The Preparatory Year in a Queensland Non-Government School

O'Gorman, Lyndal

doi:10.1177/183693910803300308

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Authentic collaboration is necessary for teachers to engage with families in order to share and mutually appreciate each other's knowledge and expertise. Further, as a non-compulsory sector in NZ, many early childhood services are in a very competitive and market-driven part of the sector and a 'consumer' or client-focused perspective might be complicated by different cultural understandings of the value of play-based pedagogy and what constitutes appropriate curriculum (O'Gorman, 2008).…”

Section: Policy Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Participation: What We Learned from Hunter about Collaboration with Pasifika Children and Families

Cooper

Hedges

2014

Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood

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Increasing the participation rates of Pasifika children in early childhood settings is a policy target in Aotearoa -New Zealand. Yet, participation may not engender positive learning outcomes for children from diverse cultural backgrounds without attention to teacher knowledge and practice. The early childhood curriculum document, Te Whāriki, encourages teachers to collaborate with families. However, there is little research to guide teachers in mainstream centres to interpret Pasifika children's interests, particularly those that link with the understandings and everyday experiences of their families, communities or cultures. This article reports on a qualitative, interpretivist project. Findings related to a Pasifika child are presented. The child's overt interest in drumming led to deeper examination of his developing identities as a learner and member of his family and culture. The article argues that in order for diverse children and families to genuinely benefit from participation in early education teachers might usefully adopt more analytical, culturally responsive, and dialogic approaches and constructs to guide provision of a dynamic and responsive play-based curriculum. The use of theoretical frameworks such as funds of knowledge to assist families and centres to engage in and sustain reciprocal relationships and enhance collaboration to benefit children's growing learner and cultural identities is discussed.

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Section: Policy Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Participation: What We Learned from Hunter about Collaboration with Pasifika Children and Families

Cooper

Hedges

2014

Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood

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“…Australian parents showed diverse attitudes towards academic preparation for school, including unexpected opposition to such preparation by an Australian parent of Chinese heritage. Such variation has been identified in previous Australian research (Dockett & Perry, 2007;O'Gorman, 2008). Australia is a multicultural country with residents from diverse cultural backgrounds; thus, Australian parents would be expected to have differing perceptions of transition to school, adding complexity to the transition process.…”

Section: Beyond Stereotypes: Implications For Practicementioning

confidence: 76%

“…Studies from diverse global contexts suggest that parents vary in regard to how they value children's academic preparation in transition to school. An American study found that parents placed increasing emphasis over time on children's academic preparation (Belfield & Garcia, 2014), but an Australian study found that some parents valued such preparation while others did not (O'Gorman, 2008). Academic preparation plays an important role in children's transition to school in Asian research such as a Chinese study in Shenzen and Hong Kong by Lau (2014).…”

Section: Parents' Perspectives Of Transition To Schoolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond stereotypes: Comparing Chinese and Australian parents’ perceptions of transition to school

Liu

O'Gorman

Dillon-Wallace

et al. 2021

Australasian Journal of Early Childhood

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Parents’ perceptions and expectations of transition to school influence their engagement in the transition process. In this study, eight Chinese and eight Australian parents were interviewed to explore their perceptions of transition to school. The results showed similarities in Chinese and Australian parents’ views of transition to school as a two-phase process involving preparation and school familiarisation. Cohort and intra-cohort differences were evident in the type of preparation, attention to diverse needs and the difficulty of the transition process. Moreover, Australian, but not Chinese, parents regarded transition to school as a change for themselves. The findings challenge stereotypes, indicating the need for more reciprocal communication to address parent expectations about transition to school in diverse communities.

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“…While interview data from the larger study were examined through the lens of phenomenography (Marton, 1986;O'Gorman, 2008), for the purposes of this article, the authors used an inductive, thematic analysis to explore, specifically, the ways in which the parents discussed the place of play in the Prep classroom. Parents in the study typically referred to play as an illustration of their understanding of the Prep program.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘They Get Fed up with Playing’: Parents' Views on Play-Based Learning in the Preparatory Year

O'Gorman

Ailwood

2012

Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood

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Within early childhood education two ideas are firmly held: that play is the best way for children to learn, and that parents are partners in the child's learning. While these ideas have been explored, limited research to date has investigated the confluence of the two-how parents of young children view the concept of play. This article investigates parents' views on play by analysing the views of a small group of parents of Preparatory Year (Prep) children in Queensland, Australia. The parents in this study held varying definitions of what constitutes play, and complex and contradictory notions of its value. Positive views of play were linked to learning without knowing it, engaging in hands-on activities, and preparation for Year One through a strong focus on academic progress. Some parents held that Prep was play-based, while others did not. The complexities and diversity of parental opinion in this study echo the ongoing commentary about how play ought to be defined. Moreover, the notion that adults may interpret play in different ways is also reflected here. The authors suggest that for early childhood educators these complexities require an ongoing engagement, debate, and reconceptualisation of the place of play in light of broader curricular and sociopolitical agendas.

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The Preparatory Year in a Queensland Non-Government School

Cited by 7 publications

References 23 publications

Beyond Participation: What We Learned from Hunter about Collaboration with Pasifika Children and Families

Beyond Participation: What We Learned from Hunter about Collaboration with Pasifika Children and Families

Beyond stereotypes: Comparing Chinese and Australian parents’ perceptions of transition to school

‘They Get Fed up with Playing’: Parents' Views on Play-Based Learning in the Preparatory Year

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