Best Researcher Award
Lesley Ey
Adelaide University, Australia
Dr. Lesley Ey is an Associate Professor in the School of Education, College of Education, Behavioural and Social Sciences, at Adelaide University, Australia. Her research is child-centric and focuses on harmful sexual behaviour, the impact of sexualised media and media literacy, and bullying in early childhood [1]. She is a member of the Research in Educational and Social Inclusion concentration and an affiliate of the Australian Centre for Child Protection [2].
Abstract
This article presents an academic recognition profile for Dr. Lesley Ey, Associate Professor at Adelaide University, whose scholarly work addresses harmful sexual behaviour in educational settings, the influence of sexualised media on children, and bullying in early childhood. Indexed records report 34 documents, 325 citations and an h-index of 12, reflecting sustained contributions to educational research [1]. Her child-centric programme of inquiry informs teacher training, curriculum and national child safety policy [3].
Keywords
- Children’s problematic sexual behaviour
- Media influence and sexual development
- Bullying in early childhood
- Child protection education
- Media literacy
Introduction
Dr. Lesley Ey holds an appointment as Associate Professor in the School of Education at Adelaide University, following earlier roles at the University of South Australia. Her doctorate, conferred in 2014, examined young children’s engagement with contemporary music media and its relationship to gender role and self-identity development [2]. Her subsequent research has developed along three strands: harmful sexual behaviour, the impact of sexualised media and media literacy, and bullying in early childhood. The work is consistently child-centric and directed toward supporting children’s wellbeing through teacher education, curriculum development and policy advice [3].
Research Profile
Dr. Lesley Ey is a full member of the Research in Educational and Social Inclusion concentration and an affiliate member of the Australian Centre for Child Protection [2]. She has served on the University of South Australia Research Ethics Committee and acted as Research Ethics Advisor in Education Futures from 2021 to 2022. Her research focus spans children’s problematic and harmful sexual behaviour, online sexual exploitation, sexualised media and children’s socio-sexual development, child protection education, and bullying education in early childhood [1].
She teaches educational psychology and child protection in the Master of Teaching programmes, including Foundations for Learning and Development, Theories of Learning in Early Years, and Understanding Complexities Impacting Families and Communities in Early Years [3]. She supervises higher degree research candidates examining school-based interventions for harmful sexual behaviour, police responses to children engaging in such behaviour, and representations of child abuse in Australian media.
Research Contributions
In the field of harmful sexual behaviour, Dr. Lesley Ey’s research informs state, territory and national policy, procedure, training and curriculum. She is an executive invited member of the National Clinical Reference Group on Harmful Sexual Behaviour at the National Office for Child Safety, contributing to the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021–2030 [3]. She is also a member of the South Australian harmful sexual behaviour working group convened by the Commissioner for Children and Young People. Her work with the Department for Education has informed the Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum, the Sexual Behaviour in Children and Young People Procedure and Guideline, and the Responding to Risks of Harm, Abuse and Neglect education and care materials [1].
Her research on sexualised media and media literacy is conducted through an educative, primary-prevention lens. As a member of the American Psychological Association Division 46 Task Force on the Sexualization of Popular Music, she contributed to the 2018 task force report, an educative media literacy website, and four journal articles [4]. In bullying research, she led the co-creation of anti-bullying interventions with early childhood educators and served as lead chief investigator on studies of parents’ and teachers’ understandings of bullying among children aged four to ten [5].
Dr. Lesley Ey has attracted competitive external funding, including grants from Catholic Education Western Australia and the Daniel Morcombe Foundation, the Tasmanian Department of Communities, Westpac’s Safer Children, Safe Communities scheme, the Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation, and the Sax Institute [3]. She authored Harmful sexual behaviours in young children and pre-teens: An educational issue with Routledge and writes and reviews articles on harmful sexual behaviour for the Raising Children Network [2].
Publications
Representative peer-reviewed publications include work on young children’s understanding of internet risks, educators’ observations of problematic sexual behaviour in educational settings, and digital play in early childhood numeracy learning [4] [5] [6]. Her publication record spans journal articles, book chapters, commissioned reports and professional resources for educators and families.
Research Impact
Bibliometric indicators recorded in Scopus report 34 documents, 325 citations and an h-index of 12, while Google Scholar reports 55 documents, 794 citations and an h-index of 19 [1] [2]. Beyond citation metrics, the impact of Dr. Lesley Ey’s research is evidenced in the translation of findings into national strategy, state education department procedures, pre-service teacher accreditation requirements and public-facing guidance for parents and carers [3].
Award Suitability
Dr. Lesley Ey’s record includes the Education Futures Excellence in Research Award for Mid-Career Researcher (2022), the Research Publication Excellence Award (2020) and the Excellence in Research Award from the Research in Education and Social Inclusion concentration (2020) [3]. Earlier distinctions include the Early Career Researcher Award and Mid-Career Teacher Commendation (2018), an Honourable Mention in Education for Sustainability from OMEP, the Pro Vice Chancellor Early Career Researcher Networking Award (2015), and the Outstanding Achievements in International Engagement Award (2015) [2]. On this basis, her profile is well suited to recognition through the Top Teachers Awards, which acknowledge sustained excellence in research-informed teaching and educational impact [7].
Conclusion
Dr. Lesley Ey’s scholarly record combines a consistent child-centric research agenda with demonstrable policy, curriculum and teaching impact in Australia and internationally. Her contributions to harmful sexual behaviour education, media literacy and early childhood bullying research, together with her indexed publication and citation profile, support her nomination for the Best Researcher Award at the Top Teachers Awards [7].
External Links
References
- Elsevier. (n.d.). Scopus author details: Lesley Ey, Author ID 36998598200. Scopus.
https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=36998598200
- ORCID. (n.d.). Lesley Ey, ORCID iD 0000-0003-2983-5194. ORCID Registry.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2983-5194
- Google Scholar. (n.d.). Lesley Ey: Citations and research profile. Google Scholar.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Ej63SUsAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra
- Ey, L. A., & Cupit, C. G. (2011). Exploring young children’s understanding of risks associated with Internet usage and their concepts of management strategies. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 9(1), 53–65.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X10367471
- Ey, L. A., & McInnes, E. (2018). Educators’ observations of children’s display of problematic sexual behaviors in educational settings. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 27(1), 88–105.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10538712.2017.1349855
- Disney, L., Barnes, A., Ey, L., & Geng, G. (2019). Digital play in young children’s numeracy learning. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 44(2), 166–181.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1836939119832084
- Top Teachers Awards. (n.d.). Best Researcher Award: Award criteria and nomination information. Top Teachers.
https://topteachers.net/