NIDA has launched a ground-breaking new initiative that will provide early career teachers with complimentary training to help them become cultural leaders at their respective schools.
Photo: NIDA’s Head of Acting, John Bashford, with Year 2 Acting students
NIDA has launched a ground-breaking new initiative that will provide early career teachers with complimentary training to help them become cultural leaders at their respective schools.
The Creative Ambassador’s Initiative from NIDA Open will develop participating teachers as artists by extending their skills in areas such as theatre performance, staging, directing and drama.
The program will also enhance their professional knowledge and allow them to take their learning back into their own classrooms for the benefit of both their school and students.
The initiative is available to primary and secondary school teachers within their first five years of teaching. Successful applicants will attend a series of free masterclasses, which will be delivered by leading educators, artists and academics, at NIDA’s main campus in Kensington from 10-14 July this year.
‘The idea behind our new Creative Ambassador’s Initiative is to provide an opportunity for teachers to enhance their skills as artistic practitioners while continuing to honour them as experts in pedagogy and curriculum,’ commented Schools Program Manager, Maree Freeman. ‘The program will explore creativity across different areas of curriculum and encourage schools to take a more creative approach to education generally.’
The new initiative is the latest demonstration of NIDA’s commitment to cultivating cultural leadership in the arts and creative industries.
‘By launching this new initiative for teachers, we’re investing in the professional artistry and development of early career teachers, with the idea that this will help produce new generations of students who are inspired to become artists or utilise creative thinking in whatever field they pursue professionally,’ continued Freeman.
‘With people like our Head of Acting, John Bashford, delivering some of the classes, it will be an amazing opportunity for teachers to come to NIDA and work with some leading artists and educators.’
‘We’re looking for people who are really motivated. Teachers who want to develop their personal creative skills and who are passionate about taking those skills back into the classroom.’
‘We hope the students of these teachers will get a really exciting burst of new energy with new skills from NIDA,’ added Freeman. ‘That the teachers will take away leadership qualities and a greater sense of confidence in their own skills and in their own capacity to influence not only their students, but also the creative culture of their school.’
Attendees will have the opportunity to work with leading artists, educators and academics, including John Bashford (Head of Acting, NIDA), Dr Anne Harris (Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education, Monash University), Lyn Lee (Course Manager and Training Consultant, NIDA Corporate) and Isabella Dunwill (Cultural Leadership Lecturer, NIDA).
Applications for the free course have been extended until 31 May 2017. You can apply here.
