We were honoured to present at the DICE Conference this week in a session titled ‘Traveller Voices in Irish Education’. Our Creative Director Jo Holmwood and Assosciate Writer Mary Branley spoke about Kids’ Own’s historic and pioneering work–over 20 years–developing books and resources with Traveller children and communities, which started with Charlie Barley in 2001.

We were part of a panel of speakers including Teacher Activist Annemarie Collins who has produced a Travelling Community Resource that aims to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of Traveller Culture and Heritage; Traveller Activist Kathleen Murphy and Miriam Colum, Lecturer at MIE. The panel discussion was chaired by Dr. Barbara O’Toole, Senior Lecturer in Education, MIE.

Jo gave an overview of our organisation – our vision, mission, ethos; the range of our work in different contexts with a focus on collaboration and the child’s voice. Mary then spoke more specifically about the publications in the ‘Unheard Voices’ series which include Can’t Lose Cant, Cant Turn Back and others. They also spoke about Our Lives, Our Voices, a current creative project with children from Traveller and Roma communities in Cork.

DICE is a collaborative Development and Inter-Cultural Education project for initial teacher training in Marino IoE, Mary I. College, Maynooth University & DCU. Their programme included a number of guest speakers, teacher educators and experienced practitioners who provided a platform for meaningful discussions on GCE in our current context with reference to the Céim Standards and the new Irish Aid Global Citizenship Education strategy.