Development Education

Exploring Child Labour Through Creative Writing

 

Children in primary and post-primary schools throughout Ireland are exploring the issues surrounding Fairtrade and child labour in a special development education project co-ordinated by Poetry Ireland Writers in Schools. The project is being co-funded by Irish Aid, Trócaire and Poetry Ireland.

Under the scheme, the writer goes into a school for an 8-week residency and facilitates a weekly creative writing workshop using a variety of creative writing techniques. The students get a chance to imaginatively engage with the issues and to work creatively in a range of genres - poetry, prose, drama and improvisation. Among the projects that have resulted from these residencies are short films, a collection of short stories, songs, plays and poetry.

At the end of the project, students and teachers from all the participating schools join together for a performance of some of the work created during the residencies. Writers involved in the 2009 scheme include Joe Brennan, Seamus Cashman, Maeve Ingoldsby, Oisín McGann, Pete Mullineaux, Martina Murphy, Tommy Frank O' Connor, Larry O’ Loughlin, Nessa O' Mahony, Ger Reidy, John W Sexton and Neville Thompson.
22 schools took part in the 2009 project; they were based in Cavan, Clare, Cork, Dublin, Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Mayo, Meath and Tipperary.

Participating schools are asked to contribute €450 to the costs of the residency.

Any teacher interested in participating in the 2010 project should, in September, contact Moira Cardiff, co-ordinator of the Poetry Ireland Writers in Schools Development Education project on T 01 475 8605 E education@poetryireland.ie