Kirsty Liljegren
Workshop Presenter
Kirsty has had a wealth of experience as a teacher and leader in various contexts in Australia and overseas, and was honoured to receive a national excellence in teaching award for innovative practice together with a State and Territory award for Victoria for her contribution to the early childhood sector.
Kirsty’s varied experience now inspires and informs her current work as an educational consultant, with the opportunity to run professional learning and guide teams pedagogically both nationally and internationally.
Kirsty has been a long-standing committee member of the Reggio Emilia Australia Information Exchange and proudly volunteers to support the important work of this not-for-profit organisation.
There have been many influences on Kirsty’s ever-evolving philosophy and research about teaching and learning, including Nature Pedagogy and Cultures of Thinking. The philosophy from the Reggio Emilia Educational Project has had a profound influence on Kirsty both professionally and personally, continuing to fuel a hope for children, all children to be respected, valued and understood as they all deserve to be.
Workshop Topic
Project thinking – creating meaningful contexts for children of all ages, yes, including babies!
“Early childhood programs ought to be incubators of inquiry.” – Anne Pelo
This workshop will be a window into how project work can frame a culture of inquiry, supporting educators and children as researchers to be on a joint journey of discovery. Through exploring examples from practice, we will delve into some questions that enable this work to happen successfully.
This may include:
Why do we value project work?
How do you make a start?
Is it always about children’s interests?
How do we find the time?
Where does documentation fit in?
Can you do project work with our youngest learners?
You will be inspired and influenced to give project work a go, or feel refreshed about this exciting way of working with young children, teams and families.