The LiveLighter® 2016 'Junk Food' campaign ran for 5 weeks in Western Australia (WA) and urged adults to reduce their junk food consumption to avoid weight gain and associated chronic disease. A cohort design assessed campaign impact on knowledge, beliefs and behaviour. Pre-campaign (n = 1501) and post-campaign (n = 737) telephone surveys of WA…

Despite the much-touted 'sexual revolution', during the 1960s-70s, at the time most Western education systems avoided sex education. This article identifies contradictory discourses about sex as manifested in two distinct cultural expressions that co-occurred in those years in the UK. The first represented mainstream social conservatism - in the…

Empathy is a key contributor to moral, pro-social behaviour and an important element of socio-emotional learning (SEL). Schools deliver SEL programmes during adolescence to develop a range of skills including empathy. As education becomes increasingly digital, more research is needed to understand the role digital technologies may play in…

Background: Through the filtering of information, the creation, and reinforcement of stereotypes, media moulds attitudes and set agendas on critical social issues including public policy and disability. Methods: This study explored Australian media representations of the care of people with intellectual disability during a crucial period in…

In December 2019, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development released the latest results of its triennial Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) testing. What followed was a flurry of media reports in the participant countries about the 2018 PISA results that were interpretive rather than descriptive. Whilst there is…

Most western countries face either existing or looming teacher shortages. No doubt there are many and varied reasons for this and no simple remedy. Contemporaneously, film and television can have profound, often unintended attitudinal and behavioural consequences. As reflectors and creators of societal values, axiomatically, they provide insight…

To determine whether the developing semantic lexicon varies with culture, we examined the animal and food naming of children from three communities distinguished by language, cultural heritage, and population density. The children were fve- and seven-year-olds from Australia (n = 197), Taiwan (n = 456), and the US (n = 172). Naming patterns…

There are concerns regarding the use and impact of media in relation to adolescent girls and young women, but there is relatively little research focusing on the experiences and perspectives of young girls. This paper reports on a key finding from a research study in a small Australian school. Interviews with educators (n=5), parents (n=7) and…

Children's social lives are mediated increasingly by digital tools, thereby making new modes of home-school-world relationships possible. In this context, children's digital out-of-school social practices continue to be associated with risk. Children are construed as an "at risk" and vulnerable population by adults who frame children's…

The emergence and subsequent decline of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria provides new challenges for Western governments facing the return of foreign fighters and their families to home soil. This article focuses on the children of returned foreign fighters and more specifically on the international responsibility to provide all…

The purpose of this research was to determine the relevance of the media in the prevention, education and contextual management of COVID-19. Methodology: descriptive non-experimental transectional research. An international survey validated by experts was applied, surveying 1082 people during a month. The countries with the highest participation…

Mass media provides a public space for its readers to enter the discussion on education, as they consume and interpret key messages, which are often shaped by key educational policies. With a suite of recent teacher education reform measures in Australia aimed at solving the "problem" with teacher quality, a conceptual map for conducting…

In the field of preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) schools have an important role to play, but precisely how policy actors and educators should best respond to extremism within their schools remains uncertain. Reporting on data from a broader study, this article draws on semi-structured interviews with three participants. The…

The message of physical education (PE) has been one of a 'contested ground' with regular debate around its purpose, alongside conceptual confusions. A major channel of communication that strongly influences public perceptions is through mainstream media, yet how media platforms have reported on the PE profession has received a scarcity of research…

Vice-chancellor salaries have been a topic of media interest and scholarly research for decades. In recent years, however, the media's interest and criticism of vice-chancellors' salaries has escalated, as negativity surrounding university performance and administration has led to a significant increase in articles concerning these matters. This…