The difference between learning trajectories and developmental milestones

Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) published the Early childhood learning trajectories: User guide for educators working in the early childhood education and care sector. The guide is designed to enhance educators’ understanding and assessment of children’s learning and development progression from birth to 5 years.

The trajectories describe learning and development in 5 key domains:

Executive functions
Social and emotional learning
Mathematical thinking
Language and communication
Physical development.

AERO’s learning trajectories differ from the developmental milestones. Developmental milestones have been used in the early childhood education and care sector for many years. They offer educators information that can support the assessment of children’s play and learning. They also inform educators’ understanding about when to seek advice if concerned about children’s learning abilities or wellbeing. 

The Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 (EYLF V2.0) suggests using developmental milestones to aid conversations with families and target professional referrals regarding children’s learning and wellbeing. However, developmental milestones may lend themselves to a tick box format due to their age based or ages¬ and¬ stages approach. This may unintentionally lead to the developmental milestones being used as a prescriptive checklist rather than a resource to guide thinking, planning and teaching.

In line with the EYLF V2.0 Practice: Assessment and evaluation for learning, development and wellbeing, educators make professional judgements about children’s learning progress, capture individual learning pathways and make learning visible to all stakeholders. This is how the learning trajectories can be beneficial to educators.

The early childhood learning trajectories are not a checklist, age based or prescriptive. Rather, they:

are designed to provide insights into children’s learning progression
recognise that children learn on a continuum and progress is not always linear
assist educators to understand children’s individual strengths and capabilities
assist educators to understand what happens next along the continuum
build shared vocabulary between educators, families and other professionals.

Questions to guide the use of learning trajectories at your service

Are there any unfamiliar words or phrases? How can I find out more about them?
How can we motivate each other to use the learning trajectories effectively in everyday practice?
How can we integrate the learning trajectories in existing documentation and assessment practices without adding to workload?