Liesl von der Borch is an early childhood educator passionate about place-based pedagogy and advocating for children’s awareness of the First Nations language group, history, and Culture of where they live. She regards this as crucial to the future of ‘truth telling’ and reconciliation. To this end she has developed in collaboration with Kaurna Elders and educators three workshops for young children, enabling them to experience and learn, on Country, the significance of parts of the city of Adelaide and the lower foothills. She has been conducting these excursions since 2017 with overwhelming response from the children, educators and parents involved.

 

Her commitment to fostering environmental awareness in children is similarly place-based; she encourages children to take responsibility for the preservation of their immediate environments and to become aware of the impact of their daily choices on environmental sustainability and climate change. Liesl believes it is important for children to feel empowered through bearing witness to the changes they can make through small consistent actions.