The Department of Education has developed the Early Childhood Learning (ECL) Framework. The intent of the framework is to guide and reinforce early childhood educators’ (ECE) daily practice and interactions with children from birth to eight years. The framework supports ECEs as they provide optimal early learning opportunities during this critical period of development to meet children’s individual needs. The framework can also be used as a resource by other adults in the children's community of care. While the intended scope is for children from birth to age eight, the principles and goals reflected in the framework are also relevant for older school age children (nine years old and up), particularly those within regulated child care settings.

AECENL has developed an online orientation workshop series that provides a professional learning opportunity to go in depth to this framework. Click here to find out further information about the framework and how to access the workshop series.