Rachael Jacobs (PhD) is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Arts Education at Western Sydney University and a former secondary teacher (Dance, Drama and Music). Her research interests include assessment in the arts, language acquisition through the arts and decolonised approaches to embodied learning. In 2014 she completed her PhD on assessment in the arts, which she subsequently turned into a piece of performed research presented to an audience of teachers and policy makers. She has since authored over 20 peer-reviewed research papers and academic book chapters on arts education, creativity and teacher education, and edited two textbooks on arts and creativity in schools.
Rachael’s research has attracted funding for research projects that partner with arts companies and Education departments all over Australia. In 2016 she contributed to the arts education component of the OECD report on the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 and she is currently assisting in the analysis for UNESCO’s International Commission on Futures of Learning. She has received finding to conduct research projects from the Tasmanian Department of Education, the NSW Department of Education, Asylum Seekers Centre, ITAC (the International Teaching Artists Collaborative), and other bodies. In 2021 she received a grant from the Australia Council for the Arts to develop anti-racist education programs in NSW schools, taught through the arts. Working with Hannah Grant from Collective Impact Arts, she has been awarded multi-year funding for IEC Transitions, a program researching the effectiveness of Drama for assisting migrant and refugee students’ language, literacy and transition skills.
Rachael has delivered keynote presentations on her research to the World Alliance for Arts Education, ASME, (Australian Society of Music Educators), Drama Queensland, Drama Victoria, the World Alliance for Arts Education, the Tasmanian Department of Education’s Dance and Drama conference, Brisbane Catholic Education and Adult Learning Australia. She has partnered with Western Sydney community organisation and social enterprise, Creative Think+Do, to develop a creative multilingual professional learning program for teachers. She is currently the Academic-in-Residence at Creative Think+Do, evaluating programs for social change in Western Sydney.
Rachael has facilitated arts projects in community settings in Australia and internationally, including in refugee communities, prisons and women’s refuges. She has achieved two ATLC (Australian Teaching and Learning Council) citations for outstanding contributions to teaching and learning in higher education. Rachael is an Honorary Key Recipient of the Golden Key Society for services to education and community and was the University of Southern Queensland Faculty of Education’s Alumni of the Year in 2013. In 2019 Rachael received the Vice Chancellor’s Citation for teaching excellence from Western Sydney University.
Rachael’s educational and community work extends well beyond universities and schools. She is a community activist, a freelance writer, aerial artist, South Asian dancer and choreographer. She is a founding member of the community activism group Teachers for Refugees, is a board director of children’s arts organisation Wide Eyed Wonder and climate activism organisation, Sweltering Cities. She also runs her own intercultural dance company specialising in Indian dance forms.
Current and recent projects
Dance for Life: Expressive arts for cultural wellbeing with young people: Evaluating dance and social programs in Canberra that enhance wellbeing. Led by Karin Mackay. Report here: https://researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au/islandora/object/uws:60519/
IEC Transitions: Working with Hannah Grant of Collective Impact Arts, IEC Transitions uses drama pedagogies to assist newly arrived migrant and refugee students transition to mainstream high schools. This program develops language, social and academic skills through drama
ITAC Climate Collaborative: ITAC has newly commissioned five teaching artists from around the world to design and deliver projects in their local communities that change beliefs and behaviours in relation to climate change. Rachael will be working in West and South West Sydney facilitating arts projects that address the issue of rising surface temperatures in outer Sydney suburbs. More information here https://www.itac-collaborative.com/projects/chill-the-heat
WiS (Writing in Secondary): NSW Department of Education project working with Kay Carroll, Christina Curry, Erin Mackenzie and Suzanne Gannon. Working with Visual Arts specialists to improve writing in high school.
RAW (Ready Arrive Work): NSW Department of Education evaluation of workplace learning programs for students from a refugee background. With Suzanne Gannon and Danielle Tracey. Report here: https://researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au/islandora/object/uws:53545
Context is Everything: Working with Dr Rachael Dwyer of University of the Sunshine Coast, a set of guidelines for decolonising arts education and creating anti-racist approaches to arts education is being produced.
Academic in Residence: Working with social enterprise, Creative Think+Do, providing pedagogical advice on professional learning for teachers and strategies to enhance multilingualism in schools.
Sorgente: Teaching-artist and researcher on Sorgente which seeks to explore the connection(s) between performative language teaching, motivation to belong and second language learning, with students from refugee and migrant backgrounds, and their teachers, attending English language classes in Dublin, Ireland. Led by Erika Piazzoli, Trinity College, Dublin.
Creative Justice Collective: Developing the concept of creative justice as a theory and principle that can be applied to the arts, arts education and society more broadly.
Developing multilingualism through the arts: Bringing together several research projects to arrive at conclusions about ways that language development can be enhanced by the arts. See the link ‘Can the arts help you learn a language’ below for the video and more explanation.
UNESCO Futures of Education: Consultant to UNESCO’s International Commission on the Futures of Education with Claire French, analysing over 200 artworks depicting the future of education in 2050 and beyond. Report here: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000375578?posInSet=1&queryId=c83bc53e-84b9-443c-a1ad-cf464a4c7e98
Youth in the Time of Coronavirus: Working with Susanne Gannon, Jacqueline D’warte and Loshini Naidoo of Western Sydney University, this program of research involves an ongoing examination of the feelings, thoughts and experiences of young people aged 15-19 through periods of online learning in Australian schools during 2020, and 2021
Interlinked: Tasmanian Department of Education project using interdisciplinary approaches to language development for newly arrived international students, using story drama, media arts and community based-learning
Deep Harmony: anti-racist programs in NSW schools, taught through the arts
Can the arts help you learn a language?
Read More
Western Sydney University staff profile https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/staff_profiles/WSU/doctor_rachael_jacobs
Linkedin profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachael-jacobs-823ba01a0/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rachaeljacobs.au/
ORDiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4742-368X
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rachael_Jacobs
Creative Think+Do (project partner): https://www.lostinbooks.com.au/meet-our-artists/dr-rachael-jacobs
Qualifications
Doctor of Philosophy (2015) University of Western Sydney
Grad. Cert. Higher Education (2012) Australian Catholic University
Master of Education (2009) University of Southern Queensland
Bachelor of Education (2000) University of Sydney
Publications
Books
Jacobs, R. and Poli, K. (2018), 'Big Arts!', : Top Hat Publishing .
Jacobs, R. (2013), 'Nice Arts!', : Pearson 9781486010899.
Chapters in Books
Jacobs, R. (2021). ‘Racism’ in Multicultural Responsiveness in Counselling and Psychology. Palgrave Macmillan. 51-102.
Jacobs, R. and Milne, C. (2021), 'Art, imagination and the environmental movement', Social Ecology and Education: Transforming Worldviews and Practices, Routledge 9780367471088.
Jacobs, R. (2019), 'Bill & Ted's assessable adventure : a frame analysis of assessment representations in popular culture through Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure', Teachers and Teaching on Stage and on Screen: Dramatic Depictions, Intellect Books 9781789380675.
Jacobs, R. (2018), 'Assessing creativity : four critical issues', Creativity Policy, Partnerships and Practice in Education, Palgrave Macmillan 9783319967240.
Journal Articles
Gannon, S. Jacobs, R. D’warte, J. and Naidoo, L. (2022). 'But w'rry not we shall banquet again someday': Creativity and socially distanced English, English in Australia, vol 56 (2), 38-48
Naidoo, L. D’warte, J. Gannon, S. and Jacobs, R. (2022). Sociality, resilience and agency: how did young Australians experience online learning during Covid-19?. The Australian Educational Researcher. vol 29 (1), 81-96. Dancing toward the light in the dark: COVID-19 changes and reflections on normal from Australia, Ireland and Mexico. Arts Education Policy Review, 123(1), 29-38.
Gannon, S., Jacobs, R., and Tracey, D. (2021). Reducing vocational education inequality for students from refugee backgrounds. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 1-17.
Jacobs, R., Finneran, M. and Quintanilla D’Acosta, T. (2021) Dancing toward the light in the dark: COVID-19 changes and reflections on normal from Australia, Ireland and Mexico. Arts Education Policy Review, Vol 123 (1), 29-38.
Jacobs, R. (2020), 'Stories told and performed : a methodology for researching drama assessment in schools', Qualitative Research Journal, vol 20, no 1 , pp 19 - 33.
Jacobs, R. (2020), 'Cultural aspects of drama : the effect of Australian drama assessment policy on practice', Arts Education Policy Review, vol 121, no 4 , pp 187 - 200.
Jacobs, R. (2019), 'Drama and the culture of challenge', Journal of Queensland Drama Educators, vol 42 , pp 22 - 25.
Jacobs, R. (2019), 'Habitus and perceptions : lecturers discuss dance in primary teacher education courses in Queensland, Australia', Journal of Emerging Dance Scholarship, vol 7 .
Jacobs, R. (2017), 'Six critical issues in senior secondary drama performance assessment in Australia', NJ: Drama Australia Journal, vol 41, no 2 , pp 127 - 140.
Jacobs, R. (2017), 'Assessing the aesthetic : narratives from drama education', Journal of Artistic and Creative Education, vol 11, no 1 , pp 140 - 153.
Jacobs, R. (2016), 'Using scripts and stories : illustrating the influences on drama performance assessment', NJ: Drama Australia Journal, vol 40, no 1 , pp 53 - 65.
Jacobs, R. (2016), 'Challenges of drama performance assessment', Drama Research, vol 7, no 1 .
Sanchez, M. and Jacobs, R. (2016), 'Integrating technology with classroom pedagogy', FACULTY, vol 3, no 2 , pp 3 - 6.
Jacobs, R. (2012), 'Assessing the aesthetic : narratives from drama education', Journal of Artistic and Creative Education, vol 6, no 1 , pp 74 - 93.
Jacobs, R. (2012), 'Curator and critic : role of the assessor in aesthetic fields', Higher Education Studies, vol 2, no 4 , pp 114 - 125.
Jacobs, R. (2011), 'Aesthetic development in higher education : an interdisciplinary dialogue', Practice and Evidence of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, vol 6, no 3 , pp 232 - 248.
Jacobs, R. (2010), 'Performance footprints across Australia : assessment in senior secondary drama', NJ: Drama Australia Journal, vol 33, no 2 , pp 45 - 55.
Jacobs, R. (2010), 'Movement in liturgical spaces : a delicate dance', Journal of Catholic School Studies, vol 82, no 1 , pp 15 - 24.
Jacobs, R. (2009), 'Measuring aesthetic development : a national dialogue', Journal of Artistic and Creative Education, vol 3, no 1 , pp 68 - 85.
Jacobs, R. (2008), 'When do we do the Macarena? : habitus and arts learning in primary pre-service education courses', International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, vol 4, no 5 , pp 58 - 73.
Conference Papers
Jacobs, R. (2011), '"How about an creative revolution?" : teachers' experiences of the decline of arts education in the education revolution', Global Conference on Creative Engagements, Oxford, England.
Jacobs, R. (2011), 'Aesthetic development in higher education : an interdisciplinary dialogue', International Conference on Education in a Changing Environment, Salford, U.K..
Geiger, V., Jacobs, R., Lamb, J. and Mulholland, J. (2009), 'An approach to student-lecturer collaboration in the design of assessment criteria and standards schemes', ATN Assessment Conference, Melbourne, Vic..
Jacobs, R. (2009), 'Breaking the surface in arts education', ISATT Conference, Rovaniemi, Finland.
Jacobs, R. (2008), 'When do we do the Macarena? : exploring perceptions of the arts within primary education courses', World Dance Alliance Global Summit, Brisbane, Qld..
Other Publications
2021, ‘Women, Robots and a Sustainable Generation: Reading Artworks Envisioning Education in 2050 and Beyond’: Report to UNESCO’s Futures of Education
2019, 'Understanding the Experience and Perceived Impact of the Ready Arrive Work Program', Report