Gloucester Preschool director Elizabeth Price's leadership is recognised in industry awards

I was born on the Northern Beaches of Sydney and moved to Ireland when I was four due to my father's work. We lived there for seven years before returning to Sydney. I was a quiet child and felt the impact of been perceived differently from my peers due to my travelling experiences and my accent, not quite Irish and not Australian either.

What did you choose to study after school?

I started my career as an untrained assistant in a long day care service in inner Sydney before backpacking solo through Europe. I then studied a Diploma of Teaching in 1993 at the Institute of Early Childhood. My first teaching job was in a long day care service in St Ives. After six months I was promoted to director and teacher of Roseville Pre School. I discovered that I thrived in motivating other educators to bring their best to the profession and learnt to think outside the box, to use research and knowledge to drive positive change.

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What made you give up teaching and travel the world on a yacht for five years, with two young children?

Growing up in Sydney I was always connected to the water, sailing, windsurfing and swimming. My husband had spent several years cruising in the Med as a child with his parents and this inspired us to give our children the opportunity to experience a similar life style. Free to grow and learn in a natural environment without the influences of media, cultural expectation, and a consumerism society. We wanted our children to understand the privilege that living in Australia brings by seeing how others live in the world. We never set out with a timeframe or schedule. We just took each day as it came, following weather patterns and the sense of adventure. This led us to sail to more remote places and travel further and longer than we ever expected.

Homeschooling is not for everyone. Did you enjoy it?

Educating your own children is always challenging but away from formal education we had the freedom to create our own curriculum, following the children's interests and spending most of our day's free to read, explore and be socially connected to the people that we met along the way.

A decade ago you became director of Gloucester Preschool and Early Years Learning Centre. How would you describe its operations then?

The service was progressive for a rural preschool. Their philosophy matched mine, with a large natural outdoor learning environment. The children and their families were their focus, and this reflected their strong connections with the community and the importance of high quality early childhood education.

Why did you pursue nature-based learning?

Observing the proliferation of early childhood services, we are seeing a shift with the focus now more on profits over the needs of the children and the wellbeing of educators. This reflects smaller play spaces and limited or no connection to nature. Research shows that children thrive in a natural environment. Connected with nature they learn the subtleties of change, natural experimentation and research, creativity, cause and effect, to value our resources and witness firsthand the effects they can have on the environment (both positive and negative). This supports stronger emotional wellbeing and resilience.

You initiated a sustainability project book to help minimise the centre's environmental footprint. How so?

The children we educate today face an uncertain future. We can give them all the knowledge and skills to meet the demands of our schooling system, work and careers, social and emotional connections to our communities but they might be of little value if our environment can't support their daily needs, robbing them of the opportunities to experience all the benefits and wonders of the world that we have had the opportunity to experience. Our sustainability project book's aim is to explore the impact our service is having on the environment. We wanted to research and implement new practices to minimise our environmental footprint, while educating children, staff, families and communities. This is not a tick the box project but a long and continual journey to change practices and embed a new culture of mindful sustainability.

We have seen tthe likes of Greta Thunberg emerge as environmental warriors. Can today's children make a real difference in the planet's future?

We have politicians, world leaders, multibillion dollar corporations, entrepreneurs and billionaires all capable of changing the negative trajectory of our environmental destruction but they value the dollar GOD over lives and wellbeing of our planet. So, we look to our children for inspiration! The youth of today have no choice but to fight, make conscious decisions, and try to reconnect us to nature, community and the true values of life. They want to thrive in this world not fight for survival. As teachers we're in a unique position where we can inspire and drive positive change and creative thinking that will benefit whole communities not just a privileged few.

What is in the pipeline for the Centre?

Our community preschool has just purchased an additional block of land. We aim to raise funds to build an educational environment that works in one with nature, self-sustaining and can be used as a model for future educational environments for young children.

You are a finalist in the Individual Leadership category in the HESTA Early Childhood Education & Care Awards. Who has inspired you, and what sort of leader do you think you are?

Educational leaders such as Wendy Lee from New Zealand and Claire Warden from Scotland inspire me to listen to children, to see, understand and value their unique knowledge and insights of the world around them. Australian sailor Kay Cottee showed me that anything is possible if you are willing to get out of your comfort zone. Author Brené Brown taught me, "Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change." We need courage as fear and criticism will always be there, but we need to face them to realise change is possible. I'm a leader who is willing to challenge the status quo, to be a voice for those who may not have the power to be heard, to be a role model and a positive thinker.

What inspires you in a role that is so pivotal in shaping children?

Knowing that you have made a positive difference in a child's or family's life especially for those who feel marginalised by society. Teaching can give you positive connections with the whole family and one of the greatest flow-on benefits is when we have the opportunity to employ a parent through our traineeship program. Seeing the benefits that employment and a career has, providing them with a positive self-esteem and economic stability. This can lead to long lasting positive benefits to a whole family's wellbeing.

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