Literature Review: Transition from Early Childhood Education to School

Chapter Six: Conclusion

Introduction

This review has examined a broad range of literature, predominantly from sources that were published from 2004 to early 2009. The analysis of this material explored the notion of successful transitions to school, considered how characteristics of the child, family and early childhood service play a role in how well the children make this transition, and provided a range of suggestions from the literature regarding how children’s transition to school can be supported. The review has provided many useful insights but has also highlighted many areas where there is little research. This final chapter briefly summarises the key findings and possible steps for evaluating progress towards improving transitions. It also outlines suggestions for further research, notes the limitations of this review, and indicates areas for further reading, before drawing some overall conclusions in the final comment.

Key findings

Transitions are dynamic, multifaceted (Ghaye & Pascal, 1988), and complex, and the notion ‘successful transitions’ must be constantly revisited and evaluated within local contexts, taking into account the views of the multiple participants in the process. In addition, the definition and scope of a ‘transition’ period makes a difference to the discussion, and the criteria for the domains of ‘successful’ are diverse as well.

With these cautions in mind, the main findings regarding successful transitions (see Chapters Two and Three for details) can be summarised in relation to the features of a school environment that foster children’s wellbeing, belonging and positive engagement with learning. Responsive, reciprocal, relationships between all concerned is a key feature of a successful transition. Related to this, a successful transition will include teachers who affirm the child’s identity and culture, connect with and build on the children’s funds of knowledge from early childhood education and home, and hold positive expectations for success which includes seeing promise in new entrant learners rather than deficits. Chapter Three noted some additional features to consider for children who do not share the dominant language of the school: ‘success’ in this case, while consistent with the above points, raises some additional issues with regard to language and literacy development.

While in the past approaches to transition looked at the ‘skills’ a child might require, this review of recent research has highlighted that the part played by any characteristic of the child and family (including children’s assessed skills on a range of measures, ethnicity, socio-economic status) will always depend on the nature of the context they enter. The same child would have very different experiences in settings that invite, permit or inhibit different forms of engagement (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1997). Children without the individual skills traditionally seen as valuable on school entry have been shown to do very well in contexts that enhance the kinds of successful transitions set out in this review (Skinner, et al., 1998). In contrast, even when children started school with the same assessed skills, children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds had more problems with school engagement and achievement than their more advantaged peers (Smart et al., 2006). The poor predictive value of individual skills in relation to successful transitions (Pianta, 2004) is not surprising given that performance on assessments (eg, measures of literacy and numeracy) do not predict how children will navigate the effects of a poor relationship with their teacher, peer rejection, fear of the playground, lack of engagement with learning, cultural alienation, and so on. Even an intensive programme to help children develop social skills in early childhood led to the conclusion that lunchtime routines at school should be addressed as well if the children’s transitions were to be enhanced (Smith, 2002).

The review has also analysed the ways in which the transition to school can be supported. In describing the features of successful transitions highlighted by this review, some implications for action can already be discerned. Figure One summarises the literature findings about features of a successful transition and some of the strategies that wider society, early childhood services and schools can undertake in order to support children to transition as successfully as possible. These strategies are discussed in detail in Chapter Four. Of key importance is to ensure that a less than successful transition is not treated as inevitable, rather it becomes an opportunity to explore strategies to assist in developing a more positive cycle of experience.

Families have a part to play too, and Chapter Five explored the literature on strategies for families. These include fostering children’s friendship, networking with other parents and caregivers and providing rich learning experiences. This may include attending high-quality early childhood services. As children approach school entry, parents/caregivers can help children to find out about school before they start, develop supportive routines and ensure health issues are identified. Once at school, having positive expectations and advocating for their children is likely to be beneficial.

There are a number of ways in which teachers can be resourced and supported so that they can implement the strategies described (discussed in Chapter Four). These include: recognising the special nature of the new entrant teacher’s role; providing time and support to gain understandings of the children’s home cultures and to utilise this learning in their pedagogy; small new entrant class sizes that allow teachers to get to know children, and actively share meanings and understandings that lead to deep engagement; and a flexible curriculum that allows teachers to connect with funds of knowledge from home and early childhood services. Training and professional development are important for both early childhood teachers and new entrant teachers (eg, regarding building mutually respectful relationships with a wide range of families, how to be more culturally responsive in their teaching, developing understandings of bi- and multi-lingual education, and cross-sector understandings of key competencies and learning dispositions). Finally, dedicated ongoing resourcing for transition activities is important if they are to be maintained.

As other communities draw on insights from this review it will be important to remember that there are no easy answers, or simple recipes. Ongoing evaluation of any efforts to support transitions is therefore important, and responsive and reciprocal relationships are central.

Transition to school programmes

In order to support successful transitions, local transition to school programmes need to be established and reviewed. Personalised goal setting and evaluation of progress is important. Review is essential as potentially useful strategies may be “too late, too impersonal, and too cursory to have much of an effect” (Pianta, 2004, p. 6). Also, research over three years by the Mangere Bridge Centre of Innovation team found that when ideas that had been successful in one context were implemented more widely, new issues and considerations could arise which needed to be identified and addressed (Hartley et al., 2009).

Work on transitions from Australia (Dockett & Perry, 2006) provides an example of a range of possible transition programme goals, with four levels within each goal. This allows transition teams to identify their starting points and desired goals, and evaluate their progress. Figure 2 below shows one example, from the 36 pages that map different levels across aspects of transition associated with the 10 key elements in the authors’ ‘effective transition to school programs’. This model could be adapted for use in other contexts. Dockett and Perry (2006) recommend that transition teams document their current situation and goals for transition to school programmes, later evaluating progress achieved towards these goals and affirming or refining goals for the next year.

Goal setting and evaluations should take into account the perspectives, experiences and expectations of all those involved (Dockett & Perry, 2004, 2005a, 2007; Peters, 2004). A recent Masters thesis exploring parental views on a Preparatory Year Programme noted the importance of never assuming uniformity in the views of even a relatively small group of individuals (O’Gorman, 2007). Failure to take the full range of perspectives into account can lead to situations like the one described in Chapter Two, where arrangements, which both early childhood and school teachers felt were working well, left parents feeling disempowered and uninformed (Peters, 2004).

Directions for future research

As this review has shown, there is a wealth of literature on starting school. However, there is limited New Zealand information in relation to many of the questions of interest raised for this review. Some specific areas where more research might be helpful in order to shed light on our understandings of transitions are outlined below.

1. Firstly, it appears that more New Zealand research is urgently needed for all of the groups discussed in Chapter Three (Māori children, Pasifika children, children who are linguistically diverse, children with special educational needs, and children living in lower socio-economic households) in order to understand their transition to school, the ways in which successful or unsuccessful transitions develop, and the factors involved. This should include detailed research that looks over time and includes the perspectives of families, children and teachers. Within this general recommendation some additional specific gaps were noted:

• Current research, especially for Māori and Pasifika children, seems to have focussed largely on literacy rather than exploring transitions more widely and considering what the issues are for children and families.
• More research on transition from immersion ECE to non-immersion schooling is required, a recommendation which an earlier review, devoted to Pasifika education issues (Anae, Coxon, Mara, Wendt-Samu & Finau, 2001) has also made. In addition, transition issues for this group are connected with broader aspects of when and how new languages are introduced, which also seems worthy of further exploration.
• There has been considerable documentation of the relationship between family income and achievement, but the reasons for this appear complex. A qualitative study may help to shed light on the reasons behind some of the patterns that have been identified in quantitative studies.
  

2. The voices of families and children who may potentially be at risk of making less successful transitions are the ones that most need to be heard, as their experiences may shed light on possible supports to overcome this risk. However, this requires participation in research by families who may be least inclined, or able, to take part. Therefore, new research approaches may need to be developed in order to gain these perspectives.
3. More research would be helpful to explore the ways in which New Zealand teachers can learn about and connect with funds of knowledge from home. Related to this, the value of being culturally responsive (Bishop & Berryman, 2006; Fletcher et al., 2009; Macfarlane, 2004, 2007; Macfarlane et al., 2007; Podmore et al., 2003) and ethnographers of communities (Kamler & Comber, 2005) is widely documented but it may be helpful for teachers who are unsure how to address this in their teaching to have more examples that document this in practice.
4. Doucet (2008) noted that teacher education students in the USA receive little preparation to build mutually respectful relationships with a wide range of families. It would be relevant to research whether New Zealand teachers feel adequately prepared in this respect, as small scale studies (eg, Gallagher, 2005; Peters, 2004) indicate that further support in this aspect of their role could be helpful.
5. This review has included a number of studies, which have provided valuable detail of the nuances of classroom life during transitions (eg, Carr et al., 2009; Peters, 2004, Rietveld, 2008; Tamarua, 2006). Further research of this type, on a wider scale, could usefully explore aspects of language and practice that shape how children are positioned as learners, as well as the wider influences on their experiences.
6. New Zealand teachers have been trialling new ways of assessing and reporting which provide richer, contextualised information that can connect key competencies and learning areas (eg, Carr et al., 2008; Davis & Molloy, 2005; Wilson, 2005), and also connect the learning dispositions in early childhood services with key competencies at school (Carr et al., 2008; Hartley et al., 2009). These approaches will hopefully assist children in developing and maintaining positive identities as learners at school, but further research may be necessary to explore this in practice.
7. Finally, much of the research reported in the New Zealand literature in this review was gathered prior to the current school curriculum. Now there is alignment between the strands of Te Whāriki and the key competencies at school (Ministry of Education, 2007a, p. 42). There is also a focus on transitions in the school curriculum. For example, in recognising that the transition from ECE to school is supported when the school:
   

• fosters a child’s relationships with teachers and other children and affirms their identity;
  
• builds on the learning experiences that the child brings with them;
  
• considers the child’s whole experiences of school; and
  
• is welcoming of family and whānau. (Ministry of Education, 2007a, p. 41)
  

This means that the New Zealand curriculum provides an ideal framework for supporting the aspects of successful transitions identified in this review. There is a wealth of advice about how this might be achieved through the support of wider systems, communities, teachers and families, and a range of issues to consider and practices to trial and evaluate. However, there is a need for more research to fully understand the processes involved that lead to successful outcomes for all children.

Limitations of the review

This review has focused predominantly on the New Zealand literature, drawing in some of the research from other countries where this seemed applicable. The aim was to provide as comprehensive a picture as possible in the time provided for its completion. The author was supported in this by her existing knowledge of the field and networks with other transition researchers. Support from colleagues was much appreciated in sourcing literature in addition to the material located through databases and library catalogues, and valuable feedback was also provided on the initial draft. However, the review does not claim to have located every relevant project related to starting school, or to have fully analysed every single item that was discovered. 

One challenge for the review was the lack of detail for some studies in New Zealand. While theses and Ministry of Education reports included details of the studies and how they were conducted, for other projects there was only limited information available in the public domain. Given the word limits for journal articles, the lack of information is understandable, and it seems likely that more depth lies behind some of these studies. However, this review could only report on what had been published. In addition, anecdotally, there appeared to be many groups who were working to improve the transition to school but these initiatives were either not being researched or the research was not yet published.

Further reading

Many of the issues associated with the transition to school have touched on whole bodies of literature that are worthy of reviews in their own right. These include, but are not limited to, the purpose of schooling and the kinds of learners and learning that are valued in New Zealand in the 21st century, culturally responsive teaching, Māori education, Pasifika education, factors associated with bi- and multi-lingualism and learning to read in a new language, the relationship between SES and school success, relationships, friendships and relational pedagogy.

Final comment

Smooth seas do not make skilful sailors.
 African proverb

The literature from 2004-2009 has moved on from an earlier focus on ‘smooth and seamless’ transitions (Ministry of Education, 1994, 2002a), and the accompanying pressure in the 1990s to push down school curriculum and pedagogy into early childhood (Anning, Cullen & Fleer, 2004;  Corrie, 1999; May, 2009). Today there is a clear recognition that an early childhood curriculum “should not be predetermined by a school curriculum because the school curriculum is not intended to be appropriate for the learning needs of infants, toddlers and young children” (Brewerton, 1996, pp. 14-15) and that early childhood is a phase with its own value and purpose (Petriwskyj et al., 2005). This is accompanied by the recognition that transitions are a normal part of life and an opportunity for new learning (Beach, 2003).

However, while ‘smooth seas do not make skilful sailors’, leaving children to ‘sink or swim’ on entry to school potentially leaves many children at risk of failure. This review has provided many insights into ways in which children can be supported to navigate the challenges involved. It has also highlighted some features that might indicate that their transitions have been ‘successful’ and supportive of their ongoing learning. Two chapters have documented the ideas in the literature regarding the ways in which this success can be promoted. The recommendations go beyond simplistic, and widely challenged (eg, by Li et al., 2007; LoCasale-Crouch et al., 2008; Petriwskyj et al., 2005) assessments of children’s individual skills, to acknowledge the power of classroom practices and other contextual factors that shape their experiences. Some of the advice requires disrupting traditional ways of doing things. These changes are important if the patterns of achievement, which have indicated some of the characteristics of the children who are likely to be advantaged in school, and along with those characteristics that have been associated with disadvantage, are to be altered to be more inclusive of the diverse learners that characterise New Zealand schools today. With 46% of the Year 1 population coming from backgrounds other than European (Ministry of Education, 2008c), it is timely to take account of research that focuses on culturally appropriate pedagogy and assessment practices, and ways of building on valued learning from home. The Māori and Pasifika researchers whose work has been reviewed have provided important insights into what is likely to support children from these groups.

The review drew on research evidence which substantiates Bronfenbrenner and Morris’ (1997) theoretical view that children’s characteristics interact with features of the environments that they are part of. To improve outcomes for all children, the literature indicates that changing the features of both the immediate school contexts and the wider contextual influences, along with fostering supportive relationships between school, home and early childhood settings, are important strategies for transforming environments that are unfavourable to the development of individuals with particular personal characteristics, to ones that lead to more favourable educational trajectories. Interestingly, the approaches this review indicated are likely to enhance outcomes for children potentially seen to be ‘at risk’ of less successful transitions, are ones which should enrich the experience of all children.

Figure 1: Features of a successful transition for children and some of the strategies that wider society, ECE services and schools
can undertake to ensure children transition as successfully as possible.