Jerry Boland is senior lecturer at the School of Communication and Creative Industries at the Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW. A recipient of an Australian Learning & Teaching Council (ALTC) citation for teaching excellence in 2007 and 2010, he is a Research Fellow of the CSU Education for Practice Institute (EFPI). Jerry has worked as an educator, performer, and director in a variety of Australian and overseas environments. He studied mime, mask and physical comedy with master teachers Carlo Mazzone-Clementi and Jon Paul Cook at the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre in Blue Lake, California; wood sculpting/leather mask fabrication; commedia dell’arte performance with Antonio Fava in Reggio nell’ Emilia, Italy; and drama in education with Dorothy Heathcote at the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.
David Cameron is deputy director of Academic Technologies at the University of Newcastle. David’s research interests include digital game-based learning, the use of ‘everyday’ networked media technologies in learning and teaching, and the application of applied drama conventions and techniques to produce engaging blended learning activities. David is co-author of Real players? (2006) and co-editor of Drama education with digital technologies (2009) with Michael Anderson and the late, and still greatly missed, John Carroll. David has a professional and teaching background in media and communication, including radio journalism and community broadcasting.
Victoria Campbell has been a drama educator, storyteller and performer for more than 20 years. She is passionate about the role of the arts, particularly drama in the lives of young people. Her interest in oral storytelling and narrative performance lead to sustained research in this area resulting in the completion of both a MEd (2008) and PhD (2013) at the University of Sydney. Victoria’s doctoral thesis explored the implications of four early-career primary teachers, creating a narrative performance based on their experiences of teaching. She is currently a lecturer in drama (K–6) at the University of Sydney. For the past four years she has been a teaching artist for the Sydney Theatre Company’s School Drama program.
Robyn Ewing is professor of teacher education and the arts, and Acting ProDean, Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney. Robyn’s teaching, research and extensive publications include a focus on the use of drama strategies with literature to enhance primary students’ English and literacy learning and she is currently working in partnership with Sydney Theatre Company on the School Drama project. She is national resident of the Australian Literacy Educators Association, vice-president of the Sydney Story Factory Board and a member of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) Council. Robyn is a recipient of the Lady Cutler Award for distinguished service to children’s literature (2012) and was recently made a fellow of the Australian College of Educators.
Paul Gardiner is an experienced drama and English teacher, having taught in secondary schools for 17 years. He is currently one of the senior markers for the scriptwriting component of the NSW HSC Drama examination and is a member of the HSC Drama exam committee. Paul has also written a number of plays, two of which have been shortlisted for Playwriting Australia’s National Script workshop. He currently teaches in the areas of teacher education and theatre learning, and is conducting research into playwriting pedagogy in secondary schools, creativity theory and the teacher-student dynamic.
Robyn Gibson has been a primary-school teacher, art/craft specialist and tertiary educator in Australia and the United States. Her research has focused on children’s attitudes to art, art making and art education, and primary-school education in the visual and creative arts. She co-authored (with Robyn Ewing) Transforming the curriculum through the arts (2011). And she is currently engaged as the evaluator of School Drama with the Sydney Theatre Company. Beyond the university, she chairs the Australian Film, Television and Radio School’s (AFTRS) Schools Advisory Committee.
Robyn is an advocate for the imperative of creativity within the curriculum and has been nominated for the Faculty’s Excellence in Teaching Award six times, including in 2007, when she won.
Christine Hatton is a lecturer and researcher in the areas of drama, curriculum, creative arts education and technology. She is a past president of Drama NSW and has served as Director of Research for Drama Australia. She was the last state Drama Curriculum Advisor K–12 for the NSW Department of Education and Training. She has worked with pre-service drama and primary teachers in Sydney, Edinburgh, Singapore and Townsville. Her research and publications have explored the intersections of gender, narrative and identity in the drama classroom, with a particular focus on the learning and teaching of adolescent girls. She co-authored (with Sarah Lovesy) Young at art: classroom playbuilding in practice (2009) and regularly leads professional development workshops for teachers and artists.
Margery Hertzberg lectured at the University of Western Sydney’s School of Education for 20 years and is currently an independent drama, English, language and literacy consultant and researcher. She is especially committed to working with students from socio-economically disadvantaged communities. Her key research interest concerns how drama can enhance children’s English, language and literacy development – particularly students learning English as an additional language. She is former president of PETAA and a current board member of ATESOL, NSW. She presents regularly at National and International conferences and has published widely. Her most recent book, Teaching English language learners in mainstream classes (2012), explains why drama methodology enhances English language learners’ literacy, English and language development.
Helen Hristofski has extensive knowledge and experience in Australia’s youth theatre and arts education sector. Helen studied at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, has degrees in education and arts management, and is an honorary associate of the University of Sydney. Helen was the education manager at Bell Shakespeare, worked as a coordinator for Performing Lines, and is currently the education manager at Sydney Theatre Company. Helen has worked to co-produce, present and commission the work of many small-to-medium-sized companies over the years. She was a pioneer for digital live streaming of performances particularly to remote locations. Helen has a keen interest in offering theatre programs in regional areas to provide opportunities that are relevant to communities, and work to build their capacity, resilience and cohesiveness.
Miranda Jefferson is an education consultant with the Captivate program in arts pedagogy, literacy and teacher professional learning for the Catholic Education Office Parramatta Diocese. She teaches drama, media arts learning and teacher professional practice in the Education and Social Work Faculty at the University of Sydney. Miranda co-authored Teaching the screen: film education for generation next (2009) and has contributed chapters to Drama education with digital technology (2009), Imagination, innovation and creativity (2009) and Teenagers and reading (2012). She is on the Arts Curriculum advisory board for the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, Chief Examiner Drama for the NSW Board of Studies and Vice-President of Australian Teachers of Media NSW. Miranda received an outstanding professional service award for drama education in 2008.
Sarah Lovesy is a freelance drama education consultant implementing a wide range of workshops for drama students and teachers around Australia. She also provides consulting advice to schools who wish to remodel and transform their drama departments or CAPA faculties to provide dynamic drama and creative arts learning for the 21st century. She is a casual lecturer and tutor at the universities of Western Sydney and Wollongong, teaching students to become drama teachers. Sarah has been actively involved with the New South Wales Board of Studies Junior and Senior Drama Syllabus Committees and their respective writing teams, as well as writing for various journals and educational bodies. She co-authored (with Christine Hatton) Young at art: classroom playbuilding in practice (2009).
Rebecca Wotzko teaches and researches in the School of Communication and Creative Industries at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst, NSW. Research interests include participatory culture, digital games, and the intersection between live and mediated performance. Her recent publications have explored combining social media and applied drama, and the intersection of digital games and drama. Rebecca is currently studying for her PhD on the convergent area of applied drama and digital technology.
David Wright is senior lecturer and director of higher degree research at the School of Education in the University of Western Sydney. He entered UWS as a lecturer in drama method and has since worked in programs in social ecology and contemporary performance. He currently works with undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students in units in social ecology and transformative learning, in all of which he draws on and applies the body-based learning that is central to drama practice. David has published widely in edited collections and academic journals. His work traverses embodied learning; arts-based research, constructivism and systems theory, imaginative education, cross-cultural learning and ecological understanding. David has also written for stage, film and television and has published works of creative fiction. He recently edited the book (with Catherine Camden-Pratt and Stuart Hill) Social ecology: applying ecological understanding to our lives and our planet (2011) and is increasingly interested in how drama-styled learning can be applied to the facilitation of a deeper understanding of the relationships that sustain community, in the context of significant challenges to ecological balance.