Heather Crothers

Workshop: Media Literacy and Gaming: Fostering Critical Consumption & Curriculum Integration

Heather Crothers is a secondary school teacher at Woree State High School, where they coordinate the Media Arts subject area and teach years 9-12 Media Arts and Visual Arts. They hold a Bachelor in Fine Arts with a focus on portrayals of Humanity and Identity within Digital Mediums, and a Masters in Secondary Education with their graduate thesis on Student Interests and New Literacies within the Humanities and Arts subject areas. With a background as a digital illustrator and eight years working in the popular culture and anime distribution industry, Heather moved into teaching in 2020 after seeing a need for students to have their interests represented in what they learn about at school. 

In 2023, Heather was awarded the TeachX Excellence in Beginning to Teach award for their work around curriculum writing and advocacy for LGBT+ students and students with disabilities. Heather has continued this work in 2024 by implementing and coordinating the Woree State High School Esports Program to use video games to improve school engagement for disengaged students. 

Heather has been a special guest for the Supernova pop-culture convention as recipient of the Banksia Project Award in 2018 and 2019, and was a special guest for PAX Australia in 2018 and 2022 for panels such as Queer Coded; A History of LGBT+ Gaming, and The Art and Science of Teaching and Video Games.