The phenomenon of the Covid-19 lockdown in New Zealand during 2020 enabled two Higher Education (HE) lecturers to reflect on grappling with new technologies, changes in lifestyle and livelihoods, and the impact that social isolation had on Bachelor of Sport and Recreation (BSR) students as they shifted to emergency “remote” teaching and learning. This paper presents personal narratives, authored collaboratively by lecturers Anna and Hana (pseudonyms), engaging with a socio-ecological systems framework. The systems framework presents a layered, multi-faceted approach to reveal the complexity of the impacts of Covid-19 on HE teaching and learning. In-depth analysis of the microsystems, mesosystems, and macrosystems making up their systems framework, serve to highlight specifically how Anna and Hana interpreted their own and their university students’ responses to the unprecedented measures imposed on their lifestyle (home), livelihood (employment), and HE experience (online learning). By applying an autoethnographic methodology, this paper acknowledges and celebrates the lecturers’ subjectivity, emotionality, and influence on the presented research. As educators, their critical self-reflections are authentic and timely, expressing key concerns and considerations, while searching for optimal solutions to deliver equal and equitable learning opportunities for all students. A unique characteristic of this phenomenon was the inability (due to COVID-19 restrictions) of students who learn through practical contexts, to enact kinesthetically in a meaningful manner, and the subsequent implications on their learning. This paper presents a snippet of the lecturers’ reflective practice, co-constructed from recollections, memories, and anecdotal evidence, against a backdrop of current Covid-19 research on the effects of the pandemic, on teaching and learning globally. Whilst this paper sheds light on the experiences of two HE lecturers during the COVID-19 lockdown, a collection and analysis of “student” voice, is recommended. This paper concludes that a collaborative autoethnographic approach during exceptional circumstances, such as natural disasters, pandemics, and other disruptive situations, provides an opportunity for professional self-observation and self-reflective practice that is mutually beneficial, and empowering. These insights provide shared critical knowledge to sustain achievement while averting negative impacts, for students and lecturers alike.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of generalist school teachers delivering curriculum connected high-intensity interval training in a school’s physical education class time. Method: Two schools volunteered to participate. A total of 84 students (11.9 [0.5] y, M = 64 and F = 19) volunteered to participate. Four classes from 2 schools were randomized to either intervention (n = 53) or control (n = 31) for one school term (8 wk). Intervention class teachers participated in a 1-day workshop instructing them how to deliver twice weekly, high-intensity interval training sessions. The control classes continued with their usual physical education curriculum. Recruitment, intervention fidelity, and program satisfaction were assessed. Preliminary efficacy (primary outcome cardiorespiratory fitness) was quantified using generalized linear mixed models, expressed as effect size. A range of secondary outcomes was also assessed. Results: The recruitment rate was 88%. About 84% of the sessions were delivered. The heart rate peak over all sessions was 89.6% (13%) of the predicted maximum. The intervention teachers reported high levels of satisfaction. Almost all student participants were positive about participating. No adverse events occurred. The adjusted between-group difference for cardiorespiratory fitness was trivial (effect size 0.02). Conclusions: This teacher-delivered high-intensity interval training program was feasible and acceptable to both teachers and student participants. It is therefore potentially scalable.

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Objectives:We investigated the efficacy of teacher-delivered high-intensity interval training (HIIT) with Indigenous narrative options on the mental health of school students in low-mid socioeconomic areas, compared to standard curriculum physical education practice. Methods: A cluster-randomised controlled trial was conducted in eight schools (N=368, age range 11-13 years) over 16 weeks. The primary outcome was the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) score. Generalised linear mixed models, controlling for the SDQ at baseline were applied, expressed as β, 95% confidence intervals, standardised effect, and p-value. Focus groups elicited experiences with participating in and delivering the intervention.Results: There were no clear effects for SDQ total score (β -0.15, CI -0.98 -0.67, SE 0.42, p=0.714). Teachers did not deliver the Indigenous narrative options consistently owing to the perceived preparation needed and lack of confidence.Conclusions: HIIT delivered in this manner had no effect on self-perceived psychological difficulty or mental wellbeing in a cohort of young adolescents.Implications for public health: Future research should continue to explore opportunities to improve mental wellbeing via physical activity, but HIIT should not be implemented as a universal intervention for mental health gains alone. Teachers need more support to utilise Indigenous narratives as part of HIIT delivery.