BackgroundHealth attitudes and behaviours formed during childhood greatly influence adult health patterns. This paper describes the research and development protocol for a school-based health literacy program. The program, entitled HealthLit4Kids, provides teachers with the resources and supports them to explore the concept of health literacy within their school community, through classroom activities and family and community engagement.MethodsHealthLit4Kids is a sequential mixed methods design involving convenience sampling and pre and post intervention measures from multiple sources. Data sources include individual teacher health literacy knowledge, skills and experience; health literacy responsiveness of the school environment (HeLLO Tas); focus groups (parents and teachers); teacher reflections; workshop data and evaluations; and children’s health literacy artefacts and descriptions. The HealthLit4Kids protocol draws explicitly on the eight Ophelia principles: outcomes focused, equity driven, co-designed, needs-diagnostic, driven by local wisdom, sustainable, responsive, systematically applied. By influencing on two levels: (1) whole school community; and (2) individual classroom, the HealthLit4Kids program ensures a holistic approach to health literacy, raised awareness of its importance and provides a deeper exploration of health literacy in the school environment. The school-wide health literacy assessment and resultant action plan generates the annual health literacy targets for each participating school.DiscussionHealth promotion cannot be meaningfully achieved in isolation from health literacy. Whilst health promotion activities are common in the school environment, health literacy is not a familiar concept. HealthLit4Kids recognizes that a one-size fits all approach seldom works to address health literacy. Long-term health outcomes are reliant on embedded, locally owned and co-designed programs which respond to local health and health literacy needs.

Child-led research has arisen in response to changed perspectives on children’s rights and capabilities. However, questions remain about the implications of children participating in ways and for purposes designed by adults. This paper examines a child-led research project through the heuristic of dialogism to identify the perspectives and motivations of adults and children – the many ‘voices’ of the situation. Ontological conceptualisations of childhood, adult critical self-reflection, accommodation of children’s priorities and openness towards unexpected or challenging outcomes are discussed.

The choice to conduct research projects done with or by children is a political one. It reflects a standpoint that appreciates children's position as agentic beings and acknowledges their expertise. There are complex questions for academics and practitioners engaged in such research projects. This paper reports on a systematic review of peer‐reviewed research relating to children as researchers. The scope of the analysis is limited to children aged 15 and under, who were involved in at least one component of a research project. Twenty‐five published articles are included, and they demonstrate varied methods of engagement. The theoretical perspective the studies adopted may focus on one of three: (a) child‐led research, (b) children as co‐researchers, or (c) youth participatory action research. Not all studies included child researchers in all aspects of a research project, with participation influenced by the adopted theoretical perspective as well as reported barriers and challenges. This review presents the results of a systematic examination of the included papers, including approaches and methodological considerations as well as the socio‐cultural contexts within which projects are carried out. We discuss situational tensions that might inhibit the capacity of adults and children to partner in co‐creating new knowledge and developing robust ways of working together. Finally, we draw attention to three significant dimensions within the findings: the influence on the children‐as‐researchers paradigm of hierarchical structures inherent to academic institutions; the importance of engaging with specific historical, political, and social contexts; and challenges for inclusion and diversity.

Playful learning is frequently conceived in binaries: fun/hard, child/ adult, and formal/non-formal learning. The term 'playful learning' lacks a coherent definition. This is understandable given it is a multidisciplinary field of research. The article develops an extreme-comparative method to analyse a non-formal learning program, the Children's University, in Malaysia and in Australia. It reveals structural differences in implementation, attitudes to playful learning, and cultural attitudes to non-formal learning. The cases draw on in-depth interviews with service providers. Finally, the article describes a 'virtual circle' which can be used to understand playful learning in different contexts.

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