji/Ngiyampaa woman, is currently the Executive Principal of Menindee Central School which is situated on Fiona’s traditional Barkindji country. Menindee Central School is one of the 16 dedicated schools operating under the NSW Education Department’s Connected Communities strategy.
Fiona has a long and distinguished history of involvement and leadership in Aboriginal/Indigenous education and training within the NSW education system.
Fiona is a Barkindji/Ngiyampaa woman from the Menindee community, in rural western NSW with a passion for education leadership and development, principles that are deeply rooted in her culture and identity as a First Nations woman. With over 30 years of experience as a classroom teacher, Indigenous education consultant and now as Principal, Fiona is committed to leading a team of educators who are dedicated to ensuring that the students who are enrolled with Menindee Central School have access to culturally affirming systems of knowledge and experience that also enriches the students academically.
The design and development of effective and negotiated partnerships with parents and community are fundamental to Fiona’s education leadership philosophy. Both the school’s induction and orientation programs, as well as the school’s education strategic plan, is structured to achieve and celebrate these important education and community empowerment objectives.
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All Sydney Opera House foyers are pram accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to the foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators). Pram parking will be available outside the theatres in the Western Foyer adhering to COVID-safe rules.
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Celebrating 50 years of the Sydney Opera House, Inside/Out at the House invites you to join us under the sails or the stars for an extraordinary 7-day festival from 1-7 May.
Badu Gili - meaning 'water light' in the language of the traditional owners of Bennelong Point, the Gadigal people - is a free daily experience that explores First Nations stories in a spectacular six-minute projection on the Opera House’s eastern Bennelong sails.
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