Authors: Anne Southall, Juliana Ryan, Siobhan O’Brian & Melissa Giles
La Trobe University, Australia

Edition: Volume 65, Number 3, Special Edition, November 2025

Introduction: This study explores the role of creative arts in professional learning through a trauma-informed education (TIE) event for mentor and pre-service teachers. TIE requires educators to make complex relational shifts with students and to cultivate classrooms that promote safety, empathy, and empowerment. The professional learning event integrated neuroscientific insights, live theatre performance, and critical reflection to deepen educators’ understanding of trauma’s impact on student learning and to prompt examination of their own pedagogical approaches, emotional responses, and professional identity. The theatre performance, based on the lived experience of a traumatised 14-year-old student, provided a powerful, immersive experience that transcends conventional professional learning. By engaging both cognitively and emotionally, participants developed a more embodied and empathetic understanding of trauma, enhancing their capacity to implement trauma-informed practices.

Situated within the field of creative pedagogies, the study examines how performance functions as a transformative learning tool, engaging educators affectively and cognitively in ways traditional models cannot. Data were drawn from written reflections and semi-structured interviews with mentor teachers and pre-service teachers. Findings demonstrate that theatre-based professional learning supports reflexivity, fosters empathy, and enables educators to re-examine professional identity. The study affirms the value of performance as a didactic tool and highlights its potential to strengthen trauma-informed education.

Keywords: creative learning, trauma informed education, critical reflection

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 65:3 The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.