Now is an exciting time to be researching on the theme of childhood and youth. Across diverse fields such as history, literature, law, education and the sciences, there is a wealth of new research underway by PhD students, senior scholars and independent researchers alike. For Culture Night this year the Museum of Childhood Ireland will release a pre-recorded video project in which experts across a range of disciplines share their thoughts on where the future of research into childhood and youth lies.
What exciting developments lie ahead? What challenges are we likely to face? What can this research bring to society? Why does this work matter?
Contains references to adult themes. Recommended for 15+
Join the museum’s History team member Lorraine McEvoy, team members, and researchers for interesting insights on the topic!
Featured Researchers
•Professor Emer Ring, Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick
•Dr Suzanne O’Keeffe, MoCI and Maynooth University
•Luca Ka-lo Yau, Trinity College Dublin
•Dr Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, MoCI and University of Wrocław
•Sandy Calleja Portelli, University of Malta
•Ausilia Venturella, Teacher kindergarten IC Quasimodo-Tortorelle, Agrigento-Italy (contribution in Italian. Transcript by speaker available at bottom of this page)
•Gabriela Portillo, MoCI and Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick
•Dr Michelle Downes, University College Dublin
•Toby Constien, University College Dublin
•Abby O’Connell, University College Dublin
•Professor Imelda Coyne, Trinity College Dublin
Genres: Heritage (Tangible | Intangible), History, Multidisciplinary, Ages 15+
Find the online project link below on our Youtube channel:
To contact Lorraine McEvoy please email emcevoy@museumofchildhood.ie
Transcript by Ausilia Venturella
Greetings. I am Ausilia Venturella and I am speaking to you from Agrigento, in Sicily, in Italy. I am a nursery school teacher and for some time I have been dealing with training and issues related to childhood, the changes taking place, its transformations and prospects to be put in place to facilitate their development.
A moment that can be considered a watershed was Covid, a moment in which we had to invent new ways of communicating, being together and doing school and to stimulate children’s creativity, in fact it was precisely in this period that we began to collaborate… the school where I teach with the Museum of Childhood Ireland, exchanging activities during Covid and in the following years important initiatives, ideas, very useful projects for the development and growth of children. Our interventions and exchanges took place in various fields… from the social, because it is important to stimulate from an early age the problems and challenges that the world has to face, also through concrete initiatives and actions, such as participation in the EWWR, the European week for waste reduction, another important field in which to intervene are actions to stimulate creativity…stimulating children to express themselves, in the ways in which each is capable… makes them safer and is more fundamental today than ever, let’s not forget that we are in the digital age and therefore little space remains for free thought…
The field of literature is also an important sector, indeed we are witnessing a great awakening of children’s literature, but we at Tortorelle nursery school and the Museum of Childhood Ireland have managed to bring Dante and Joyce together, exchanging activities on both authors, through an original project developed and created by several hands, the project involved different age groups.
A school that wants to be attentive to the new generations must also renew itself through new languages and new contents, with techniques and methodologies in continuous transformation and the exchange of initiatives and ideas with partners from all over the world… it is certainly a challenge, but with great, great results… we did it.
I want to close this talk with one of the languages we use: that of art, even with such young children. The image shows our visit to a museum… where we sent the children to “LOOK BEYOND”
Thanks for your attention
Greetings from Agrigento and Ausilia
Ausilia Venturella
Teacher kindergarten IC Quasimodo- Tortorelle Agrigento- Italy”