Hello there!

My name is Jamie Taylor, and I was born and raised in Vancouver, BC. Throughout my time growing up in Vancouver, I have been exposed to many different pathways of education, but settled on two very inspiring and engaging pathways: Art (theatre), and teaching.

I completed my Bachelor of Fine Arts from Simon Fraser University in 2011, majoring in Theatre Performance. SFU’s fine arts programs are based around collaborative learning and creating, which taught me the importance and benefits of group work and cooperation while working in a creative informal/formal setting. Throughout my time at SFU I began to grow in my craft, while I exercised it and exposed it. Upon graduating, I came together with 5 other creators and formed a collective called O, o, o, o. We are an experimental performance collective dedicated to the uncovering of new and mysterious ways of engaging with people, environment, the invisible, etc. Goes anywhere; anything goes. Our company has also been fortunate to have gained experience working with various Vancouver professional contemporary theatre companies, and with children in the East Vancouver community in workshops, and comedy/acting classes.

(Hive the New Bees performance shot – summer, 2013)

In September 2013 I began the Bachelor of Education from UBC, specializing in the  Kindergarten and Primary Program cohort. I chose this particular cohort because I was very interested in working with younger students, and the beginning of their time attending school. With theatre as my background and current practice, I began to incorporate arts based learning, and theatre into my practicum lessons. My dream and long term goal is to find ways to bring arts based learning into subjects where it can often be overlooked, or ignored. In my experience, often fine arts are overlooked in the school system, particularly in the elementary years.  During my 10-week practicum at Highlands Elementary, I was able to see growth and self-expression emerge from students who perhaps hadn’t felt so safe to go to those places in the classroom environment.  The more quite and introverted students were writing and performing scenes with comfort and excitement, and this warmed my heart immensely. I plan on continuing with arts-based learning, while I learn from my students, peers, and partners in learning.