Teaching Artists: Creative Conversations with Arts Educators

Lesley Eadie | Arts Educator Interview

Lesley Eadie is a programmes and delivery officer with Time for Inclusive Education. She also works part-time as a Drama Teacher and coach, currently part of the team at Glasgow Academy, a visiting assessor for Advanced Higher Drama at SQA, and a transitions coach at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
She completed an MEd in Learning and Teaching in the Performing Arts at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2022. Her final project centred on LGBT Inclusive Education: how pupil voice can impact teachers’ understanding of the need for inclusive practice in schools. Her research interests lie in learner autonomy, diversity, equality, and inclusion.

Raz Salvarita | Arts Educator Interview

Raz Salvarita is the founder and chief-errand-officer of Baryo Balangaw Creative Initiatives in the Philippines. He is a transdisciplinary creative activist who aligns his community-based arts endeavours in the scope of activation, facilitation, and education. He is a recipient of numerous fellowships in arts leadership including the Mentorship Award for “Cultural & Artistic Responses to Environmental Change” given by the Prince Claus Fund and Goethe-Institut; Future Arts Leader by Creative Australia; ITAC Impact: Climate grant of the International Teaching Artist Collaborative; and the Arts for Good of the Singapore International Foundation.
In 2024, he will join as a fellow with The After School program of the Center for Arts, Design, and Social Research. He believes in the transformative power of the arts as a centering place for healing, recovery, and renewal of courage

Jeffrey Tan | Arts Educator Interview

Jeffrey Tan is an experienced Theatre Director, Drama Educator and Creative Producer who is based in Singapore.  With a MA (Drama and Theatre Education) from the University of Warwick, Jeffrey has taught drama, theatre, playwriting, lesson planning, evaluation, Stage and Arts Management for students in Primary, Secondary, Polytechnics, Universities both in Singapore and overseas.  Jeffrey has also conceptualized Arts Residencies at Senior Activity Centres and presented intergenerational theatre work at various Arts Festivals in Singapore and Australia.  Jeffrey’s SAME-SAME2.0 an online inclusive live Zoom performance also toured to Melbourne Fringe 2021, New Zealand Fringe 2022 and Adelaide Fringe in 2022.

Nikki Doig | Arts Educator Interview

Nikki Doig is a Lecturer in Education at the University of Dundee. She joined the University in 2015 after ten years working in a variety of teaching and leadership roles in the primary sector. Nikki’s own drama education started long before her teaching career, with a BA in Dramatic Studies (RSAMD). In 2022 she completed an MEd in Learning and Teaching in the Performing Arts (RCS). Her scholarship centres on teacher confidence, drama in education and learning beyond subject boundaries.

Finlay Hetherington | Arts Educator Interview

Finlay Heatherington is a musician and trumpet player who has performed music for Bollywood to the BBC.  He is co-founder and director of the quintet, Brass Tracks.  However, for almost 20 years, music education has been at the forefront of his day-to-day arts practice.  Finlay currently balances delivering brass lessons to 3 secondary schools across Edinburgh in addition to lecturing in music at Edinburgh College where he is one of the module leaders on the BA (Hons) course in partnership with Kingston University, London. In 2022 Finlay completed a 3 year MEd in Learning and Teaching at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. 

Mairi Gillies | Arts Educator Interview

Is mise Màiri NicGillÌosa. Tha mi nam neach-ealain agus ‘s e bana-Ghàidheal na Galltachd a th’ annam. Tha dàimh làidir agam ris a’ Ghàidhealtachd agus tha mi a’ fuireachd ann an Leòdhas.
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Mairi Gillies is a visual artist, educator and a Gaelic woman from the Lowlands of Scotland. Her practice is rooted within her deep connections to her home in the Gaeltachd. Currently she is living and working on Scotland's Isle of Lewis. 

Tracy Hawkes | Arts Educator Interview

Tracey Hawkes’ dance education was at Elmhurst Ballet School and the Theatre School, Edinburgh. After an early career as a professional contemporary and ballet dancer in Basic Space Dance Theatre and NAPAC Ballet, Tracy became the artistic director of Dance For All, Edinburgh, one of Scotland’s foremost performance dance and dance teacher education colleges since 2000. Alongside being a Life registered teacher member of the Royal Academy of Dance, she is the only Spanish Dance Society qualified tutor in Scotland and after 4 decades of educating young dancers in ballet, classical Spanish and flamenco dance, Tracy has now successfully completed a Masters in Education at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Gavin Crichton | Arts Educator Interviews

Gavin Crichton, co-founder of Active Inquiry, joins us this week for an Arts Educator Interview.
 
Gavin is the founder and current Artistic Director of Active Inquiry in Edinburgh. Before setting up Active Inquiry, Gavin worked as a freelance drama worker and as Research Assistant at the Centre for Community Arts Research and Practice at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh. Gavin has over 20 years’ experience of running both small and large-scale community arts projects. As well as a project manager he is also an established workshop leader and theatre director. He has trained with Augusto Boal, Julian Boal and Barbara Santos and is the leading expert in the Theatre of the Oppressed in Scotland. He is currently working on a long term project, called Drama for Democracy, which is exploring how theatre spaces can be used as sites for participatory democracy in Scotland.

Sudebi Thakurata | Arts Educator Interviews

Sudebi joins MEd in Learning and Teaching in the Arts Programme Leader, Jamie Mackay, for this episode. Sudebi is a creative facilitator, trans-disciplinary narrative designer, educator, writer, researcher, futurist, thinker, music enthusiast and conversationalist with 18+ years of experience across 30+ countries spanning India, South and Southeast Asia, UK, Mainland Europe, Australia and USA.

Bethany Macleod | Arts Educator Interviews

Jamie is joined by Arts teacher Bethany Macleod.