Project Description
BUDDIES – Building BriDges, DimInishing Educational Disadvantage – aimed to explore the role and value of Parent Officers (POs) and Home School Community Liaisons (HSCL) in reducing educational underachievement in schools across Ireland. Funded by the Share Island – SCoTENS partnership, it aimed to understand the role and potential of the HSCL/Parent’s Officer from a policy and research perspective.
It was principally a qualitative study setting out to understand the ‘lived reality’ of the HSCL/Parent Officer more fully in practice. The BUDDIES study had three core aims:
- Explore the implementation and administration of HSCL/Parent Officer across the island of Ireland.
- Gather evidence on how HSCLs/P.Os operate in practice and how they are perceived by a range of stakeholders.
- Inform policy & practice for both pre-service and in-service teacher education.
Research Team
The research was a joint MIE/UCD/Stranmillis University project, led by Dr Cliodhna Martin (MIE) and Dr Glenda Walshe (Stranmillis). It was supported by an International Research Advisory Team, Teaching Council advisors, research assistants and a team of field researchers from across MIE, UCD and TCD.
Funder
Share Island – SCoTENS partnership
Outputs
The Final report of the BUDDIES project is available here: https://scotens.org/site/wp-content/uploads/BUDDIES-Report.pdf