Lisa Stephenson

Rewilding curriculum: Cultivating affective dispositions for co-agency, collective creativity, and wellbeing with children through drama pedagogy Research highlights the importance of providing learners with wellbeing literacy providing learners with the tools (competence) to understand and comm…

New research article:
Stephenson, L (2025) Rewilding Curriculum: cultivating affective dispositions for co-agency, collective creativity, and wellbeing with children through drama pedagogy. Thinking Skills and Creativity www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The Anna Craft Memorial Lecture This panel discussion marks the culmination of a decade-long series celebrating the profound contributions of Anna Craft to the field of creativity and education. This final session aims...

Come join us on 7 Jul 2025 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm for this panel discussion which marks the culmination of a decade-long series celebrating the profound contributions of Professor Anna Craft to the field of creativity and education.

www.bera.ac.uk/event/the-an...

Embedding #creativity #creative #learning for social-emotional learning and wellbeing literacy across the curriculum.
Here are the pledges from over 100 delegates at our recent Story Makers: Rewilding the Curriculum Conference with Chol Theatre #WorldCreativityandInnovationDay25

Literacy Call for Papers Exploring the potential of creative pedagogies and literacies to empower learners What does empowerment and agency through literacy look like in the multicultural classroom? bell hooks (1994) argued that educators should make their classrooms pleasurable places where learning should be responsive and empowering. Learners should actively participate and make meaning holistically - through emotional, cognitive and embodied modes that reflect their realities (Rook, 2024). The need for the effective use of creative pedagogies in the classroom and beyond has been amplified by global policy makers including the UNESCO Futures of Education report (2021) and OECD Futures Of Education (2019). Both reports highlighted the need for the transformative role within education to be acknowledged and acted upon, stating that criticality and creativity must be incorporated into curricula to enable young people to try to solve the issues that climate change, conflicts and inequality across a global scale raise. How might we as educators activate these relational literacies in the classroom?

I am delighted to be invited to edit a Special Edition of #Creative #Pedagogies for Literacy. This is an excellent international journal which is grounded in work with teachers.
Please think about submitting an abstract onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal....

Can’t wait for this!

lnkd.in/eST9s3fd
Join me Weds 21st May 2025, 4.00 - 4.45 p.m. to find out more

Are you a teacher,senior leader wanting to develop your approach to creative learning in education?
Our Dipoma in Creative Pedagogies could be for you
lnkd.in/eST9s3fd
This short course is grounded in longitudinal research with schools. Starting Sept 2025

Join Dr Lisa Stephenson and Katie Smith to hear more

📅 Date: Thursday, 22nd May
⏰ Time: 4:00 – 4:45 PM (BST)
📍 Online
🔗 Register here: lnkd.in/eNH-6Hx9

Are you a Creative Learning leader or part of an education team looking to embed creativity across your school?
The Creative Learning in Education Award supports schools and educational settings in developing a whole-school culture of creative learning for ethical action.

Fantastic day at the British Academy Mind The Gap conference as an ambassador for OECD Education and Skills.Timely to share expertise in empowering learners communication through research, policy, practice.The importance of amplifying empirical studies
was highlighted #creative #pedagogy

Literacy Call for Papers Exploring the potential of creative pedagogies and literacies to empower learners What does empowerment and agency through literacy look like in the multicultural classroom? bell hooks (1994) argued that educators should make their classrooms pleasurable places where learning should be responsive and empowering. Learners should actively participate and make meaning holistically - through emotional, cognitive and embodied modes that reflect their realities (Rook, 2024). The need for the effective use of creative pedagogies in the classroom and beyond has been amplified by global policy makers including the UNESCO Futures of Education report (2021) and OECD Futures Of Education (2019). Both reports highlighted the need for the transformative role within education to be acknowledged and acted upon, stating that criticality and creativity must be incorporated into curricula to enable young people to try to solve the issues that climate change, conflicts and inequality across a global scale raise. How might we as educators activate these relational literacies in the classroom?

I am delighted to be invited to edit a Special Edition of #Creative #Pedagogies for Literacy. This is an excellent international journal which is grounded in work with teachers.
Please think about submitting an abstract onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal....

Fantastic day leading professional learning with teachers across 8 Primary Schools at Exceed Learning Partnership. Read about the impact of the 2 Year project embedding Drama Worldbuilding across the curriculum to develop social-emotional learning here lnkd.in/e963zHjz
#creative #pedagogy

Thanks Laura! See you there

Rethinking Curriculum- Igniting Creativity: activating children’s social-emotional learning, oracy and conflict resolution through collaborative storymaking. : My College Are you interested in developing your primary curriculum with a creative pedagogies lens? We are delighted to bring the wonderful work of Dr Lisa Stephenson (Story Makers), Exceed Learning Partnership...

Delighted to share our longitudinal research and practice embedding #creative (dramatic inquiry) pedagogy within the primary humanities curriculum at the next Chartered College of Teaching webinar.

my.chartered.college/event/rethin...

If you would like to join the #RewildingTheCurriculum network email storymakers@leedsbeckett.ac.uk @raesnape.bsky.social

This was an amazing read, really inspiring.
As headteacher I’m now very interested in drama world building - this really aligns with what we’re doing with our curriculum.
Thank you for sharing.

Please contact me! L.s.stephenson@leedsbeckett.ac.uk!

Brilliant participatory workshops today by artists and teachers at our Rewilding the Curriculum conference. Sharing empirical research from across 52 schools! Watch this space for follow ups! Thank you @mrsbaker6.bsky.social!

Brilliant participatory workshops today by artists and teachers at our Rewilding the Curriculum conference. Thank you @mrsbaker6! We shared lresearch embedding a drama and inquiry based curriculum from across 52 schools- each from
2-5years! Watch this space for impacts, follow ups and next steps!

The impressive building at Leeds Beckett that the conference was held in.

The opening slide reading ‘Rewilding the Curriculum: activating learner wellbeing, creativity and critical thinking through the creative arts’

The gift we provided for attendees to our workshop: a Ticket of Transformation. This gives the holder the power to transform one boring household object into a portal to another world or magical realm!

What a day at the ‘Rewilding the Curriculum’ conference at @leedsbeckett.bsky.social! An inspiring time of creative pedagogies & collective depth. So exciting to hear what has been going on in schools & projects! It was special to co-lead a workshop alongside Gemma from @grimmandco.bsky.social too 🙏

Here’s a blog about our conference Rewilding the Curriculum : Friday 7th February!
#creativity #curriculum #pedagogy

There are still a few places left!

leedsbeckett.ac.uk/blogs/carnegie… book here 👇🏽

🌟 Rewilding the Curriculum 2025 – Meet Our Amazing Artists! 🌟
Tim Taylor
Chol Theatre
Daniel Ingram-Brown
Siara Illing-Ahmed
Story Makers
Alive & Kicking
DARTS
Grimm & Co
Balbir Singh Dance Company

Spaces are limited, so register now! 🔗 www.storymakersco.com/events

Bob and Roberta’s colourful painting stating ‘All Schools Should Be Art Schools’ ❤️🌈

Imagine if the arts were placed at the centre of education? Imagine if every young person had a say in their education?
Imagine if children and young people could choose their own lines of inquiry?
Imagine if all schools were art schools?
Image: Bob and Roberta Smith ❤️🌈

Collective creativity and wellbeing dispositions: Children's perceptions of learning through drama At a time of escalating global climate change and political, educational, social, and economic divides, children face uncertainties about their future…

What does creative learning look like in the primary classroom?
“Critical hope is not viewed as a naïve sense of hope based on a wish that things will get better but is based on cultivating purposeful collective action through the social imagination” 👇🏽

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Teachers, artist educators, researchers, policy makers- Are you unsure whether to attend our Conference (7th Feb—see below)?

What is Rewilding the Curriculum about? Read about our International Conference last year: lnkd.in/eN37fMVH
Read the blog lnkd.in/eQaBtedS
Hear participants lnkd.in/esAJV8gx

Teachers, artist educators, researchers, policy makers- Are you unsure whether to attend our Conference (7th Feb—see below)?

What is Rewilding the Curriculum about? Read about our International Conference last year: lnkd.in/eN37fMVH
Read the blog lnkd.in/eQaBtedS
Hear participants lnkd.in/esAJV8gx

Rewilding the Curriculum – A Conference with Primary Teachers! 📣

🗓 Friday 7 February
📍 Leeds Beckett University
✨ Practical workshops on culturally relevant drama pedagogies
✨ Strategies to support learner wellbeing & critical thinking
✨ Research-based curriculum models

📌 Book: lnkd.in/eeHpg6ET

Join us!

BOOK NOW: Rewilding the Curriculum: Creative pedagogies for collective wellbeing, positive relationships and learner agency | Events | Leeds Beckett University Initial Teacher Education at Carnegie School of Education Chol Theatre Grimm and Co

Brilliant day yesterday, co-planning with every teacher from Reception- year 6 at BowlingParkPrimarySchool.
Building on 3 years curriculum co-design and research, we’re building in drama Worldbuilding for #social-emotional-cultural learning,dialogic inquiry. We’re embedding through coaching.

Finding spaces of creative possibility! 😍