Marthy Watson

Dr. Marthy Watson is a Lecturer in Curriculum and Pedagogy (Primary Education) at the School of Education, University of Southern Queensland, with over 25 years of international experience spanning South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. Her work focuses on transforming education through arts-based methodologies across diverse contexts.

Education:

• Higher Education Diploma, Orange Free State (1984)
• BA (Hons), University of Pretoria (2001)
• MA, University of Free State (2002)
• PhD, University of Southern Queensland (2021)

Research Focus: Dr. Watson pioneers arts-based reflective practices to enhance learner engagement, particularly through arts integration in rural and remote Queensland primary schools. Her work investigates how embodied arts practices foster active learning and support culturally and linguistically diverse communities. She actively advocates for arts education through workshops, conferences, and community engagement, emphasizing wellbeing and transformative pedagogy.

Publication Trends: Her 15 most recent publications (2008-2025) reveal a consistent trajectory in arts education research, with intensifying focus on embodied learning (2023-2025), wellbeing integration (2020-2024), and curriculum enactment challenges (2021-2023). Key thematic clusters include drama pedagogy (30% of articles), early years arts integration (25%), and teacher wellbeing through arts-based reflection (20%), demonstrating applied research with classroom teachers across primary and secondary contexts.

Scientific Awards: No awards were documented in the source materials.

Supervision: As Associate Supervisor, she currently guides two doctoral candidates exploring visual arts in early childhood sustainability and social imagination in music education, while having completed a doctoral project on ecological sound composition. Her supervision portfolio consistently centers on arts-based wellbeing, curriculum innovation, and reflective practice.

Professional Context: Dr. Watson collaborates with rural Queensland schools while maintaining active roles in InSEA, Drama Queensland, Drama New Zealand, AARE, and ITAC. Her teaching portfolio includes foundational courses in arts curriculum design, literacies development, and professional experience transition.