In collaboration with the Matilda Centre, we are developing an innovative, inclusive program of pretend play that builds foundational social and emotional skills to improve wellbeing in our children. We will harness the power of play to equip children, parents and educators with lifelong skills.

123Play is a multi-disciplinary approach that brings together expertise in young people’s wellbeing with creative and playful pedagogy. It draws on two research centres at the University of Sydney: the CREATE Centre and the Matilda Centre.

The project is entering a new phase, with an expanded qualitative focus. Further detail will be published here.

Academic leads: Robyn Ewing, Michael Anderson, Maree Teesson, Olivia Karaolis, Amanda Niland.

Affiliated partner: the Matilda Centre.

This area of work aims to explore and advocate for the fundamental role of arts and culture at all stages of disaster management and at all levels of operation in the mitigation and adaptation to climate risks and impacts. It will consolidate existing knowledge and build evidence for policy and inclusion across the disaster ecosystem. It will build on current practice, and develop resources to position the role of culture and the arts as a vital contributor to climate resilience and its impacts on our communities’ wellbeing. 

Academic leads: Claire Hooker with Michael Anderson and Natasha Beaumont.

Affiliated partners:  Arts Health Network NSW.

This is a multi-faceted, evolving project, leading an innovative process of teaching and learning.

The program draws on years of research into the practices and benefits of Drama Rich Pedagogy and its relationship to Deep Literacy, which you can read about in Robyn Ewing’s book on the topic: Drama Rich Pedagogy and Becoming Deeply Literate.

The project investigates the outcomes of a multi-arts professional learning program on English as an Additional Language or Dialect, involving teachers, learners and teaching artists. Results of the pilot study will be published shortly. The pilot saw schools in high EAL/D and low SEO areas, at both primary and secondary levels, work with dedicated Teaching Artists to improve literacy and deeper levels of learning.

It continues years of work in collaboration with Sydney Theatre Company. Since 2009, more than 35,000 teachers and students have participated in the program’s initial version, entitled School Drama. That program has been re-imagined and expanded into Arts-Rich Lit, delivered in partnership with Shopfront Arts Co-op and commencing Term 3 2026. You can download the School Drama report.

The EAL/D strand of the program welcomes enquiries from schools that may wish to participate. Read more on our programs page.

The pedagogical strategies developed are now informing the CREATE Centre’s microcredential in Teaching Artistry. Find out more and enrol in Teaching Artistry.

Academic Leads: Professor Emerita Robyn Ewing, Dr Kathy Rushton, Eliza Oliver.

Investigating the value of theatre for young people globally. This study includes an evidence gap map and qualitative report produced in partnership with ASSITEJ. 

Watch the CREATE Centre's scholars present their findings here.

Academic Leads: Professor Kelly Freebody, Professor Michael Anderson, Eliza Oliver.

This project is in collaboration with Barking Gecko Theatre Company.

If theatre is an interweaving of memory and liveness, and learning is constructed in negotiation and dialogue, theatre education offers a powerful place to encounter the unexpected, to extend horizons of expectations and consider where we are positioned in the world. It is material and ephemeral, and recognises that meaning is made in the symbols, metaphors and narratives of drama, between spaces and places, in the gaps and the silences of reflection, and in the movement and activity of practice (Nicholson, 2011).

This research is investigating the following questions from the participant children’s point of view. Does theatre matter to children? If so, how? What happens when young children are given access to three live theatre performances and related pre- and post-performance activities over a two-year period? What do they wonder about, imagine, hope for and remember?

Academic leads: Professor Emerita Robyn Ewing AM and Professor Michael Anderson, in collaboration with Barking Gecko Theatre Company.

Bell Shakespeare and the CREATE Centre are undertaking a multi-phased research project.

This began with an initial scoping of the research in Australia and internationally on the impact of engaging young people with Shakespeare and the nature of their engagement.

The current phase focuses on a multi-site case study of Bell Shakespeare’s programs in regional and remote schools, including live performances and tailored artist-in-residence programs for teachers and students. It investigates what happens when young people in remote NSW schools have access to Bell Shakespeare’s in-school residencies and Player performances, from the participant young people’s and teachers’ perspectives. Data is being gathered from student focus groups, teacher and principal interviews, and participants’ arts-informed responses.

You can download the Bell Shakespeare impact report from the first phase.

Academic leads: Natasha Beaumont, Professor Kelly Freebody, Professor Michael Anderson, Professor Emerita Robyn Ewing AM.

A community-centred arts initiative for young people.

TheatreConnect is a multi-year, arts-based youth engagement program developed by the CREATE Centre for young people aged 11 to 18 in South Western Sydney. Through week-long, site-specific theatre workshops, it helps young people explore their identity, build confidence and critical empathy, while connecting with peers and community.

The program is funded through Multicultural NSW’s COMPACT program, which supports community resilience by building social cohesion. It will be adapted in regionally specific forms for other communities in future.

Early findings are published in TheatreConnect and the Civic University: Arts-Rich Public Engagement as a Model of Socially Sustainable Higher Education.

Read more about TheatreConnect on our programs page.

Transforming Schools began as a project in 2017 to consider the “how” of school transformation.

Emerging from the books Transforming Schools and Transforming Organizations, the project now features more than 40 schools in long-term partnerships and several PhD, master's degree and honours students researching the how of transformation.

This work undertaken in partnership with 4C Transformative Learning and not only researches transformation and the 4Cs (creativity, critical reflection, communication, collaboration), but investigates how schools throughout Australia are making it a reality.