International Education Research Initiative

Throughout the world, faith-based institutions support parents, local communities, and governmental actors in the task of educating children for future generations. Faith-based education is a pivotal vehicle for integral human development in many of the world’s most vulnerable regions – whether due to poverty, war, or oppression – and offers new opportunities for young people to shape their own futures. 

Despite their near-ubiquitous presence as providers of education internationally, the contributions of faith-based schools often go unnoticed by international organizations. Consequently, research on - and learnings from – this sector have lain fallow. This applies equally to the diverse and complex policy landscapes from country-to-country that govern faith-based educational institutions as it does to educational innovations that positively contribute to teaching and learning.   

Faith-based schools offer promise for advancing the reach and impact of education, a key driver for fostering integral human development. To help realize this promise, the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Educational Initiatives and Kellogg Institute for International Studies have jointly established this ambitious, multidisciplinary research program of research that aims to study, strengthen, and share the contributions of faith-based education internationally.