Create to Communicate
Inspired by her family story, Simone Cohen is drawing on her passion for the arts to show Foundation Studies students the power of creativity.
The saying ‘art is life, and life is art’ perfectly captures the essence of Trinity College English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teacher Simone Cohen.
Simone’s passion for the creative arts began at a young age. Dance was her first love and in her late teens and early 20s her talent took her to Europe, the Middle East and Central America to pursue her dreams while travelling the world.
What she also learned during those formative years was that she wanted to share her love of the creative arts with others. A succession of startups in her 20s – dance and drama courses for primary and secondary students, a Zumba dance business and other creative initiatives – only served to hone her skillset and affirm her passion to work in creative spaces.
It wasn’t until a stint working overseas in the Middle East that Simone’s career trajectory pivoted. It was there that she discovered her love of teaching; in particular, teaching English as a second language (ESL).
On returning to Australia, Simone began forging a career in ESL. Coincidentally, her mother was already working in the industry, as an EAP teacher in Trinity’s Pathways School, so maybe that aptitude runs in the family’s genes.
She credits her grandparents as the reason she was, and still is, so drawn to teaching English.
‘My grandparents fled Germany and Poland after World War II. They moved to Australia not speaking any English and had to start from scratch.’
Simone recalls the challenges she saw her grandparents face as migrants, particularly with the language. These challenges had a lasting effect on Simone, and she now sees it as quite poetic that she helps people overcome such barriers.
Over the years, Simone has refined the way she teaches English. Drawing on her love of the arts, her style blends creativity with language learning, in what she describes as a holistic approach.
'One week it might be painting, the next mixed media or clay... It’s not about being a painter or an artist – it’s about the process.'
Drawing on this success, Simone developed her own creative arts therapy course – Create to Communicate – as a way to support migrants and international students transition to life in Australia.
In 2023, she joined the Pathways School (for the second time, having worked in a contract position in 2014), bringing Create to Communicate with her.
Now, Foundation Studies students have had the opportunity to participate in an eight-week Create to Communicate course, which is funded by health insurer Bupa and forms an integral part of Trinity’s Pathways School wellbeing program.
Each week, students spend 90 minutes creating artwork around a specific theme.
‘It’s about building community to reduce social isolation – and helping people feel supported along the way.’
‘One week it might be painting, the next mixed media or clay,’ Simone says. ‘It’s not about being a painter or an artist – it’s about the process.’
Simone also incorporates mindfulness into the sessions, finding meditation and movement help students focus and access their creativity.
She sees Create to Communicate as a form of preventative therapy and values Trinity’s openness to alternative methods of supporting students. She recalls one student who was struggling with social anxiety and initially sat silently in class, mixing colours but not painting. ‘Eventually, he started creating, and I saw the smile,’ Simone says.
Simone believes that through creative exploration, collaboration and reflection, art therapy provides invaluable benefits, especially during transition periods, like adapting to university life or a new cultural environment, experiences like those of Pathways School students.
‘It’s about building community to reduce social isolation – and helping people feel supported along the way.’
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