Glossary of Terms

🗺️Glossary of Terms for Home Schooling & Education (Australian Context)

Achievement Standards
Part of the Australian Curriculum that describes the expected level of learning students should demonstrate by the end of each year level in each learning area. They guide assessment by clarifying what achievement looks like.

Assessment
The process of evaluating a student’s learning and progress. Can be formal (tests, projects) or informal (observations, discussions), and may be formative (ongoing) or summative (end-of-unit or term).

Australian Curriculum
The national curriculum that outlines what all Australian students should learn from Foundation to Year 10 across all learning areas. It includes achievement standards, content descriptions, general capabilities, and cross-curriculum priorities. Version 9 is the most current. Read more.

Blended Learning
A combination of digital/online learning with in-person or hands-on activities — particularly useful in home schooling environments.

Content Descriptions
Detailed descriptions of what students are expected to learn in each learning area. These are the foundation for the Australian Curriculum, outlining specific knowledge, skills, and understandings students should develop.

Contextual Learning
A teaching approach where learning is connected to real-life situations and environments, making content more meaningful and relevant to students. This strategy helps learners apply new knowledge to practical, everyday scenarios and supports deeper understanding through authentic connections.

Cross Curriculum Priorities
Key themes that run through all learning areas of the Australian Curriculum. These priorities are embedded across learning areas and guide the way students engage with broader global, social, and environmental issues:

1.      Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures

2.      Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia

3.      Sustainability

Curriculum
A structured outline of what is to be taught and learned. In Australia, this refers to the Australian Curriculum, which sets the national educational standards for each year level.

Differentiation
Adjusting the content, process, or product of learning to suit a student's individual needs, abilities, and interests.

Distance Education
A formal schooling option where students are enrolled in a registered school but learn from home, usually with scheduled online lessons and curriculum resources provided by the school.

Education Plan
A structured document outlining the intended learning goals, curriculum content, teaching strategies, and assessment methods for a student. In home education, an education plan is often submitted as part of the registration process with the relevant state or territory authority. It demonstrates how the child’s learning aligns with the Australian Curriculum or other approved framework and reflects the child’s individual needs, interests, and learning context (such as travelling).

Elective
A non-core subject chosen by students based on interests, often in areas like arts, technologies, or languages. In home schooling, electives allow flexibility and creativity beyond the compulsory curriculum.

Evidence of Learning
Work samples, observations, journals, photos, or other forms of documentation that show a student’s learning progress — useful for registration reviews or parent reflection.

Experiential Learning
A process of learning through direct experience, often involving hands-on activities, reflection, and real-world application. Learners actively engage in tasks, then reflect on those experiences to form new understanding. Ideal for travel-based home schooling, as it encourages learning through doing.

General Capabilities
Seven key areas of learning embedded across all subjects in the Australian Curriculum. These include:

·       Literacy

·       Numeracy

·       Critical and Creative Thinking

·       ICT Capability

·       Personal and Social Capability

·       Ethical Understanding

·       Intercultural Understanding

These capabilities aim to help students develop skills and knowledge that are relevant for living and working in a globalised, digital, and interconnected world.

Home Schooling (Home Education)
An educational choice where parents take responsibility for delivering their child's learning program at home. Requires registration with the relevant education authority in each state or territory. Home Education Authorities in Australia. 

ICT (Information and Communication Technology)
The use of digital technologies to access, manage, and share information. In the Australian Curriculum, ICT Capability involves using technology effectively to solve problems, access information, and communicate.

Individual Learning Plan (ILP)
A customised plan outlining a child’s specific goals, strengths, and areas for improvement. Often used in home schooling to tailor the learning experience.

Informal Learning
Unstructured learning that occurs naturally through everyday experiences, such as travel, play, or conversations.

Key Learning Area (KLA)
One of the eight broad subject areas in the Australian Curriculum: English, Mathematics, Science, HASS (Humanities and Social Sciences), The Arts, Health and Physical Education, Technologies, and Languages. Also known as a Learning Area.

Learning Area
See Key Learning Area. Each area contains specific strands and sub-strands of content to be taught at each year level.

Learning Intention
A clear statement that communicates what students are expected to learn in a lesson or activity. Helps focus teaching and learning. Read more. 

Learning Outcome
Describes the knowledge or skill a student is expected to demonstrate after a learning experience.

Modality
Refers to a learner’s preferred learning style, such as visual (seeing), auditory (hearing), kinaesthetic (doing), or reading/writing.

Monitoring
Ongoing tracking of student progress through informal or formal strategies. In home schooling, this may include journals, checklists, and portfolios.

Pedagogy
The method and practice of teaching. Different pedagogical approaches suit different children and learning environments.

Portfolio
A curated collection of student work samples and reflections that demonstrate learning and growth. Often used for home schooling registration.

Professional Learning
Ongoing development of teaching skills and knowledge, often through workshops, courses, or peer collaboration. Essential for teachers and home schooling parents alike.

Registration
The process of applying to and gaining approval from your state or territory education authority to home school. Requires an educational plan and evidence of how curriculum requirements will be met.

Resources
Any tools or materials used to support learning. These might include books, digital tools, manipulatives, art supplies, field trip experiences, or educational websites. Home schooling allows flexibility in resource selection, especially while travelling.

Scope and Sequence
A document or overview that shows the topics (scope) to be taught and the order (sequence) in which they’ll be delivered. Useful for planning learning across a term or year.

Situated Learning
A theory that proposes learning is most effective when it occurs in the same context in which it is applied. It focuses on real-world environments and authentic tasks, often learned socially or through community participation. It’s highly compatible with learning on the road, where students engage with knowledge in meaningful, real-life settings.

Standard Elaborations
Descriptions that clarify how a student can demonstrate various levels of achievement (e.g. working at, above, or below standard) in relation to achievement standards. These are optional but helpful when interpreting and assessing learning.

Standards (Achievement Standards)
See Achievement Standards. Used to assess a student’s progress relative to expected year-level achievement.

Structured Learning
Intentional, planned learning activities, often aligned with the curriculum. Complements informal or spontaneous learning experiences.

Unschooling
A philosophy of education that prioritises child-led, interest-based learning without the structure of formal curriculum. While unschooling can encourage independence and deep engagement in areas of interest, our approach to home education differs in that we focus on intentional and planned learning experiences. These experiences are designed to align with the Australian Curriculum, ensuring educational progress across key learning areas while still embracing student voice, flexibility, and curiosity.

Work Sample
A piece of student work that demonstrates learning. Can be written, visual, digital, or photographic — and often used in portfolios or registration submissions.