What is Home: Education? 

Home: Education is a way of introducing students to the reality of Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes through the experiences of those affected. The materials are based on a collection of testimonies by women who survived these institutions, as well as their children, partners, and official records. 

Home: Education is made up of an online film, along with a back-up Teacher’s Resource Pack and PowerPoint presentation. The educational material will be available to schools from December so teachers can prepare for the film which can be viewed by registered schools January through April 2024. 

Developed in a Local Secondary School 

Home: Education is adapted from Home: Part One, a longer filmed theatre performance, that the Abbey broadcast during the pandemic. From March to May 2021 the Abbey Theatre’s Community and Education department worked with teachers and Transition Year students at Larkin Community College in Dublin. We explored ways to engage young people with Home: Part One.  

Home: Education condenses this work so it can be accessed by schools. It takes 12 representative extracts which can be viewed separately or as a whole. The Teacher’s Resource Pack and the PowerPoint presentation resources created by Larkin teachers (Michelle Fallon, Johanna Higgins and Roisin Sweeney) with additional material from the Abbey’s Community and Education team (Phil Kingston, Grace McKiernan and Austin Holt).  

The aim is to prepare the young people for the challenging stories they are going to hear by explaining both the context in which they occurred and how the medium of the arts helps us explore our traumatic history. 

Home: Education has been created to support an existing interest amongst History students about this important moment in contemporary Ireland. The work can also be used for English and Drama. 

Based on Home: Part One 

In January 2021 the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes published its report. It asserted that, over 76 years from 1922 to 1998, some 56,000 mothers and 57,000 children were kept in the 14 Mother and Baby Institutions and four County Homes it examined.  

Many of those who had testified to the Commission felt their words had not been used respectfully or accurately. Home: Part One was a direct response to this and gave survivors direct control over how their words were used.  

Accessing Home: Education  

Aimed at ages 13+ pupils, each school will have access to Home: Education, the 35 minute film containing 12 testimonies and other excerpts. They will also receive a link to a downloadable Teacher’s Pack and PowerPoint presentation that cover topics and issues raised in the film. 

In order to receive the materials for Home: Education please register your interest by filling out the form here.

The resources will be shared with all who have registered from December and the film will be available from January and until April 2024.  

#HomeEd 

To find out more please contact our Community & Education Team at HomeEd@abbeytheatre.ie. 

School Resources 

Each school will have access to:  

• Home: Education – the 35-minute film containing 12 testimonies and other excerpts. 
• Teacher’s Resource Pack – gives an overview of the materials with photocopiable sheets and suggested approaches. 
• PowerPoint Presentation – designed with teachers to support teaching social and political context and reflection on artistic approaches.