Solutions to School Priorities through the Arts

Explore how arts learning can address student wellbeing and nurture inclusive, connected school communities through one strategic approach.

If you are searching for effective solutions to address your schools’ key strategic priorities in 2024, this event is for you.

Dr Tanya Vaughan, Senior Research Fellow at Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and Primary School principals discuss how evidence-based arts solutions have helped shape school culture, address student wellbeing, create opportunities for whole-school participation, and establish positive, healthy learning environments through the arts.

This event will give you an understanding of:

• Evidence for learning through the arts from educational research expert, Dr Tanya Vaughan
• First hand stories from principals about the challenges they faced in 2023 and how a quality arts programs has helped transform students’ lifelong love of learning and school culture.
• Practical examples about ways art learning was implemented to influence student behaviour, attendance, mental health, engagement and sense of belonging at school.

About Our Speakers

Dr Tanya Vaughan

Dr Tanya Vaughan is a Senior Research Fellow in the in the Centre for School and System Improvement Division at the Australian Council for Educational Research. She has 17 years’ experience in education as a classroom teacher (subject coordinator), policy developer, evaluator and researcher, and has worked in both Australian and international contexts. Tanya is on the ACER PISA 2025 team. Prior to her role at ACER Dr Vaughan worked as an Associate Director, Evidence for Learning with Social Ventures Australia and Director of Impact Studies at Educational Transformations.  

Tanya’s major responsibility with Educational Transformations was as lead consultant in investigating the impact of programs in the arts on outcomes for students in highly disadvantaged setting. A summary of the research entitled ‘Bridging the Gap in School Achievement through the Arts’ (Vaughan, Harris & Caldwell, 2011) was launched at Parliament House Canberra in March 2011 by Peter Garrett, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth. Tanya is co-author of Transforming Education through The Arts (Caldwell & Vaughan, 2012); and co-author of one chapter in Borderless: Global Narratives in Art Education (Vaughan & Caldwell, 2022) and one chapter in Literacy and the Arts (Vaughan & Caldwell, 2014). Tanya was lead consultant in research projects to investigate the effectiveness of The Song Room’s Creative Arts Indigenous Parents Engagement (CAIPE) and Bell Shakespeare’s Learning programs. Tanya has been an Honorary Fellow in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education and, prior to her extensive work in education, was a bioinformatics scientist for 11 years.