Building community engagement and teacher support in education: qualitative findings from process evaluations in two exceptional settings

ABSTRACT

This paper presents findings from a qualitative evaluation of Caritas’ Essence of Learning programme, which provides educational and psychosocial support to children in exceptional living situations. We analyse approaches to community and teacher engagement for: (1) a pilot programme in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh and (2) an established, government-partnered programme serving Roma children in Satu Mare, Romania. The results indicate that ongoing community engagement is a necessary condition. Moreover, local ownership and continuous staff mentorship are key to programme quality. The paper discusses practical approaches to community engagement and how findings can be applied to emergency education.

KEYWORDS:

• Education
• refugee
• teacher training / mentorship
• qualitative
• community engagement

Acknowledgments

Caritas Switzerland’s Essence of Learning (EoL) programme was developed by Caritas Switzerland and led by educational expert Beatrice Rutishauser-Ramm in collaboration with Caritas’ implementation partners. Our thanks go first and foremost to the staff, parents, community leaders, and educators in Romania and Bangladesh who delivered, took part in, or supported the programme and shared their feedback and experiences with us. The data collection would not have been possible without the excellent support and collaboration of the staff of Caritas Bangladesh and Caritas Romania. We also gratefully acknowledge Caritas Luxembourg – the main founder of the EoL programme in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh and the Department for International Development, UNICEF, and UNHCR for the opportunity to carry out this study and for the financial and technical support provided under the Humanitarian Education Accelerator.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Founded by the Swiss Government’s Cohesion Fund for New European Union member states.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the DFID [43208424].

Notes on contributors

Andrea Coombes

Andrea Coombes is a Senior Researcher at the American Institutes for Research, where she co-led the qualitative research under the Humanitarian Education Accelerator. She has more than ten years of experience in the design and implementation of mixed-methods evaluations, action research, and process evaluations of education and protection programmes in conflict and crisis settings.

Oriana Ponta

Oriana Ponta is a faculty member at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, specialising in International Development, Education and Impact Evaluation. At Caritas Switzerland, she served as a senior advisor guiding the implementation of the Humanitarian Education Accelerator programme and their institutional MEL strategy. She has over ten years of experience in evidence-based programming in both academic and development/humanitarian settings.