Create Centre at the University of Sydney

Coming up: Countermapping and Truth Telling

Dr Cathie Burgess (University of Sydney) joins CREATE to share work from the Learning from Country project, in which students walk with and listen to Aboriginal community educators and Country in Redfern. Cathie will speak to the project's use of countermapping to make visible the hidden histories of colonisation and the power dynamics in education and public space, and to the six concepts that emerged from the work.

Free online webinar, 6.30pm to 7.45pm AEST, Thursday 20 August 2026. Register here https://events.humanitix.com/countermapping-and-truth-telling-as-relational-pedagogical-tools-to-transform-learning-w-cathie-burgess

A real honour for CREATE colleagues Professor Emerita Robyn Ewing and Dr Natasha Beaumont to present findings at Bell Shakespeare's National Teachers' Conference.

Over the past three years, CREATE has partnered with Bell Shakespeare to investigate the impact of their long-term regional and remote education programmes. Sharing those findings with the educators and teams who make this work possible was a real privilege.

Bell Shakespeare's depth of engagement with regional schools opens up arts and theatre experiences for children who would otherwise have no access to them at all. It's hard to overstate how significant this work is to the Australian cultural landscape — touring at this scale, with this level of care and consistency, takes an extraordinary amount of dedication.

A huge shout out to Jo Erskine and her incredible team for the collaboration and for the work they do every day. Truly one of the hardest-working arts education teams around!

If you watched Daisy Fancourt's webinar this week, her book "Art Cure" is where the full argument lives. Out now.

Art Cure THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Discover how art can improve our health, make us happier and even help us live longer with the inspiring new book from the award-winning scientist and world-leading expert. 'Every day we are overwhelmed by advice on how to live better. Art Cure is an amazing antidote to t...

Professor Katie Dawson was with us this week. Her book, "Drama for Schools and Beyond" (Intellect, 2025), is free to read online, and her Drama-Based Pedagogy site holds more than 100 free strategies for teachers.

Welcome to Drama-Based Pedagogy! Registration for the DFS Symposium May 15-16, 2026 IS OPEN! Register here! Featured Teaching Strategies Perspective Web This closing ritual offers a simple, visual way to share responses to  reflective prompts to synthesize individual and collective understanding.    Featured Facilitation Plans C...

This evening! Creative Practice as Metabolism with Dr Barbara Doran.

What if creativity is something we metabolise, not just apply? Join Dr Barbara Doran (UTS) as she explores creative practice across body, story and system, with short reflective exercises along the way. One for researchers, educators and creative practitioners.

Free online webinar, 6.30pm to 7.45pm AEST. Register free here:
https://events.humanitix.com/creative-practice-as-metabolism-inhabiting-extended-narrative-fields-in-complex-lives-w-barbara-doran

Part two of the weekend. Mark Runco takes a harder line than yesterday's post: keep AI's definition of creativity out of the classroom. Open access, and worth reading against Beghetto.

The Misleading Definition of Creativity Suggested by AI Must Be Kept out of the Classroom The advent of AI is likely to make it difficult to support the creativity of students. This article points to the specific problem whereby the pseudo-creativity of AI is misinterpreted as authentic creativity, which could in turn mislead educators. The result would be a failure to optimally support....

Weekend reading. Ron Beghetto's chapter in the OECD Digital Education Outlook 2026 argues for slow, deliberate use of AI in the classroom, with students staying in charge of their own ideas. Free to read.

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What happens when students learn history by walking with Country? On Thursday 20 August, join Dr Cathie Burgess (University of Sydney) to hear about the Learning from Country project and how countermapping and truth telling make hidden histories visible. A thoughtful session for educators.

Free online webinar, 6.30pm to 7.45pm AEST. Register free here: https://events.humanitix.com/countermapping-and-truth-telling-as-relational-pedagogical-tools-to-transform-learning-w-cathie-burgess

Today is Drama Fieldwork Day: workshops, performances and conversations with Bell Shakespeare, Shopfront, Box of Birds and Professor Katie Dawson. Photos to follow.

CREATE Drama Fieldwork Day A day of workshops for pre-service Drama teachers with working artists, educators and researchers from across the Sydney theatre and youth arts sector.

Bell Shakespeare's National Teacher Conference kicks off today at Walsh Bay, running through tomorrow, with the soiree tonight. Streaming online too.

National Teacher Conference Our National Teacher Conference is back for 2026 and this time we’re welcoming you on site, as well as online.