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Friday 4 September 2020

 

ENVIRONMENTAL THEATRE COMBINES SCIENCE PLUS DANCE TO BRING THE WONDERS OF THE NATURAL WORLD INTO SCHOOLS, MINDS AND HEARTS

In this excerpt from her ACT 2020 Environmental Educator of the Year nomination, we see how Sue Jones has used both her science background and her dance and choreography instruction skills to deliver environmental education curriculum and teacher professional development that bridges both learning areas.

Education is currently rediscovering the many benefits of integrating drama, dance and movement into ‘serious’ learning of all kinds.

Since the early 1980’s Sue has contributed to this rediscovery by linking scientific and environmental concepts to dance and drama to tell important stories about the natural world. It is Sue’s decades-long pioneering legacy in this area of ‘environmental theatre’, an expressive form of environmental education, which is demonstrated in this nomination.

Starting small in the 1980’s Sue’s ballet school became renowned for their scientifically accurate environmental portrayals. In fact, Sue’s unusually 'biological' scripts designs and choreography were all inspired by her experiences as a resident of Magnetic Island and as a staff member at the James Cook University science faculty where much of the science featuring in her work was being studied, including the coral spawning phenomenon which was discovered there at around the same time!

In the 1990’s Sue was awarded nationally significant commissions to create major environmental theatre productions - ‘Polyp’ in 1993, sponsored by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), and ‘Rainforest Rhapsody’ in 1994, sponsored by the Wet Tropics Management Authority. 


From 2000 Sue produced numerous bespoke environmental theatre pieces for public performance, reaching thousands of people and including major commissions such as ‘Rainforest’ for the CSIROs 75th Anniversary. Then, in 2004 Sue established DanceKids to develop and teach a series of ‘Environmental Discovery Programs’ that could excite students and be used by educators as part of their everyday teaching.

As well as training and mentoring others to deliver these programs, including through published guides and workshops, Sue constantly collaborates, refines, updates and road-tests all her environmental education programs, even delivering the 5-week modules to students herself!

In 2012 Sue founded TakeFlight Education with a collaboration of scientists, communicators and performance artists to produce the first in her series of multimedia environmental education resources, Take Fight Education Creative Classroom Kit series’. (1.3 minute Youtube) This resource enables teachers to meet primary dance curriculum requirements through environmental education, even without special training. The resource also connects learning to the science community - for example, The Dancing Honey Bee explains bee science breakthroughs and issues and contains footage of real honey bees’ ‘waggle dance’, captured and shared with Sue by her honey bee scientist collaborators.

Sue’s humble and approachable manner belies the fact she is an expert mentor of educators and leading dance and education for sustainability curriculum innovator.

Environmentally themed choreography was adopted as part of Sue’s ballet schools from the beginning. Though more common now, at the time this was a rare approach to teaching ballet, with very few qualified instructors ever taking this approach in one production, let alone using it to inspire an entire career in teaching and learning.

Sue’s interdisciplinary approach positively encourages educators to confidently do environmental education across learning areas. As a result, they become informed and passionate environmental educators who can weave the excitement of scientific discovery with the expressive arts, purposeful physical activity (PA) and a stewardship or sustainability mindset.

Sue’s programs build on and extend on firm educational foundations, starting with the use of accurate ‘rich’ science concepts and vocabulary. This builds numeracy and literacy and supports educators using Scaffolding Literacy approaches. Sue collaborates with local educator training providers to teach important presentation skills, always through an environmental theatre lens including:

● dramatic reading aloud
● expression through movement, and
● storyline scripting

Sue pairs careful observation, drama and comedic stories inspired by nature as the input into choreography and movement. This approach helps all students, even the very young, disengaged or differently-abled. It is especially helpful to students not yet confident with language, or who are experiencing language delays, enabling them to fully and joyfully participate, remember, care and understand. (Click this link to read letters of appreciation for Sue by parents and teachers).

Every resource Sue produces for teachers contains everything they need to accurately ‘tell the environmental story’, as well as modelling how to develop their own engaging environmental theatre units. In the case of the Take Flight Education Creative Classroom Kit The Dancing Honey Bee, Sue has taken mentoring the next generation of educators to the next level by providing all the tuition and guidance needed to undertake primary dance instruction, all in a copy-me video format that can also be used as-is in class with students.

As well as being a busy founding director, choreographer, curriculum developer and instructor, Sue also ‘walks the talk’ in her free time.

● she has always volunteered and supported community conservation,
● she has shrunk her individual ecological footprint to be as small as it can be, and
● she shares much of her expertise voluntarily at no cost, on boards and in workshops and guest presentations.

Sue began her conservation scientist career volunteering as a reptile field naturalist - she was a citizen scientist before that was part of popular culture - and has been a long-term supporter of both the Australian Geographic Society and Birdlife Australia.

At home, Sue makes the same personal changes she advocates in classrooms - she installed home solar panels, replaced her gas for efficient electric heating, plants trees to offset the few flights she can’t avoid taking and has always grown chemical-free native pollinator-friendly gardens.

Sue often shares her expertise and infectious love of environmental education through no-cost workshops, presentations and lessons, locally as well as nationally. Sue particularly enjoys sharing her environmental theatre lessons with multilingual and special education classes of all ages - Sue finds that no matter the age of student the combination of dance, music, storytelling and drama leads to many Aha! moments for students … and often also their teachers and parents!

Sue served on the AusDance ACT Board for 5 years helping to oversee the annual Youth Dance Festival, and in 2010 joined the executive of ACT Chapter of AAEE where Sue has been a strong and expert advocate for environmental education, particularly in Early Childhood Education. Sue’s advocacy has included being co-author of the ACT AAEE The Future of Education for Sustainability consultation; AAEE presentations to and meetings with ACT Education Directorate Preschool Section and CECA (Children’s Education and Care Assurance) as well as at large childcare and education forums. Sue’s community standing as an expert Early Years environmental educator means that she adds enormous credibility to AAEE advocacy, and has been a welcome and wise voice contributing to calls to prioritise the resourcing of early childhood education.

Teachers need to be part of the universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity, and Sue’s programs and approach can help them do that.

In 2020 Sue will be considering how DanceKids Environmental Discovery and Take Flight Education Creative Classroom Kit programs and projects can begin the work of aligning with the UN SDG framework. 

It is Sue’s intention for her programs to become another way for early years educators to do their bit not only towards 2030 being the year the SDGs are reached in Australia but also globally, as global educators.

Building understanding, empathy and compassion for all life and lives is fundamental to Sue’s ethos and is one of the reasons she was invited by the IUCN to present her work to schools and universities in Kenya. (Unfortunately unable to accept!)

Communicating to children that the global goals have global solutions that come about through collaboration and cooperation is a vital part of #TeachingSDG’s. Sue doesn’t miss a beat sharing this hopeful message and provides teachers with up-to-the-minute examples and links that they can use to interest, extend and inspire their students. One recent example is how the Varroa Mite Purple Hive project links with the Zero Hunger goal, which students understand, engage fully with (and remember) exceptionally well when they have also participated in the Honey Bees Environmental Discovery program or The Dancing Honey Bee Creative Classroom Kit.

While recognizing that all the programs and all interactions with schools and teachers present an opportunity to help educators meet the call to action, the following Global Goals are currently an explicit match for an easy entry point from Sue’s existing resources, with more to come.

● Goal 2 - The Dancing Honey Bee (TakeFlight Education Creative Classroom Kit) & Honey Bees (DanceKids Environmental Discovery Program) - Pollinators and Food Security
● Goal 6 - DanceKids Environmental Discovery Programs: We need water;
● Goal 14 - DanceKids Environmental Discovery Programs: Under the sea; We need water;
● Goal 15 - DanceKids Environmental Discovery Programs: Camouflage; Butterflies; Honey bees; Deep in the rainforest; We need water.


CV SUSAN JONES
suejones@dancekids.com.au  Mobile: 0402 456 981

Current Roles

2012 - ongoing Take Flight Education Founding Director 
2010 - ongoing ACT Chapter AAEE board member 
2004 - ongoing DanceKids Founding Director and Instructor 
2020 - Guest Presenter, Faculty of Education, University of Canberra

Retrospective 2019 - 1990

2019 ACT Early Childhood Forum presentations

2018 AAEE Conference ‘The Art of Sustainability: Unlocking Children’s full potential through Dance, Music and Theatre’

2014 Thredbo Resort - Environmental Easter Holiday Program Choreographer and Instructor

2013 - 2015 Belconnen Arts Centre - Room To Move (+/-Mixed Needs) Program - Presenter; 2013 Arts Up Front conference ‘Dance in the Early childhood classroom’ presentation; 
2013 National Science Week - ANBG Seed Bank Commission
2013 - 2017 AusDance ACT Board Member

2012 & 2013 National Dinosaur Museum - Student Programs

2011 Dinner Plains Resort - Environmental Alpine Winter School Choreographer and Instructor

2010 Urambi Primary School Scaffolding Literacy and Environmental Discovery Crossover Program; 
2010 CSIRO collaboration with Francis Owusu, director of the Breakdance group Kulture Break to produce climate change content. Link 1 Link 2 (Youtube links)

2009 Five presentations for CSIRO in Science Week on Climate Change; Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) River Health Conference Water Cycle and Bogs demonstration

2008 Tidbinbilla ACT Parks and Conservation Service programs; St Bedes Wakikiri – SOS Save Our Seas

2006 DanceKids Instructor Training DVDs published 2006 - 2018 Australian National Botanic Gardens - Various commissions and programs

2004 – 2006 Children Services Resource & Advisory Program ACT Inc - Specialist Literacy Consultant

2004 DanceKids founded and website published

2002 - 2004 Questacon - Creative Science Workshops supporting the Eaten Alive exhibit, Choreographer and Presenter

2001 - 2013 CSIRO Discovery Centre - Numerous commissions and programs; 

2001 - 2011 National Capital Ballet School and others - Productions, Special Commissions, Choreography.

1996 Arts Queensland - Indigenous Elders Stories Project Officer 

1995 - 1996 Townsville City Council - Participant Community Environmental Festival 

1994 Rainforest Rhapsody (Wet Tropics Management Authority) Major Production (1-minute snippet) (Full performance); 
1993 Polyp (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority) Major Production (1-minute snippet) (Full performance)

1983-1999 Magnetic Island School of Dance & Susan Jones School of Dance - Founder/Director of numerous productions

1982 Royal Academy Dance qualification

1975 - 1995 James Cook University Science Faculty research staff.

1968 Cecchetti dance qualification

Selected Bibliography

2020 From Theory Into Practice - DanceKids Environmental Education Programs for Presenters and Teachers (2020 edition in press) DVDs (2006) & DanceKids Website

2009 DanceKids Life Skills In Action series Education with Intention and DanceKids collaboration - Environmental Discovery Program units of work teaching guides with curriculum mapping: Deep in the Rainforest; Butterflies; Camouflage; Honey Bees; We Need Water.

2012 The Dancing Honey Bee multimedia kit, Take Flight Education’s Creative Classroom Kit & Website

2012 Early Years Framework DanceKids curriculum guidance document PDF

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