GC-DWC Receives Research Grant from USAID LASER PULSE Initiative
The University of Notre Dame’s Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child (GC-DWC) is pleased to announce the receipt of a research grant from USAID’s Long-term Assistance and Services for Research: Partners for University-Led Solutions Engine (LASER PULSE) initiative. LASER PULSE is a Purdue University-led, USAID-funded consortium that innovatively addresses critical issues in developing countries. The 21-month project—entitled Be Well, Teach Well: A Locally Defined and Participatory Approach to Measuring Teacher Well-being—is focused on better understanding and measuring teacher well-being in Uganda.
Acknowledging the critical but under-researched role of teacher well-being to supporting students’ learning and well-being, this study will engage a diverse group of teachers from settlement and non-settlement contexts in Uganda to co-create a contextually-appropriate teacher well-being measurement tool. The inclusive design of the research and learning process will allow teachers to define their own well-being and co-develop and validate a contextually appropriate tool. The work will include participation from the Ugandan Ministry of Education and Sports as well as other national and East African partners to increase awareness of teacher well-being and participatory design in the region.
Led by Dr. Nikhit D’Sa, Senior Associate Director of Research, Evaluation, and Learning at GC-DWC, the project will be implemented by a partnership that includes the University of Notre Dame, Luigi Giussani Institute of Higher Education (LGIHE), and Save the Children.
Learn more about the initiative.
The University of Notre Dame’s Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child collaborates with researchers and practitioners to ensure the wellbeing—physical, emotional, social, and cognitive—of children and adolescents in low-resource and conflict-affected settings. Using an innovative whole child development approach tailored to context-specific needs, we translate research into timely and thoughtful action, adapt research tools to improve the development of learning programs and policies, and activate systems (families, schools, communities) to ensure that children and adolescents can thrive. For further information about the teacher wellbeing research in Uganda please contact Dr. Nikhit D’Sa at ndsa@nd.edu.
LASER PULSE (Long-term Assistance and Services for Research: Partners for University-Led Solutions Engine) is a five-year, $70-million consortium funded by USAID (the United States Agency for International Development). Led by Purdue University, LASER PULSE also includes Catholic Relief Services, Indiana University, and Makerere University. LASER PULSE counts on a global network of more than 2,300 researchers and non-governmental organization (NGO) representatives in 61 countries as partners in supporting the discovery and uptake of field-sourced, evidence-based solutions to development challenges spanning all USAID technical sectors and global geographic regions.
