Where Creativity Comes To Life

Ben Peacocke is a highly experienced art educator with over 30 years of teaching experience across Australia, China, and South-East Asia. He is the co-owner of Academy of Dance Taranaki and brings a depth of international expertise to AOD’s growing creative arts programme.
Ben has taught Visual Art and Drama at some of the leading international schools in the world, most recently at Victoria Shanghai Academy in Hong Kong, where he taught across the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme and Middle Years Programme. His career also includes senior leadership roles at Harrow International School Beijing and the International School of Brunei, where he served as Head of Visual Art.
Throughout his career, Ben has coordinated major school art festivals and exhibitions, supervised IB Extended Essays and student research projects, and mentored students who have gone on to pursue successful and internationally recognised careers in the arts. His teaching practice is grounded in strong professional standards, inquiry-based learning, and a belief that all students are capable of significant creative growth.
Ben’s teaching style is warm, engaging, and highly skilled — balancing technical foundations with imagination, curiosity, and self-belief. He is passionate about creating learning environments where students feel confident to take creative risks and develop their own artistic voice.
In addition to his teaching, Ben is a practicing artist with experience across a wide range of media, including drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, and digital arts. He has also been involved in large-scale theatre productions as a set and prop designer, bringing a rich interdisciplinary perspective to his creative education work.
Ben is excited to bring his international experience and love of teaching to AOD’s new purpose-built Art Studio — helping young artists in Taranaki develop skills, confidence, and a lifelong love of creativity.