International Perspectives on the Pedagogies of Educational Transitions

Abstract

There has been a great deal written recently about children starting school, particularly primary school. All of the stakeholders in these transitions to school have been considered, along with matters of readiness -for child, family, educators, schools, and communities; adjustment and adaptation; continuity and change in curricula and learning; and the opportunities, aspirations, expectations and entitlements encompassed in the transformation of roles involved. As the children move from their prior-to-school experiences -preschool, child care, home, other out-of-home care -to school, they experience many changes. One of these is often a change from a primarily play-based pedagogical approach in the prior-to-school setting to perhaps a more structured, even formal pedagogy in school. But what about the pedagogies of the transitions themselves? Children do not stop learning and teachers do not stop teaching as children are in the process of transition to school. There are pedagogies of transition employed. This book explores these pedagogies through the work of an international alliance of transitions to school researchers from five countries -Iceland, Scotland and Sweden (European) and Australia and New Zealand (Antipodean). This alliance is named POET -Pedagogies of Educational Transitions.

Children’s Agency: Opportunities and Constraints

“…The children had just moved from a pre-primary school environment to primary school. This was a significant transition because it involved a shift from the play-based pedagogical approach emphasised in pre-school settings to the more structured and adult-directed approach of primary schools (Ballam et al 2017). Thus, the shift had the potential to affect children's sense of agency.…”

“…Previous research has shown that, as historically and culturally constructed institutions, primary schools and educational settings for children under school age exhibit different educational practices. According to Ballam et al (2017), a key difference is the emphasis on a play-based pedagogical approach in preschool settings and the structured and goal-oriented formal pedagogy evident in primary schools.…”

La pandémie, source de risques et d’opportunités pour la mise en place de pratiques de transition collaboratives lors de l'entrée à l'école

“…Un peu partout à travers le monde, des chercheurs (p. ex. Ballam, Perry, & Garpelin, 2017 ; Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques [OCDE], 2017) abordent l'importance de la continuité dans le processus de transition, notamment pendant les expériences vécues à la petite enfance. Le fait de concevoir la transition vers l'école comme une continuité dans les expériences et les apprentissages des enfants permet de tirer tous les bénéfices de la nouveauté qu'elle comporte (Curchod-Ruedl & Chessex-Viguet, 2012).…”

Professional linkages at the transition to school: Boundaries and linked ecologies

“…From this, we examine how the issue of transition to school and the tasks around it are defined, and who is regarded as having jurisdictional authority around these. Existing transitions literature (Ballam et al, 2017) suggests that networks create alliances which have the potential to act as hinges -supporting professional collaboration and the development and implementation of strategies that work effectively in each setting to support those involved in transitions. There is mixed reporting of the effectiveness of transition statements in sharing information and promoting continuity (Hopps, 2014;O'Kane, 2016).…”