WAAPA
Lecturer · Course Development
Co-author of the Creative Music Technology course, teaching composition, production and the evolving relationship between music and technology.
← Selected work
Education
Teaching · Community development · Mentoring · Governance
Education
+ Creative Leadership
More than twenty years helping people build creative confidence, technical capability and ownership of their own practice.
01 / The Practice
Knowledge becomes
useful when shared.
Teaching, facilitation and community development are part of the artistic practice.
Sam’s educational work moves between studios, classrooms, institutions, professional development, children’s performance and remote-community settings. Music and technology become practical ways to build voice, connection, confidence and participation.
As a lecturer, curriculum developer, coordinator, program lead and mentor, he has shaped courses and learning cultures that recognise artists and learners as active participants, capable of technical excellence, collaboration and continual reinvention.
02 / Research in Practice
Trust changes
how people learn.
The Master’s research asked how relationships, reflection and belonging affect creative education.
Sam’s Master of Education research, Building Student Relationships: Introducing Mindfulness, examined how trust, reflection, belonging and contemplative practice can strengthen creative education.
Reported outcomes included stronger student-teacher trust, engagement, communication, confidence, diverse discussion and deeper connection. The same relational foundation now informs Sam’s community and participatory sound practice.
Read the Master’s research paper ↗Learning in Community
Studios, classrooms
and real places.
03 / Creative Leadership
Build systems
with people inside.
Creative leadership is not control. It is creating the conditions in which others can contribute and grow.
Sam’s leadership extends from curriculum and faculty development to arts governance, membership engagement, festival direction and community programs. Formal study in education, higher education and international community development supports a practice grounded in participation and lived experience.
04 / Selected Experience
Teaching, building
and guiding.
SAE Creative Media Institute
Senior Lecturer · National Module Developer · Coordinator
Academic and creative leadership across audio, curriculum design, assessment, student engagement and faculty development, including introducing Whadjuk artist Marcia McGuire to SAE for its Reconciliation Week mural.
Remote Schools Attendance Strategy
Program Lead · Music + Creative Engagement
Creative participation with Aboriginal young people, families and remote communities through music, performance, songwriting and recording.
West Australian Music
Board Member
Arts governance and strategic contribution supporting artists, industry participation and the wider Western Australian music community.
Strings Attached
Chair
Governance and creative leadership for a festival connecting performers, makers, educators, audiences and the guitar community.
Cubbyhouse + Zend for Kids
Music · Performance · Creative Engagement
Music-led work using songs, character, play and participation to create connection with children, young people and families.
05 / Qualifications
Practice supported
by scholarship.
01
Master of Education
Innovation and Change
02
International Community Development
Graduate Certificate
03
Higher Education
Graduate Certificate + Fellow of the HEA
04
Training + Assessment
TAE40122 Certificate IV
05
Sound Therapy
Diploma through the Australian Sound Healers Association
06
Continuing Education
Student engagement, retention, assessment and technology-rich learning
06 / Principle
Learning through relationship
Make. Reflect. Share.
Education and community practice should give people the tools, confidence and genuine agency to shape what comes next.