Owlet: Lullabies of the world
71 early childhood settings caring for babies and young children aged from birth to 2 years old in South Dublin have received the gift of an illustrated children’s book of lullabies in a variety of world languages as part of a new initiative called OWLET: Lullabies of the World.
Early Childhood Ireland is in charge of the project, and Mother Tongue is delivering it.
Early Childhood Ireland is proud and grateful to have been supported by the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal in association with the Community Foundation Ireland.
OWLET: Lullabies of the World responds to the needs of babies and young children in an ever-changing Ireland in which multilingualism is the norm.
According to Census 2022, almost 300,000 people in Dublin speak a language other than Irish or English at home.
The books form part of a trio of materials designed to foster inclusivity in Early Years, including an accompanying publicly available playlist and an interactive e-resource which has been specifically tailored to empower Early Years educators across the country to deliver high-quality care for young children.
The beautifully designed board books feature 10 lullabies uniquely represented through illustrations in languages as diverse as Irish, Setswana, Hindi, Romanian, Creole, Polish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Brazilian Portuguese, and Spanish.
Parents and educators are encouraged to share the experience of listening to the lullabies, sung by professional singers in their native language, with young children at home or in Early Years settings by accessing the accompanying playlist available on Early Childhood Ireland’s website.
This week, we sat down with the CEO of Early Childhood Ireland Teresa Heeney to discuss the initiative.
I understand this initiative responds to the needs of young children in a country where multilingualism has become the norm in recent years. Can you tell us more about that?
Ireland has changed a lot demographically over the last two decades, and multilingualism has become the norm across the country.
Our members have told us that there is a need for educators to have access to more resources that support inclusion and multilingualism in early childhood settings.
The most recent Census shows us that there are three-quarters of a million people who speak a language other than Irish or English at home, almost 300,000 of whom live in Dublin.
Children also hear a multitude of different languages spoken in different settings in Ireland.
When an educational environment is responsive to children, their language, culture, and family, they can develop a positive sense of self-esteem and confidence about who they are and their place in the world.
These resources will give Early Years educators in our member settings the tools they need to continue delivering high-quality experiences to babies and young children from diverse backgrounds and enable them to benefit from positive learning outcomes connected to lullabies, such as better-quality sleep, emotional regulation, and cognitive development.
Have there been any particular highlights/challenges involved in the preparation process?
Throughout the entire OWLET project, it has been very inspiring to collaborate with so many individuals who are passionate about multilingualism.
Everyone we have spoken to and interacted with has agreed on the benefits of promoting different languages in our communities, particularly how this can help young children grow up confident in who they are and create an inclusive environment for them to thrive.
In terms of challenges, it was certainly not easy to select the languages for the lullaby collection, as there was an abundance of choice with people generously donating their time and talent.
How long has this initiative been in the works?
In 2023, Early Childhood Ireland and Mother Tongues partnered to design and develop the OWL project (Our World of Languages), which was a small-scale, evidence-based, and arts-based storytelling project.
This successful pilot led to strategies for strengthening linguistically responsive pedagogy in preschool settings.
However, we recognised that younger children, especially those under 2 years of age, were not always included in the research.
We wanted to recognise their potential for learning languages, so late last year, we began to design OWLET: Lullabies of the World, focusing on children under 2 years of age and promoting linguistic diversity and their sense of identity through lullabies.
Does Early Childhood Ireland have any plans for the rest of the year?
We are about to launch another fantastic new initiative called Eco-Emotions.
It’s a lovely project made possible through funds raised on National Pyjama Day 2023 and is designed to empower children to care for themselves, their communities, and the planet.
With a general election due at the latest early next year, we are also busy preparing our policy recommendations for this government’s final budget, which we hope will include a coherent plan to implement a new investment target for the Early Years and School Age Care sectors.
This would be hugely beneficial to the parents, providers, staff, and, most importantly, the 330,000 children who attend settings.
And of course, we’re starting to plan for National Pyjama Day 2024.
It never stops at Early Childhood Ireland!
Who is to thank for helping Early Childhood Ireland make this possible?
This project is a collaboration between us and Mother Tongues, a social enterprise working to promote multilingualism and intercultural dialogue in Ireland, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal and the Community Foundation Ireland.
We’d also like to give a special mention to the ten singers for their wonderful renditions of the lullabies that were recorded right here in Tallaght’s Rua Red Centre.