I have been working for over thirty years in the field of Drama and Creative Arts pedagogies in Teacher Education. An enduring commitment to Equity and Social Justice, has been at the core of my teaching, learning and research. I have extensive experience as a teacher educator in early childhood and primary degree programs at universities in Australia and South Africa. I am currently Director of School Experience and Community Engagement at Curtin as well as Subject Advisor for the Performing Arts discipline.

I also worked as a primary school teacher (early years) for a number of years and was Educational Director of Young People’s Theatre Educational Trust (YPET) in South Africa. My PhD, from the University of Melbourne Australia, examined the role of oral art forms in supporting Drama pedagogy and intercultural understanding within teacher education and my Masters, from the University of Fort Hare South Africa, examined personal and contextual constraints in the use of classroom drama. I have published and presented numerous papers, book chapters and workshops nationally and internationally, as well as being a keynote speaker. Some of my most recent work involves examining ways in which the Arts (particularly Drama) creates dialogical spaces and supports cultural identities in early childhood, primary, enabling and teacher education contexts.

I wrote the Cultural and Linguistic Diversity section of the Drama Australia Diversity and Inclusion Guideline Statements and have also co-edited two books:
Irving, E., & Carter C. (eds). (2018). The Child in Focus: Learning and Teaching in Early Childhood Education. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press. Author of the following chapters, Chapter 3, Theorists and Theoretical Perspectives, Chapter 5, Curriculum and Pedagogy, Chapter 8, The Arts in Early Childhood, Chapter 13, The importance of Relationships, Chapter 16, Teaching Practice Issues in Contemporary Society.

Barnes, H., Carter, C., & Nebe, W. (eds). (in press). Drama for Life: Innovative methods for applied theatre and drama, Cambridge scholars, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Author of the following chapters, Chapter 7, Drama, Early Childhood and the Child in Focus: Opportunities and challenges in a global child centred society, Chapter 3, Drama for Life: Redefining Applied Arts, Arts Therapies and Arts Research, Chapter Twenty, An Interview with members of the Drama for Life Theatre Company.

Another of my research interests, that I continue to explore, is identifying Drama strategies and techniques to support and enhance learning and teaching in diverse learning and teaching contexts.

Memberships and Committees

Regional Director, Australia/NZ on the board of the International Association for Creative Arts Education and Therapies (IACAET).
Board Member of IACAET

National Association of Enabling Educators of Australia (NAEEA) currently chair of the Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Special Interest Group.

Australian College of Educators (ACE) - Previously Committee member (Victorian Branch)
Early Childhood Australia (ECA)

Drama Australia (Book Review Editor NJ) Drama Victoria, Drama NSW (outgoing committee member and Diversity officer), Drama West (WA)

Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE)

Australian Teacher Education Association (ATEA)