Addressing the needs of marginalised young people through school-based catch-up interventions during COVID-19: A case study from Ireland

Abstract

In 2020, schools worldwide closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost one million young people and children were impacted in Ireland, with those from ‘marginalised’ backgrounds being especially vulnerable due to pre-existing inequalities. The Crisis Coping for Marginalised Young People: Living and Learning through COVID- 19 project aimed to explore youth pandemic life and learning experiences and to support the needs of, particularly marginalised, young people, culminating in the implementation of supports for students in schools. Here, we present a praxeological account of the benefits and challenges associated with our novel methodology which involved working ‘through’ 14 final-year student teachers’ practitioner research projects in their designated disadvantaged or socio-demographically diverse placement schools (11) across six counties in the Republic of Ireland, involving 269 students. Supervised closely by the lead researchers, the teacher-researchers conducted empirical research in their schools (involving questionnaires with students and interviews with Principals) to inform the design of academic, social and mixed school-based interventions which were subsequently implemented and evaluated. The empirical findings pointed to young people’s concerns about social isolation, the stability of friendships and having fallen behind academically, and Principals’ concerns about supporting those from marginalised backgrounds and about creating a safe and happy environment upon return to in-person school. In this paper, we highlight our significantly improved understanding of the COVID-related experiences of young people from marginalised backgrounds but point to the uncertain effectiveness of the interventions for improving their educational readjustment. Further, we critically interrogate the challenges encountered which constrained the lead researchers’ and teacher-researchers’ actions.