A Guide to Learning Trajectories in Early Childhood Education

What Are Learning Trajectories?

Learning trajectories are a research-based framework that outlines the progression of children’s development across key learning areas. They describe how children typically learn and grow in different domains and provide educators with a roadmap to support each child’s journey.

"The learning trajectories are designed for teachers and educators working in early childhood education and care (ECEC) services for children in the years before school. They can support ongoing professional learning for individuals and entire ECEC services and teams."

Developed by the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO), learning trajectories serve as a valuable tool in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) settings. They help educators design intentional and responsive learning experiences, ensuring that children’s development is nurtured effectively.

"You can use the learning trajectories in a variety of ways to strengthen your curriculum and inform your pedagogical decision-making, in line with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF, V2.0) or other approved learning frameworks used in your service. The learning trajectories also support the National Quality Standard (NQS), especially Standard 1.3: Assessment and planning. They can help your service lift quality and implement your Quality Improvement Plan."

Key Domains of Learning Trajectories

1. Executive Functions

   • Involves skills like attention, self-regulation, problem-solving, and working memory.

   • Supports children in managing emotions and achieving goals.

2. Social and Emotional Learning

   • Helps children understand and manage emotions, build relationships, and develop empathy.

   • Encourages cooperation and resilience in group settings.

3. Mathematical Thinking

   • Focuses on early numeracy, patterns, measurement, and spatial awareness.

   • Encourages problem-solving and logical reasoning.

4. Language and Communication

   • Covers speaking, listening, emergent literacy, and comprehension skills.

   • Supports foundational literacy development and engagement with books.

5. Physical Development

   • Includes gross motor (running, jumping, balance) and fine motor (grasping, cutting, writing) skills.

   • Encourages self-care routines and independence.

While single domains, they are designed to be considered in interconnected ways. For example, a single experience may support multiple domains and the progression of one domain may depend on another.

Why Learning Trajectories Matter in ECEC

• Guide educators in creating developmentally appropriate learning experiences.

• Support individualised planning that recognises each child’s unique learning pace.

• Align with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF V2.0) and National Quality Standard (NQS), particularly Standard 1.3: Assessment and Planning.

• Foster collaboration with families by offering insights into children’s growth and progress.

Learning Trajectories vs Developmental Milestones

Developmental Milestones are not the same as learning trajectories and while helpful for understanding children's play and learning and supporting educators to seek advice if concerned about children's development, they can often lead to a checklist type approach. Learning trajectories are designed to align with EYLF Practice 'Assessment and Evaluation for Learning, Development and Wellbeing, and support educators in making professional judgements to progress learning, capture individual learning and make learning visible to others.

How Learning Trajectories Link with EYLF

The learning trajectories are connected with EYLF Principles:

• Secure, respectful and reciprocal relationships

  • The learning trajectories are designed to integrate into existing practice that helps build your professional knowledge and does not involve extra documentation so your time is spent nurturing relationships.

• Partnerships and Collaborative Leadership and Teamwork

  • The trajectories provide language for discussing children's learning, development and well-being with families and other professionals.

• Respect for Diversity

  • The learning trajectories recognise children's unique ways of learning and development and looks at each child's individual strengths. Children's progress may move forward quickly, slowly, or even reverse at different times or during different contexts. The open-endedness of the trajectories considers children's community, identity and culture.

• Critical Reflection and Ongoing Professional Learning

  • The trajectories help build understanding and are designed for teams to facilitate critical reflection.

Tips for using the learning trajectories to support EYLF principles:

• Avoid using them as checklists or milestones. They are not a linear outline of children's progress.
  

• Use language from the learning trajectories in conversations with families and other professionals.

• Celebrate children's strengths and progress in culturally safe and responsive ways.

• Educational Leaders should use the language in individual and group professional learning to help guide and design collaborative learning experiences.

• Draw on learning trajectories to assist in your insights about children's learning, development and wellbeing while considering different perspectives.

The learning trajectories are connected with EYLF Practices:

• Play-Based Learning and Intentionality

  • The learning trajectories help you identify where the child's learning and development may be and provides information on how to respond intentionally with planning and interactions.

• Assessment and Evaluation for Learning, Development and Wellbeing

  • The trajectories provide language for describing and interpreting children's learning and support deeper discussions wand understandings of the child.

Tips for using the learning trajectories to support EYLF practices:

• Take 'Holistic, Integrated and Interconnected Approaches' considering the domains as interconnected and equally important.

• Use them to help you challenge each child's thinking and your 'Responsiveness to Children'.
  

• Use the learning trajectories to help guide your selection and materials to inform your 'Learning Environments'.

• Look at how 'Cultural Responsiveness' is embedded in the learning trajectory.
  

• Consider how learning trajectories can support 'Continuity of Learning and Transitions'.

The learning trajectories are connected with EYLF Planning Cycle:

• Observe

  • Consider the learning trajectories for what to observe of children's learning, development and wellbeing.

• Assess

  • Children's individual strengths and what happens next in their learning.

• Plan

  • Analyse the information, plan for, and extend for children's learning using the trajectories to thoughtfully consider the informative you've gathered.

• Implement

  • Use the suggestions for intentional teaching strategies in the learning trajectories.

• Evaluate

  • The learning trajectories assist in identifying outcomes and evaluating the success of the experience.

Tips for using the learning trajectories to support EYLF Planning Cycle:

• Begin by using one trajectory and add more to your practice as you feel more confident. As you build confidence, analyse play across multiple learning trajectories.

• Use words and ideas from learning trajectories whilst still considering individual children will show progress differently.
  

• Interpret observations and data using the learning trajectories and identify gaps to explore.

• Reflect on learning trajectories to enhance your planned experience and extend learning with consideration of the children's unique strengths and progress.
  

The learning trajectories are connected with EYLF Outcomes:

The building blocks of learning trajectories connect with learning outcomes in many ways, reflecting on the connections can strengthen understanding of EYLF V2.0.

How to Implement Learning Trajectories in Daily Practice

1. Observation & Documentation

   • Use learning trajectories as a reference when observing children’s play and interactions and record in your Individual Observation Duplicate Book.

   • Record developmental progress and identify emerging skills.

2. Planning & Programming

   • Incorporate learning trajectories into curriculum planning in your Weekly Programming and Reflection Diaries.

   • Design activities that support progression across multiple domains.

3. Reflective Practice

   • Engage in critical reflection on how learning trajectories inform pedagogy. This can be recorded under 'Professional Inquiry' in your Weekly Programming and Reflection Diaries.

   • Collaborate with colleagues to share insights and best practices.

4. Family Engagement

   • Communicate with families about their child’s learning journey.

   • Provide suggestions for extending learning at home.

   • Record these communications under 'Family Input' in your Weekly Programming and Reflection Diaries.

For more details, visit AERO’s website and explore the full Learning Trajectories User Guide.