Does adversity lead to resilience or does resilience lead to less adversity? Professor Andrew Martin from the University of New South Wales and Professor Herb Marsh from Australian Catholic University explore this question in their latest study, share the findings and discuss the implications for teachers.

This month has been has been one characterised by a lot of fear and uncertainty as the world grapples with the challenge of containing the spread of the coronavirus. In this episode of Teacher Staffroom, we do a round-up of what we’ve published so far related to Covid-19, as well as other more general content that we thought would be of interest.

In these uncertain times, how do teachers support students to make sense of the coronavirus pandemic and give them the tools to navigate the challenges we may be faced with? In today’s article, Professor Peter O’Connor from the University of Auckland suggests arts-based approaches to building resilience in students in times of disaster.

A new Health Behaviour in School Aged Children study offers insights into the lives of 11- to 15-year-olds in England. Our latest infographic looks at the proportions of young people who reported not having enough sleep to be able to concentrate on their schoolwork, and how the figures have changed since 2014.

Having worked with school communities after the devastating Canterbury earthquakes, Professor Carol Mutch offers valuable insights from New Zealand on successful initiatives to support students, teachers and parents after disaster strikes their community.

Teacher Ashley Emmerton and Associate Professor John Malouff share details of an international project aimed at providing teachers with strategies for coping with stress, and tips for one strategy – seeking social support.

Dr Emily Berger, an educational and developmental psychologist at Monash University, joins The Research Files to talk about some of the common principles of trauma informed practice in schools, including the importance of consistency, possible triggers for students, and helping them to regulate their emotions.

If we are to scale and sustain good practices to benefit more students, then we want to know whether these practices work so schools and systems can use the results to inform decisions to improve, further expand, or cut the program.

Researchers have assessed the impact of physically active lessons on students’ educational, health and cognition outcomes. They found that implementing physical activity into classroom lessons has a positive impact on some domains.

Today’s article takes a look at some of the resources to help school communities and educators support students, parents and colleagues affected by the bushfire crisis, practical advice for the classroom and things to look out for.