1. Continua of learning and development in action
The Continua of learning and development is a companion document to the Queensland kindergarten learning guideline. The continua assists teachers to make judgments about children’s learning based on their interpretations of evidence collected over time.

2. The continua of learning and development
is a companion document to the Queensland kindergarten learning guideline (QKLG)
supports teachers to make informed judgments about a child’s learning and development in the five areas:
Identity
Connectedness
Wellbeing
Active learning
Communicating
assists teachers to assess and reflect on evidence of learning to inform their decisions.
The next two slides review the key information from the Promoting continuity of learning and development slideshow provided in the Explore tab of Module 5 that participants need to be familiar with to engage with this presentation.
This presentation focuses on using the continua as part of teachers’ professional practice. It explores how teachers use the continua to make judgments about children’s learning based on their interpretations of evidence collected over time. 2

3. The continua of learning and development
In the continua, there is:
one continuum for the Identity, Connectedness, Wellbeing and Active learning areas
one continuum for each key focus in the Communicating area — language, early literacy and early numeracy
a collection of teacher-contributed examples of observable behaviours to help teachers to make consistent judgments about learning.
“Figure 3: Guide to the continua of learning and development” is on page 4 of the continua.
Note to facilitator: The Promoting continuity of learning and development slideshow includes an example of a continuum of learning and development for one learning and development area.

4. The continua of learning and development
The examples of observable behaviours:
are not for use as a checklist
do not represent the full richness of children’s learning and the range of diverse ways children may demonstrate learning
can be added to by teachers.
The examples of observable behaviours were provided by teachers. They are a resource to support teachers as they make judgments about a child’s learning based on evidence of learning collected over time.
Children demonstrate learning in many different ways. The examples provided are only a sample of possibilities. They are not intended to be used to develop “checklists” of behaviours. They do not represent the full richness of children’s learning or the range of ways that children could demonstrate learning in diverse situations. Teachers are encouraged to add their own examples based on their observations of children’s learning in their local settings.

5. The continua of learning and development
Each child’s journey along the continua may:
start at different points in each learning area
continue along different pathways.
At the end of the Kindergarten Year, individual children may demonstrate learning described in any of the phases on the continua.
Children’s learning and development is not linear. Children will enter kindergarten demonstrating learning at different points along the continua. They may demonstrate some behaviours similar to those described in more than one phase. For many reasons, a child may appear to move forward and backward along the continua, e.g. if staff members change, the child moves into a new kindergarten setting, or there are changes in the child’s family experiences. At the end of the Kindergarten Year, different children will demonstrate learning in different areas/key focuses in various phases of learning. 5

6. Using the continua
Teachers follow six steps (listed below) when using the continua to make judgments.
Review a collection of evidence of a child’s learning alongside the relevant continua
Identify whether the learning occurred in familiar or new situations
Identify the level of support the child required
Judge whether the child’s learning is more like the learning in one phase or the other
Review the examples of observable behaviours to confirm that their judgment is consistent
Record the judgment (to track learning progress).
This slide outlines the six steps teachers follow when using the continua to make consistent judgments about children’s learning and their learning progress.
The continua is a resource that assists teachers to assess children’s learning (see “Figure 2: Informed decision making” on page 18 of the QKLG ) and promote continuity of learning and development (see pp. 34–36 of the QKLG). It can be used as a resource when developing descriptions of learning for a transition statement but is not a reporting framework.

7. Using the continua
Step 1: Teachers review a collection of evidence of a child’s learning alongside the relevant continua.
The next few slides provide a step-by-step guide to using the continua.
The continua is a resource to help teachers make judgments about children’s learning based on a collection of evidence, rather than on single observations or samples. Teachers may create folders or folios (hard copy or electronic) where evidence collected over time is organised. Teachers will already have analysed and interpreted individual items (evidence) that have been placed in the folio (see Module 4) to inform teaching and learning decisions.
For example, a teacher may look at a number of observations or samples related to a child’s learning in the Active learning area. This information can be reviewed against the relevant continuum of learning and development.
Note: Some collections of evidence may relate to more than one learning area/continuum. 7

8. Using the continua
Example: The continuum relevant to the collection of evidence: Active learning
The Active learning continuum of learning and development is found on page 26 of the continua. The collected evidence may relate to one or more of the key focuses.
Note: Teachers may also find it helpful to consider the significant learnings identified for each key focus. These are outlined for each learning and development area in the QKLG, e.g. pages 54–57 contain information about the Active learning area.

9. Using the continua
Step 2: Teachers identify whether the learning occurred in familiar or new situations.
Step 3: Teachers identify the level of support the child required.
Example:
05/08/09: Scales Hui independently investigated a new resource. He placed one object at a time on each side to make the scales balance. He said, “It’s like a see-saw. One goes up. One goes down. Then I make it the same”.
In step two, teachers review the evidence to identify whether the learning occurred in familiar or new situations, and the level of support the child required. This information is important for making a judgment about the phase of learning.
This example shows the child investigated independently in a new learning situation (i.e. did not need prompting). The teacher would review the full collection of evidence to see if this example was typical of this child’s learning behaviour.
When recording observations and annotations for a child’s folio, it is helpful to include notes about the learning situation (e.g. familiar or new) and level of support (e.g. explicit, occasional, not required).

10. Using the continua
Step 4: Teachers judge whether the child’s learning is more like the learning in one phase or the other.
Example:
The teacher uses the information about the level of familiarity and support to make a judgment about the phase the child’s learning is more like.
Assuming the example is typical of the child’s current learning (as shown by reviewing the collection of evidence), the teacher can make a judgment. In this example, the learning occurred in a new situation and, as no support was needed during the investigation, the child’s learning appears to be more like that of a child in the extending phase than the exploring phase. If, however, the situation had been familiar, the teacher may have judged the child’s learning to be more like that of a child in the exploring phase.

11. Using the continua
Step 5: Teachers review the examples of observable behaviours to confirm that their judgment is consistent with those of other teachers.
Note: View the examples as a whole. The child’s learning is more like a child in the extending phase than a child in the exploring phase examples (p. 27).
To confirm the judgment, teachers can refer to the examples of observable behaviours provided. Teachers can review examples for one or more key focuses, e.g. “Active learning — Building positive dispositions and approaches toward learning” on page 27 or “Increasing confidence and involvement in learning” on page 28.
By reviewing the full list of examples, the teacher will be able to determine if the judgment made (the child’s learning is more like that of a child in the extending phase) is consistent with other teachers’ judgments. Reviewing the examples in another phase (e.g. exploring), can help teachers to feel confident about their judgment.
Note: The teacher will not find or should not seek to find examples of observable behaviours that are exactly the same as those in the collection of evidence being reviewed. Some collections of evidence may also suggest a child’s learning has characteristics of learning in more than one phase. An example of this is provided in the Wellbeing continuum (pp. 20–22). The snapshot on page 20 describes Max’s learning and the teacher’s analysis and judgment. The bold arrows on page 21 are used to indicate the observable behaviours most relevant to Max (emerging phase), while a bold arrow on page 22 indicates a related observable behaviour in the exploring phase.

12. Using the continua
Step 6: Teachers record the judgment (to track learning progress).
Collected evidence
The next two slides focus on keeping track of judgments about learning made throughout the year.
It is important for teachers to record their judgments so they can refer to them the next time they review a collection of evidence related to the same area of learning and development. Comparing past judgments to new judgments helps teachers to identify learning progress. Looking at the next phase of learning and/or reviewing intentional teaching examples provided in the learning and development areas section of the QKLG helps teachers to plan ways to support each child’s learning, e.g. see pp. 54–57 for the Active learning area.
Teachers should identify preferred ways to track their judgments of children’s learning progress.

13. Using the continua
Step 6 (cont’d): Teachers record the judgment (to track learning progress).
There are many ways to record and track judgments about children’s learning progress. This slide shows one example of an overview of a child’s learning progress. The teacher has recorded a previous judgment and is now noting a new judgment in the Active learning area. The teacher has listed the evidence that was reviewed when making the judgments and recorded a dated “point-in-time” judgment about the child’s learning progress. Documenting progressive judgments and showing links to collected evidence helps teachers to meet professional standards. For example, the following National Quality Standard (NQS) and Queensland College of Teachers (QCT) standards:
NQS 1.2.3: Each child’s learning and development is assessed as part of an ongoing cycle of planning, documenting and evaluating children’s learning.
NQS 1.2.4: Critical reflection and evaluation of children’s learning and development, both as individuals and in groups, is used as a primary source of information for planning and to improve the effectiveness of the program and teaching strategies.
QCT Standard 5: Assess and report constructively on student learning.
Note: It is important to remember that the continua is not a reporting framework. There are a variety of key focuses and significant learnings identified for each learning and development area. Therefore, it is not helpful to try to describe a child’s learning in a particular area as being in one phase or another at a particular point in time.

14. Key points: Using the continua
Teachers complete the below steps.
Review a collection of evidence of a child’s learning alongside the relevant continua
Identify whether the learning occurred in familiar or new situations
Identify the level of support the child required
Judge whether the child’s learning is more like the learning in one phase or the other
Review the examples of observable behaviours to confirm that their judgment is consistent
Record the judgment (to track learning progress).
Note to facilitators: This slide is provided as a summary and to promote conversation about using the continua.