Editorial

This issue features six articles and a book review exploring timely issues in student and teacher mental health and wellbeing, school disengagement, reading classes in primary schools and eco-anxiety in secondary climate change education. We begin with an article from Amanda Madden that investigated students’ perceptions of effective components in school-based wellbeing programs. Thematic analysis of data gathered from 36 Year 12 students (via a questionnaire, individual interviews, and focus groups) identified seven key components students believe to be essential for effective wellbeing programming: targeted content providing respite from academic pressures; engaging and relatable presenters; strategic timing; developmental appropriateness; meaningful measurement; genuine teacher engagement; and authentic incorporation of student voice. Students valued practical, non-academic content and expressed some scepticisms about teacher-delivered programs, readily identifying when teachers viewed programs as an obligation. Timing of program delivery emerged as a previously underexplored factor in wellbeing research; students reported that programs scheduled during high academic pressure periods actually generated additional stress rather than support and preferred programs delivery to be distributed across the school year instead of concentrated into shorter periods. These findings, based on the voices of the target audience for school-based wellbeing programs, challenge universal program approaches and reveal important disconnects between the programs and students’ needs. The author concludes that authentic student engagement in program design and delivery is essential for these programs to deliver positive outcomes for students.

Next, Tebeje Molla reports on his study, which highlights the perspectives of marginalised students on their experiences of school disengagement and academic success. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 53 refugee-background African-heritage students in three Australian states. Thematic analysis of the interview data revealed four key themes in students’ accounts of their disengagement with schooling: hostile learning environments (encompassing students’ experiences of racial vilification and discriminatory discipline); negative learning experiences, including damaging racial representation in the curriculum or nonrepresentation, and low teacher expectations; unrealistic parental expectations for student performance; and belonging uncertainty, or students’ struggles with feeling accepted and valued within the school community. These resulting themes were also examined through a social ecology perspective, to explore how challenges in each of the various socioecological systems interact and contribute to students’ disengagement. As the author states so clearly, these students are the most direct witnesses to the barriers shaping their educational experiences and hearing their voices is crucial to understanding the complexities of school disengagement.

For the next article, we shift perspectives from those of students to those of teachers. In this scoping review, Huyen Trang Nguyen, Murooj Yusef, James Durl, Pamela Saleme, Donna Pendergast, and Timo Dietrich examine what the existing literature shows us about teachers’ insights into the implementation of school-based alcohol, vaping, and other drug (AOD) prevention programmes, including perceived enablers and barriers to implementation. Seventeen studies across seven countries that included data on teachers’ perceptions of AOD prevention programs were included in the review, with the inductive thematic analysis identifying two overarching themes in the findings. These were labelled teacher-specific outcomes and factors influencing program implementation. Teachers reported enhanced classroom environments and increased levels of their own self-efficacy following program delivery. Key facilitators for successful implementation included supportive leadership at the school-level, comprehensive training available for the teachers responsible for program delivery, and adequate resources (financial, space and support), whereas barriers included heavy workloads, limited funding, and program complexity. The authors used the findings of the scoping review to inform development of a conceptual model highlighting the interplay between teacher outcomes and implementation factors, offering a framework to guide the design, adaptation, and scaling of future school-based AOD prevention programs.

Next, Meera Varadharajan and Miriam Tanti present their qualitative document analysis of the written statements submitted by candidates enrolled in an initial teacher education (ITE) program. The program had a focus on equity, and the study addresses how the candidates’ prior personal and professional experiences (outside teaching) informed their justice orientations. Over half of the statements (67 out of 115) explicitly expressed social justice knowledge and beliefs, and approximately two-thirds of the candidates (73 out of 115) described personal or professional experiences of disadvantage or marginalisation that had shaped their justice-oriented dispositions. The authors identified the ideal of removing barriers so that all students have equitable access and can succeed as a common thread in the belief statements. They found that candidates’ knowledge of social justice encompassed more than abstract ideals but included a practical understanding that equity involves not just recognising differences but ensuring the diverse needs of students are appropriately met. The findings of this research provide crucial insights into justice-oriented dispositions shaped prior to formal teacher education, underscoring the shared responsibility of ITE providers and schools that employ new graduate teachers to meaningfully address education inequities and foster a more just and inclusive system.

Shifting our attention to what happens in classrooms, the next article by Maria Nicholas explores teachers’ behaviours during teaching lessons that were inspired by a Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR) approach. This study sought to identify the student-centred affordances of the GRR model, in which teachers aim to shift the responsibility of learning from teacher to student through “I-do,” “we-do,” “you-do” stages of instruction and to establish a baseline for evaluating the dialogic flexibility of such programs. The reading classes led by three Australian primary school teachers with 41 students across different grades (Foundation, Year 4, and Year 5/6) were recorded and transcribed, and the transcripts subjected to reflexive thematic analysis, with shifts in stages of instruction mapped. The findings highlight distinct variability in the application of modelled, shared, and guided reading, with no two lesson maps identical or following a strict “I-do, we-do, you-do” sequence of delivery. This variability is interpreted by the author as evidence that teachers adapt their micro-moves between the stages in response to student interjections and real-time needs, even when using the same instructional approach, highlighting the inherent flexibility of unscripted GRR lessons. A tool for teachers to use in monitoring their own or colleagues’ responsive practices is also presented.

The final research article for this issue addresses the important topic of the emotional labour undertaken by teachers when presenting confronting content to students – in this case, the focus was on climate change science and impacts on life on our planet. This article by Robert MacNeil presents findings of a study that investigated the views of teachers in New South Wales on students’ emotional responses to learning about climate change. Transcripts of semi-structured interviews conducted with 30 primary and secondary school teachers across the state were subjected to inductive thematic analysis, and five prominent themes were identified that revealed shared challenges and diverse strategies for handling students’ emotional responses. These include insufficient teacher training, lack of mental health resources (for students and teachers alike), curriculum limitations, institutional barriers (including timetabling, limited class periods, and a focus on measurable academic outcomes), and a strong desire for peer collaboration. The author concludes that the findings underscore the urgent need for a more nuanced, human-centred model of climate change education in Australia that addresses both scientific knowledge and emotional resilience.

This issue concludes with a review from Samantha Bugeja of The Mental Health of Our Teachers: Reimagining Another Future by Debra Phillips.

Keep reading and learning!