ACU Researcher

Professor Christina Curry is the Head of School of Education NSW at ACU, within the Faculty of Education & Arts.

In her role at ACU, Professor Curry is committed to enhancing teacher education and fostering a collaborative environment for both staff and students.

As a notable researcher, Professor Curry specialises in health education, physical education, outdoor education and teacher education. Her extensive work in these fields has led to significant contributions, particularly through leading funded projects aimed at advancing health education.

Professor Curry was previously a Head of Department in a NSW secondary school with 13 years teaching experience.

Professor Curry is the founder and Chair of Bayside Women’s Shelter, a non-executive Director and a former Mayor and current Councillor at Bayside Council.

Select publications

Journals

Curry, C., Armour, M., Ferfolja, T., Holmes, K., Templeman, K. (2024). Young person, parent/carer, and school teachers’ understanding of periods, period pain, and endometriosis. Research Report. Penrith, NSW: Western Sydney university. DOI: 10.26183/jxtj-p619URL: https://doi.org/10.26183/jxtj-p619
Ferfolja, T., Holmes, K., Curry, C., Sherry, S., Parry, K. and Armour, M. (2024), 'What can Australian schools do better?: supporting students during menstruation', Australian Educational Researcher, vol 51, no 2, pp 497 - 514.

Curry, C., Ferfolja, T., Holmes, K., Parry, K., Sherry, M. and Armour, M. (2023), 'Menstrual health education in Australian schools', Curriculum Studies in Health and Physical Education, vol 14, no 2, pp 223 - 236.

English, M., Canuto, K., Schulenkorf, N., Evans, J., Curry, C., Slater, C. and Caperchione, C. (2023), 'Co-designing a health promotion program for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls lessons learnt', Health Promotion International, vol 38, no 2 , pp 1 - 14.

Sun, W., Han, J., Curry, C. and Carroll, K. (2023), 'Pedagogy in teaching through English medium instruction: academics' cases in a Chinese university', Sustainability, vol 15, no 14.

Mann, J., Gray, T., Truong, S., Brymer, E., Passy, R., Ho, S., Sahlberg, P., Ward, K., Bentsen, P., Curry, C. and Cowper, R. (2022), 'Getting out of the classroom and into nature: a systematic review of nature-specific outdoor learning on school children's learning and development', Frontiers in Public Health, vol 10.

Armour, M., Parry, K., Curry, C., Ferfolja, T., Parker, M., Farooqi, T., MacMillan, F., Smith, C. and Holmes, K. (2022), 'Evaluation of a web-based resource to improve menstrual health literacy and self-management in young women', Journal of Psychosomatic Research, vol 162.

English, M., Canuto, K., Schulenkorf, N., Evans, J., Curry, C., Rosenbaum, S. and Caperchione, C. (2022), 'Community participation in the design and development of a physical activity and psychosocial program for Indigenous girls: processes, experiences and lessons learnt', Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, vol 25, no Suppl. 2, pp 8 - 9.

Armour, M., Hyman, M. S., Al-Dabbas, M., Parry, K., Ferfolja, T., Curry, C., & Holmes, K. (2021). Menstrual health literacy and management strategies in young women in Australia: a national online survey of young women aged 13-25 years. Journal of pediatric and adolescent gynecology, 34(2), 135-143.

Holmes, K., Curry, C., Sherry, Ferfolja, T., Parry, K., Smith, C., & Armour, M. (2021). Adolescent menstrual health literacy in low, middle and high-income countries: a narrative review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(5), 2260.

Abraham, J., Ferfolja, T., Sickel, A., Power, A., Curry, C., Fraser, D., & MacKay, K. (2021). Development and validation of a scale to explore pre-service teachers' sense of preparedness, engagement and self-efficacy in classroom teaching. Australian Journal of Teacher Education (Online), 46(1), 1-23.

Armour, M., Parry, K., Curry, C., Ferfolja, T., Parker, M., Farooqi, T., & Holmes, K. (2021). Using an online intervention to improve menstrual health literacy and self-management in young women: a pilot study.

Armour, M., Ferfolja, T., Curry, C., Hyman, M. S., Parry, K., Chalmers, K. J., & Holmes, K. (2020). The prevalence and educational impact of pelvic and menstrual pain in Australia: a national online survey of 4202 young women aged 13-25 years. Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, 33(5), 511-518.

Yager, Z., Gray, T., Curry, C., & McLean, S. A. (2020). Pre-service teachers’ gendered attitudes towards role modelling in health and physical education. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 25(1), 67-78.

Cole, D. R., H. Parada, R., Gray, T., & Curry, C. (2020). Learning attribution in the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award (DoEIA). Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 20(1), 49-67.

Armour, M., Parry, K., Manohar, N., Holmes, K., Ferfolja, T., Curry, C., & Smith, C. A. (2019). The prevalence and academic impact of dysmenorrhea in 21,573 young women: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of women's health, 28(8), 1161-1171.

Armour, M., Parry, K., Al-Dabbas, M. A., Curry, C., Holmes, K., MacMillan, F., & Smith, C. A. (2019). Self-care strategies and sources of knowledge on menstruation in 12,526 young women with dysmenorrhea: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PloS one, 14(7), e0220103.

Edited Book

Light, R. L., & Curry, C. (2021). Game sense for coaching and teaching. Routledge.

Book Chapters

Light, R. L., & Curry, C. (2023). Learning to Teach Game Sense: A Bottom-Up Approach. In Teaching Games and Sport for Understanding (pp. 40-47). Routledge.

Curry, C., & Light, R. L. (2021). Implementing TGfU in an Australian Independent School: An Affective Journey. In Game Sense for Teaching and Coaching International Perspectives (pp. 177-186). Routledge.

Curry, C., & Pill, S. (2021). Concluding Thoughts: Game Sense for Teaching and Coaching Globally. In Game Sense for Teaching and Coaching (pp. 223-228). Routledge.

Curry, C. (2020). Providing Positive Experiences of Learning in Girls’ Soccer (Football). In Applied Positive Pedagogy in Sport Coaching (pp. 74-81). Routledge.

Jarrett, K., Waddell, K., Curry, C., Smith, R. T., MacGregor, G., & Hawkes, J. (2020). Leadership in the public and third sectors. In The Practice of Leadership in Higher Education (pp. 166-182). Routledge.

Reports

Gannon, S., Carroll, K., Curry, C., Jacobs, R., Mackenzie, E., & Dove, J. (2023). Writing in Secondary Academic Partners. Writing_in_Secondary_Academic_Partners.pdf

Cooper, H., Ullman, J., Curry, C., & Gray, T. (2023). Assessing the Impact of the Vision Valley Outdoor Education Pilot Initiative at Pymble Ladies' College. Western Sydney University. https://doi.org/10.26183/a33h-sr84

Curry, M. Sommer & J.E. Girling (2022) Frontiers in Global Women’s Health: Global menstrual Health Literacy Special Edition. https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/21653/global-menstrual-health-literacy (25K total views and downloads)

Awards

• NSW Local Government Ministers’ Award for Women in Local Government (2022)
• Winner of Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President, Research, Enterprise and International Award. Excellence in Research Interdisciplinary, Group Award. Western Sydney University (2021)
• VC Learning and Teaching Award, Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning. Western Sydney University (2014)

Appointments and affiliations

• 1996-Current NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) Accredited Secondary Teacher 
• 2010-Current Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER) Former National Board Member (2017-2019)