| Type | Price |
|---|---|
For Members Standard Price Subsidy/Grant Applied Reduced Member Price |
$975.00 -$975.00 $0.00 |
Description
Led by Kirsty Liljegren, early years educators will explore the concept of “the environment as the third teacher” and what it truly means in practice? This one-day workshop invites educators to peel back the layers of this idea, moving beyond surface aesthetics to encounter the deeper pedagogical, relational and ethical dimensions of how environments shape learning.
Through collaborative dialogue, hands-on encounters, and reflective practice, participants will re-imagine environments not as backdrops, but as active participants in the learning process, alive with possibility, responsibility, and hope.
This is an invitation to unravel the concept of the environment as the third teacher, to discover what it asks of us as educators, and to translate these insights into everyday practice with clarity, intentionality, and creativity.
Outcomes
- How spaces embody values and beliefs about children, teaching, and learning.
- The interplay of the physical, relational, and temporal environments.
- The ways materials, design, and intentionality influence children’s agency, creativity, and well-being.
- Documentation as a lens to see how environments provoke thinking, dialogue, and meaning-making.
Presenters
Debbie Bolton (AISWA Staff)
Consultant | Early Childhood
Debbie Bolton is a dedicated and passionate educator who has spent the past 35 years in schools in Western Australia and England. She has extensive experience teaching in the early years and leading as an Early Childhood Coordinator, Deputy Head of Primary and Head of Primary. Debbie has a proven track record in curriculum development, pastoral care and staff support. She is committed to leading, demonstrating and advocating for educational excellence in the early years and beyond.
Kirsty Liljegren
Until recently, Kirsty was the teaching Director of Cornish College Early Learning Centre in Victoria where she worked for the past ten years. Many educators from around the world have visited the early learning centre as a place of provocation, innovation and inspiring practice. Kirsty was awarded 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 has been a long-standing committee member of the Reggio Emilia Australia Information Exchange (REAIE) and has undertaken two study tours to Reggio Emilia, together with visits to the Forest Schools in Denmark and the Nature Kindergartens in Scotland. 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 all children to be respected, valued and understood as they deserve to be.
Kirsty consults and lectures in a variety of contexts both nationally and internationally, with insight shared from both a practitioner’s and a leadership perspective. She is particularly passionate about the all-important question: How do we as educators enable children to flourish?
Terms & Conditions
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Segments
Unravelling the Third Teacher: Layers of Meaning in Learning Environments with Kristy Liljegren
Date / Time
11 Aug 2026 Starts: 09:00 Finishes: 15:30Delivery Format : In Person
AISWA
Address41 Walters Drive
Osborne Park WA 6017
Australia