Rethinking school and system boundaries: Co-designing a Continuity of Learning Framework, Birth to Year 12

Education systems often divide learning into specific chronological stages, such as early childhood, primary or elementary and the secondary years of schooling.  Mirroring these stages, pre-service teacher preparation and in-service professional learning also tend to focus on a specific period of a child/young person’s development. Yet, in more recent times, governments and educational researchers have identified continuity of learning across the years of education as a core construct that supports quality of educational outcomes for diverse learners (Masters, 2005). While continuous engagement in education is known to significantly impact life opportunities for young people, in many communities a lack of continuity of learning continues to have a profound impact on learners’ pathways and their future employment choices.



This paper reports on an extensive 3-year project undertaken in collaboration with the Northern Territory Government, to design a Continuity of Learning Framework (CoLF) from Birth-Year 12. The iterative design of the CoLF during 2021-2023 involved a co-design process with a range of stakeholders, including educators from various educational levels and leaders. This process was guided by evidence-based methodologies, literature reviews, policy analysis, surveys, interviews, and feedback sessions. The overarching goal was to create a practical and unified framework that supported interconnected educational experiences, necessitating a focus on prioritization at the system, setting, and individual levels. The seven key dimensions of CoLF with Learner Identity and Engagement at the centre, prioritize coherence, connection, and smooth transitions to facilitate continuity of learning within the Northern Territory and the interrelated core and enabling dimensions represented by the concentric circles around the learner.



The presenter will share the framework, its core and enabling dimensions that are intended to support a learner’s engaged and connected learning experience, and the co-designed audit tools and templates that assist early childhood and school leaders and teachers to plan for and assess the consistency of a child’s coherent learning journey from Birth through to year 12.  Drawing on case studies from the pilot undertaken in 2022, the paper will share: 1. the impact of this research on conceptualisations of partnerships between government, school systems and universities; 2. insights regarding the role and nature of professional learning required to support this initiative; and 3. the multidimensional nature of project implementation impacting on system change to support diverse learners.