Carolyn Bradley

Profile

After completing undergraduate studies in Drama and my first masters degree at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, I qualified as a Drama teacher in 2012 and worked in the state education sector for 10 years. I taught English and Drama, progressing to Head of Department and then to a Lead Pracitioner for Teaching and Learning, and was appointed as a Specialist Leader of Education in 2018.  In 2022 I took on the role of Creative Learning Programme Manager for the Leeds 2023 Year of Culture, programming and delivering a year of cultural activiteis for children and young people aged 0-18, reaching over 35,000 participants.   Alongside my teaching career I have worked as a freelance Education Consultant, advising arts organisations and producing learning resources for schools.  I have worked with numerous organisations including Pearson Education, Oak National Academy, AQA, 1927 Theatre Company, Derby Theatre, and the BBC. Since 2019 I have worked for Pilot Theatre Company as their education consultant, and in this role I develop education resource packs for teachers for their national touring productions every year, and I design and deliver teacher CPD - I run online sessions for drama educators training them to deliver drama education using Pilot Theatre's shows. For the BBC I was the education consultant for the 2013 TV programme "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time: from page to stage" which aired on BBC2 and won a Learning on Screen Broadcast Award. I am an OFQUAL Subject Matter Specialist for Drama and Teaching and Learning, and have examined both GCSE and A Level Drama for the AQA exam board.  I am a member of National Drama, previously sitting on their Executive Committee, a member of the Advisory Group for the Cultural Learning Alliance, and I Co-Chair Pilot Theatre’s Learning Advisory Board. In 2023 I was delighted to have been awarded a Doctoral Scholarship from the School of Performance and Cultural Industries, to begin my research in 2024.

Research interests

Arts education is in decline in England, with teaching hours, exam entries and specialist teachers declining over the last decade.  Since 2010, the English secondary education system has become more linear and exam focused, and the focus on performance measures and standardised testing is cited as one of the reasons the arts are in decline.  However, alongside this are calls for more focus on careers preparation (Gatsby Benchmarks), teaching creativity (Durham Commission) and an overhaul of the curriculum away from a knowledge-focused exam system towards a broader, more balanced curriculum incorporating technical, digital and creative areas of study.  One initiative that could address this imbalance is arts partnership projects, which are collaborative projects between schools and arts organisations, which at their best could provide unique learning opportunities in the arts, in the liminal space between academy and industry.  My research examines the role arts partnership projects can play in the education system, considering how they could be conceptualised as an approach to drama education to contribute to a remigined curriculum. 

My research will be framed by educational theory and pedagogy, and concepts of place, space, and liminality in learning.  Although place-based education is a developed concept, its application in the arts is limited, so my research will contribute to this body of knowledge.  Furthermore, there is a developing trend towards enterprise education, which could be operationalised in the context of arts partnership projects.   Although previous research on arts partnership projects exists, a contemporary analysis through the lens of the current educational climate and in the context of how they are situated in educational theory and pedagogy is under-theorised, which this research will seek to address.    

Qualifications

• MA Education (Leeds Trinity)
• NPQML- National Professional Qualification of Middle Leadership (Leeds Beckett)
• PGCE Secondary Drama with English (Warwick)
• MA Theatre Practices (Rose Bruford)
• BA Hons Drama (Aberystwyth)

Research groups and institutes

• Participation