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COVID-19 lockdowns and interruptions have necessitated large scale, immediate transitions to remote education. The influence of school and university closures on educational progress and achievement is not to be underestimated. This study contributes a New Zealand perspective to discussions and learning from these exceptional circumstances. The study focuses on findings from qualitative analysis of open-text survey responses from youth (aged 16-24). The young people were reporting on their perspectives of remote learning support during the four-week COVID-19 lockdown in New Zealand in March 2020 (n=2,014). Three overarching categories corresponding to individual support, teacher and institute communication, and affordances of online learning were identified. Appreciative approaches provided a conceptual and analytical framework for interpreting the data in terms of national policy and institute-level support, teacher support and practice, and individual youth resilience. At individual student level, it is important to develop their capabilities to learn online. Exploring Appreciative Intelligence with young people as a concept and quality could support them to identify and take positive steps to support their own learning online in challenging circumstances.

Evidence clearly indicates that the nutritional and non-nutritional environment and level of physical activity during the early-life period from preconception through infancy has a lifelong impact on the child's health. However this message must be communicated effectively to parents and other stakeholders such as grandparents, health professionals, policymakers and the wider community in order for positive change to occur. This systematic review explores how both awareness and understanding of the long-term effects of the early-life environment have been measured in various populations and whether any patterns are evident. Ten articles were retrieved via a search of Embase, Medline and Scopus databases for peer-reviewed studies designed to assess participants' knowledge of the links between early-life exposures and adult health. Eligible articles spanned a wide range of countries, population groups and research methods. Three common themes were identified using thematic analysis: 1. a tendency for researchers to conflate participant understanding of the issue (the WHY) with a knowledge of key phrases and nutrition guidelines (the WHAT); 2. bias in both researchers and participants towards short-term thinking due to difficulty conceptualising long-term risk; and 3. challenges in comprehending the complexity of the evidence resulting in oversimplification and the overemphasis of maternal factors. Taken together these findings underscore the importance of a multi-level, whole-of-society approach to communicating the evidence, with the goal of influencing policy decisions as well as building a foundation of community support for parents and prospective parents to create a healthy early-life environment for the long-term wellbeing of all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 lockdowns and interruptions have necessitated large scale, immediate transitions to remote education. The influence of school and university closures on educational progress and achievement is not to be underestimated. This study contributes a New Zealand perspective to discussions and learning from these exceptional circumstances. The study focuses on findings from qualitative analysis of open-text survey responses from youth (aged 16-24). The young people were reporting on their perspectives of remote learning support during the four-week COVID-19 lockdown in New Zealand in March 2020 (n=2,014). Three overarching categories corresponding to individual support, teacher and institute communication, and affordances of online learning were identified. Appreciative approaches provided a conceptual and analytical framework for interpreting the data in terms of national policy and institute-level support, teacher support and practice, and individual youth resilience. At individual student level, it is important to develop their capabilities to learn online. Exploring Appreciative Intelligence with young people as a concept and quality could support them to identify and take positive steps to support their own learning online in challenging circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]