Creative approaches to exploring student wellbeing in school spaces.

Overview

This interdisciplinary project brings together researchers from Education, Creative Arts, Design, Architecture and Psychology to pioneer new approaches to understanding how young people use unconventional spaces like stairwells, corridors, toilets, and locker areas to manage their wellbeing in school spaces. The project is funded through the ARC Linkage Scheme, and led by Professor Jenna Gillett-Swan.

V-Res students will work with the investigators on a specific component of the project to pilot processes that will be expanded and implemented in later stages. These pilot activities combine creative arts based approaches for community engagement with participatory research methods including workshop co-facilitation to collaboratively generate data with young people from partner schools and other Linkage project partners.

Research engagement

V-Res students will be involved in co-facilitating a series of workshops with a group of students from partner schools. They will also be involved in co-facilitating a project engagement and data gathering activity with partners and stakeholders on November 19, 2026 at QUT on Kelvin Grove Campus, in the Creative Arts Precinct.

V-Res students will be taught to analyse a selection of data collected, introduced to thematic coding, and shown how to undertake Literature Review and Contextual Review. They will also have the opportunity to be involved in developing at least one output, such as a scholarly article/s and/or practice guide (or similar).

Research activities

Stage 1: V-Res students will work with the researchers to develop and administer research approaches in community engagement, workshop facilitation and data gathering using creative arts methods.

Stage 2: V-Res students will engage in the development of protocols for data cleaning, data security and privacy, and general approaches to thematic coding and data analysis.

Stage 3: V-Res students will develop Literature Reviews and Contextual Reviews related to key aspects of the project.

V-Res students will be supervised by Dr Kathryn Kelly (School of Creative Arts), Professor Jenna Gillett-Swan and Professor Jill Willis (School of Education). They will also have support from other members of the ARC Linkage team and Industry partners.

Research skills

Students will have the opportunity to learn about community-engaged and participatory research, including the design and facilitation of workshops with young people and stakeholders. They will develop skills in creative arts based research methods, participant engagement, qualitative data generation and analysis, collaborative knowledge co-production, and working in a multidisciplinary team.

Students will strengthen their communication, teamwork, stakeholder engagement, and reflective research practice skills while contributing to a large-scale interdisciplinary research project. They will gain experience with both traditional and non-traditional research methods, developing an understanding of how diverse methodological approaches can be applied within interdisciplinary research contexts. Students will also build skills in engaging ethically and effectively with children and young people, collaborating with multidisciplinary stakeholders, and working alongside industry and education-sector partners. This experience will enhance their capacity to contribute to research, translation, and engagement activities across a range of professional and applied settings.

Outcomes

The aim of the V-Res opportunity is to pilot processes that will be expanded and implemented in later stages. These pilot activities combine creative arts based approaches for community engagement with participatory research methods including workshop co-facilitation to collaboratively generate data with young people from partner high schools and other Linkage project partners.

The outputs of the V-Res activities will include documenting the creative arts methods processes, insights into young people’s experiences of participating in these methods, identification of initial key themes to inform subsequent stages of the project, and potentially scholarly publications.

Skills and experience

Essential attributes

• Self-motivated, enthusiastic, and reliable.
• Strong communication, teamwork, and interpersonal skills.
• Attention to detail and an aptitude for research.
• Interest in participatory, interdisciplinary, and community-engaged research.
• Willingness to learn and apply both traditional and creative research methods.
• Ability to engage ethically and respectfully with children and young people.
• Ability to work collaboratively with multidisciplinary researchers and external partners.
• Must hold or be able to obtain a current Blue Card (Working With Children Check) by 1^st September 2026.

Desirable attributes

• Undergraduate experience in creative arts, education, design, architecture, psychology, health, social sciences, or related disciplines.

Previous experience in research, community engagement, group facilitation, youth work, volunteering, or stakeholder engagement activities.

Start date

2 November, 2026

End date

19 February, 2027

Location

Kelvin Grove Campus, QUT, Creative Arts Precinct and Education Precinct.

Additional information

This V-Res opportunity is associated with the Investigating Unconventional Spaces for Student Wellbeing Self-Management ARC Linkage Project (LP250100017)

Keywords

• Student Wellbeing
• Creative Arts Research
• Education Research

Contact

Kathryn Kelly

0431968427  - or 3138 8176

kl.kelly@qut.edu.au