Katy Walsh

Katy Walsh is a Lecturer in Contextual Education at the School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education, University of New England (UNE). She has nearly three decades of experience teaching secondary school Drama, English, and English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EALD) in Victoria and New South Wales. Her professional background includes freelance acting and co-founding the Red Shed Theatre Company in South Australia.

Educational Background:

• Bachelor of Arts (Hons), Flinders University – Majors: Theatre Studies, Theatre Performance (Drama Centre), English
• Diploma in Education, Monash University – Specializing in English and ESL (now EALD)
• PhD in progress at the University of Newcastle focusing on ensemble theatre practice

Her research centers on the intersection between professional theatre and drama education, particularly through collaborative group-devising practices. Key interests include collaborative pedagogy, spatial dynamics in creative learning environments, and social ontology—specifically collective intentionality and 'We-thinking'. She emphasizes inclusive and experiential approaches to teaching drama and teacher education.

Katy contributes actively to academic discourse as Associate Editor of the Australian Drama Education Magazine (ADEM) and has published in the Journal of Drama Education (JEDA). She co-authored a chapter titled 'To the Syllabus and Beyond; young people learning through theatre-making in Australian schools' in The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Young People. While no individual research articles are listed, her scholarly output reflects a strong engagement with drama education theory, practice, and policy.

Scientific and Professional Memberships:

• Drama Australia

Katy teaches a range of units for pre-service teachers, including Introduction to Teaching and Learning, Classroom Management, Research Methods (at Master’s level), and Teaching for Cultural Inclusivity (EALD). She integrates her extensive industry and classroom experience into her university teaching, supporting future educators in developing practical, inclusive, and creative pedagogies. There is no mention of research grants, supervised students, or formal research teams in the available text.

Additional Notes: Katy lives and works on the New England Tablelands and is the mother of five grown children.