QKLG 2024

Connectedness: Learning and development area (QKLG 2024)

Children are developing a sense of connectedness to their world. This connectedness helps them relate to the values, traditions and practices of their families, kindergartens and communities and the wider world.

Children learn about the connectedness of the three dimensions of sustainability (environmental, social and economic) and how they can actively care for and participate in the world. Children are active and participatory inquirers and learn to be citizens as they interact with others and think about their world.

Children who are connected to their world are building respectful relationships, showing respect for diversity and developing effective communication and collaboration skills. Empathy and fairness are fostered as children learn to navigate social rules and engage in turn-taking and conflict resolution to show care and consideration for the perspectives, rights and feelings of others.

Children are developing an understanding of Aboriginal peoples’ and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ ways of knowing and being and the importance of connection to Country.

Kindergarten children who are connecting with and contributing to their world are:

building positive relationships
showing respect for diversity
showing respect for environments.

Critically reflecting on Connectedness, teachers and educators may consider:

how children experience and practise relationship-building
how cultural responsiveness is embedded in teacher practice
how environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainability are connected and what these look like in context.

Key focuses

Significant learnings	Emerging phase in familiar situations with explicit support	Exploring phase in familiar situations with occasional support	Extending phase in new situations with occasional prompting
engages with others	comfortably plays alongside others e.g. focuses on digging a tunnel in the sandpit and with consistent adult reassurance shows they are comfortable with other children digging nearby	interacts with others e.g. invites peers to join in digging a tunnel and gives directions on what to do. With adult assistance, adjusts plans to incorporate peer ideas in creating a tunnel	engages in interactions for a shared purpose e.g. plans play with peers and negotiates ways of working to create a tunnel with occasional prompting
develops skills in cooperating, sharing and turn-taking	follows directions and cues to share and take turns e.g. follows adult direction and copies modelling to share and take turns	attempts to share and take turns to work with others e.g. uses an adult-suggested strategy such as ‘first and then’ to negotiate sharing	cooperates, shares and takes turns in interactions e.g. recalls and uses modelled strategies to alternate turns in a group situation with unfamiliar people, with a reminder
responds to others with care and concern	begins to notice the feelings of others e.g. notices when a peer is feeling sad with adult modelling and follows a suggestion to help	attempts to show concern and care for others e.g. recognises the feelings of peers and is willing to help, with guidance	shows concern and care for others e.g. recognises when a peer needs help and with prompting takes action to help
builds awareness of rights and fairness	begins to show awareness of their rights and being fair e.g. when playing with all the dinosaur toys, responds to adult scaffolding to consider the right of others to play with the toys as well	attempts to respond fairly in everyday situations by considering the rights of others e.g. follows adult suggestions to consider ways others can also use the dinosaur toys and be included in play	shows awareness of the rights of others and attempts to resolve unfair behaviours e.g. suggests how each person can be included in play with the dinosaur toys when prompted to think about fair behaviours
understands responsibilities	carries out everyday responsibilities with guidance e.g. tidies the construction area in response to adult modelling	considers responsibilities e.g. thinks about materials they need for construction and tidies what they do not need, with reminders	understands responsibilities e.g. moves their block construction out of the walkway after a prompt to consider space and safety

Intentional teaching strategies to promote learning include:

modelling and explaining cooperation skills, providing learning opportunities for children to practise these in play and purposeful interactions
scaffolding a problem-solving approach to enable children to collaborate and resolve conflicts
identifying and modelling children’s rights and responsibilities in everyday situations
negotiating with children in situations that arise around fairness and the rights of others
modelling and explaining empathy through storytelling and picture books to build children’s understanding of emotions, diverse capabilities,
perspectives and ways of learning.

Significant learnings	Emerging phase in familiar situations with explicit support	Exploring phase in familiar situations with occasional support	Extending phase in new situations with occasional prompting
shows respect for others	notices how people may be similar to or different from themselves e.g. pays attention to adult direction to notice the gestures, sign language or words peers use to say hello	explores similarities and differences between people e.g. recognises that peers say hello in different ways using gestures, sign language or words and attempts to use these to greet peers with support from an adult	recognises and respects similarities and differences between people e.g. recognises and uses modelled gestures, sign language or words that others use to communicate hello and, with prompting, makes connections to how they say hello
develops awareness of stereotypes	pays attention to adult-led interactions about stereotypes e.g. notices different ways older people are represented in texts with explicit adult scaffolding	explores representations of stereotypes e.g. after reading a story about a busy mountain-climbing grandmother, responds to teacher questioning to share and compare other ideas and experiences of older people in their community	shows awareness of stereotypes e.g. recognises different ways older people are represented in texts and, with prompting, questions how this influences how we think about older people
develops understanding of the cultural experiences of others	pays attention to cultural and family experiences shared by others e.g. attends to storytelling, artefacts, images or texts about different cultural celebrations in adult-initiated experiences	shows interest in the cultural experiences of others e.g. expresses curiosity toward different cultural celebrations noticed with adult support in texts or community	understands the cultural experiences of others e.g. identifies different cultural celebrations that may be different from their own, with prompting
develops understanding of Aboriginal peoples’ and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ ways of knowing and being and their connection to Country	pays attention to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing and being e.g. attends to Acknowledgment of Country with explicit support	explores Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing and being e.g. joins in Acknowledgment of Country recognising the traditional custodians with adult support	reflects on and responds to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing and being e.g. acknowledges Country showing understanding of who the traditional custodians are

Intentional teaching strategies to promote learning include:

making connections to diverse points of view
encouraging respect for the different ideas, opinions and communication modes of the group
identifying and challenging stereotypes or bias in everyday situations and through texts
making connections and collaborating with parents/carers, family and community members, including Elders where possible, to understand the people/s and culture/s in their context to make informed decisions about resourcing and respectful practice
researching and proactively building cultural understanding about Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Significant learnings	Emerging phase in familiar situations with explicit support	Exploring phase in familiar situations with occasional support	Extending phase in new situations with occasional prompting
shows interest in the natural environment	follows directions to notice things of interest in the natural environment e.g. follows adult direction to notice a blue-tongue lizard in the garden	notices things of interest in the natural environment e.g. makes plans to check the garden for the blue-tongue lizard after reflecting on, and planning for, outdoor learning with an adult	shows interest in the natural environment e.g. wonders and seeks to understand more about blue-tongue lizards and where they go when they are not in the garden, with prompting
develops sustainable practices to care for the environment	follows directions to care for the environment e.g. with direction, shows understanding of how items can be recycled, reused or disposed of responsibly	identifies sustainable practices to care for the environment e.g. responds to questions and suggests how items can be recycled, reused or disposed of responsibly, with encouragement	engages in sustainable practices to care for the environment e.g. reuses and recycles items and suggests responsible ways to dispose of waste, with prompting
develops awareness of problems and actions to protect environments	shares a personal experience about ways to care for the environment e.g. shares their family practice of turning taps off to save water in a teacher-led interaction	explores actions to protect the environment e.g. follows modelling to use collected rainwater to care for the kindergarten garden	shows awareness of actions that protect the environment e.g. cares for the kindergarten garden, identifying how they save rainwater in the tank and can use it on the plants instead of using water from the tap, with prompting

Intentional teaching strategies to promote learning include:

explaining everyone’s responsibility in caring for the kindergarten environment
collaborating to investigate the relationships between people, land, plants and animals
encouraging curiosity about the world and the impact of people on environments
researching and sharing discoveries about positive actions in relation to children’s concerns or queries about environmental issues
providing opportunities for children to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and practices to care for Country
modelling sustainable practices within the kindergarten setting and wider community.

Last updated:: 31 July 2024

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QKLG 2024

Connectedness: Learning and development area (QKLG 2024)

Key focuses

QKLG 2024

QKLG 2024

Connectedness: Learning and development area (QKLG 2024)

Key focuses

Building positive relationships

Showing respect for diversity

Showing respect for environments

QKLG 2024