Transitions in Early Childhood Education
- LAST REVIEWED: 28 August 2018
- LAST MODIFIED: 28 August 2018
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0204
- LAST REVIEWED: 28 August 2018
- LAST MODIFIED: 28 August 2018
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0204
Introduction
Transitions are ubiquitous: they start as our lives begin and we all experience them as we travel the life-course. In the context of early childhood (UN Convention on the Rights of the Children, UNCRC: 0–8) the single transition that has attracted the most attention has been the transition to school. In today’s society children have often experienced many changes before reaching this moment of school start: in educational and academic circles these changes are often described as transitions and so it is essential that the term “transition” is defined. The child does not function in isolation from family or community and models held of children influence approaches to their early learning and childcare. It is therefore important to address the nature of transition and the ways in which transitions in life may affect transitions in early childhood education and vice-versa. A range of issues challenges definition of transition: it is suggested here that these issues have become more complex over the historical time in which transitions have been studied. It may be argued that there has been considerable consensus over the years about what may matter in early childhood educational transitions, but this is no longer without debate or challenge. The contested issues are frequently presented in a dichotomous way. Transitions may be single or multiple; continuous or discontinuous; suggest readiness or lack of it; highlight resilience or vulnerability; imply agency or lack of control; be visible or silenced; rest on a developmental or a sociocultural model; may infer that the child should be the site of change or conversely that the system should change to accommodate the child. Multiple perspectives are called for as the child in transition is variously understood in the context of family, relationships, identities, culture, services, and community. For a considerable time Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory was the most commonly invoked conceptual framework for the study of transitions in early education. Now other theoretical sources are being used: researchers draw on, for example, anthropology, educational theory, creativity, philosophy, and psychology and consequently new approaches and paradigms are developing. Transition in early childhood education has become a field of study in its own right. Findings of transition studies argue for acknowledgement of young children’s experience before, during, and after any time of transition and illustrate the many ways in which current systems shape children’s experiences. The understanding generated by research into early childhood educational transitions and the processes involved, must reach into policy and practices: a job done very well by many of the authors cited in this article
History of Transitions in Early Childhood Education Research
This section places research into transitions in early childhood education in context by introducing some of the earlier studies of school start. These studies focused more on continuity in early education: concluding that contextual constraints on children’s use of learning strategies made for discontinuities. As understanding grew of the limitations the move through different educational systems placed on the continuity of children’s learning, what was to become a field of research in its own right, research into early educational transitions, emerged. This emerging focus seemed promising in both pastoral and curricular terms. Three pieces of work—from England (Cleave 1982), Scotland (Watt and Flett 1985), and the United States (Ladd and Price 1987)—illustrate the early beginnings of a transitions focus and a range of linked factors. A number of innovative studies began to shape the field further in the 1990s including continuity to maximize the benefits of preschool (Love, et al. 1992), the importance of early learning, continuities, and discontinuities (Cullen 1992), and opportunities to develop positive learning trajectories and recognize what children bring to school in terms of their socio-emotional dispositions and their family experiences (Belsky and MacKinnon 1994). Belsky and MacKinnon 1994 found it surprising that beyond the work of Alexander and Entwisle 1998 (cited under Children as Learners: Engaging with Curriculum) and their colleagues and a very few others, transition to school was at the time under-researched. In Europe there was a growing interest in transitions issues, as evidenced by each of the following: the effectiveness of strategies smoothing the transitions to school (Kakvoulis 1994), the role of the teacher (McCail 1996, cited under Children as Learners: Engaging with Curriculum), assessment for continuity (Dunlop 1998, cited under Continuity and Discontinuity [Well-Being, Resilience, Relationships with Educators, Care-Givers, and Peers]), young children’s views (see Children’s Perspectives, Agency, Advocacy, and Voice), parental and child views (Hughes 2015, cited under General Overviews), and work on the connection between family transitions and school start (Fthenakis 1998, cited under Family Engagement (Parental and Family Transitions). Also see Alexander and Entwisle 1998, cited under Children as Learners: Engaging with Curriculum, and the section Diversity and Inclusion in Transitions to School). Nine articles published before 1996 are included here, the others are referenced in subsequent sections, but mentioned here to give a taste of the range of early work in transitions and showing the continuing relevance of the multidimensional nature of early childhood transitions.
Belsky, Jay, and Carol MacKinnon. 1994. Transition to school: Developmental trajectories and school experiences. Early Education and Development 5.2: 106–119.
DOI: 10.1207/s15566935eed0502_3
This article highlights the premium placed on developmental transitions and calls for a move away from a narrow school-readiness orientation to a recognition of the changes in role, expectations, relationships, and physical environments that occur in the transition to early schooling, a topic that was relatively under-researched at the time.
Cleave, Shirley. 1982. Continuity from pre‐school to infant school. Educational Research 24.3: 163–173.
Summarizing a major National Foundation for Educational Research project on continuity of children’s experience, ages three to eight, this article emphasizes the significance of early relationships and identifies the interruptions likely to occur for children as they move from stage to stage: critical features of continuity included admission and entry processes; arrival and familiarity; visits before starting; building relationships; adjusting to novel experiences; work tasks and activities; and changing routines.
Cullen, Joy. 1992. Young children’s learning strategies: continuities and discontinuities. International Journal of Early Childhood 23.1: 44–58.
DOI: 10.1007/BF03174607
While much emphasis had already been placed on positive school start in terms of relationships, Joy Cullen importantly focused attention in Australia on young children’s learning strategies. Children whose approach to learning at preschool was characterized by a range of strategic behaviors and reflective skills maintained a strategic approach to learning in their first year at school.
Entwisle, Doris, and Karl Alexander. 1998. Facilitating the transition to first grade: The nature of transition and research on factors affecting it. The Elementary School Journal 98.4: 351–364.
DOI: 10.1086/461901
Drawing on the Baltimore Study, the authors identified a random sample of 790 children who began first grade in 1982: their longitudinal study of this group, they emphasize the importance of the first grade transition, offer practical suggestions and underline the role of resident grandmothers, more time in kindergarten and school continuity for children’s success.
Kakvoulis, Alexandros. 1994. Continuity in early childhood education: Transition from pre-school to school. International Journal of Early Years Education 2.1: 41–51.
DOI: 10.1080/09669760.2003.10807105
A Greek investigation surveyed three stakeholder groups: parents, preschool and primary teachers on the extent to which differences between home and primary school or between nursery school and primary school make children’s preparation and adjustment to the first class problematic, and evaluated the claimed effectiveness of strategies for smoothing the transition to school.
Ladd, Gary W., and Joseph M. Price. 1987. Predicting children’s social & school adjustment following the transition from preschool to kindergarten. Child Development 58:1168–1189.
DOI: 10.2307/1130613
The relevance of this and many useful articles by these authors sustain today. They studied a sample of children in their year before school entry and followed them up in school. Finding that children’s social characteristics are a strong influence on their school experience they advocate assessing more than intelligence before school entry.
Love, John M., Mary Ellin Logue, James V. Trudeau, and Katharine Thayer. 1992. Transitions to kindergarten in American schools. Final report of the National Transitions Study. Portsmouth, NH: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Policy and Planning.
The results of this study of early transitions are given through a report of the National Transition Study, a government document. As such it does not explore the conceptual underpinnings of cultural, social-poverty, and language differences, but provides a clear set of statements of what is known in these areas and calls for differentiating transitions for these groups of children.
Pianta, Robert C., Nicholas Smith, and Ronald E. Reeve. 1991. Observing mother and child behavior in a problem-solving situation at school entry: Relations with classroom adjustment. School Psychology Quarterly 6:1–15.
DOI: 10.1037/h0088238
An early publication from Pianta’s research team, which continues to publish on transitions today, this paper provides an early acknowledgement of the richness of observational rather than assessment data to understand cognition, motivation, exploration, and social school relationships. These elements in ecological relationships illuminate children’s school entry profiles.
Watt, Joyce, and Marion Flett. 1985. Continuity in early education: The role of parents. Mimeo: Univ. of Aberdeen, Department of Education.
Another theme in early transitions writing is the role of parents in continuity. They must play a part in the child’s early years and early school experience. Parents support children to communicate what they know in different settings. Parental self-respect is found to be significant for their child’s learning.
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login.
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
Article
- Academic Achievement
- Academic Audit for Universities
- Academic Freedom and Tenure in the United States
- Action Research in Education
- Adjuncts in Higher Education in the United States
- Administrator Preparation
- Adolescence
- Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Courses
- Advocacy and Activism in Early Childhood
- African American Racial Identity and Learning
- Alaska Native Education
- Alternative Certification Programs for Educators
- Alternative Schools
- American Indian Education
- Animals in Environmental Education
- Art Education
- Artificial Intelligence and Learning
- Assessing School Leader Effectiveness
- Assessment, Behavioral
- Assessment, Educational
- Assessment in Early Childhood Education
- Assistive Technology
- Augmented Reality in Education
- Beginning-Teacher Induction
- Bilingual Education and Bilingualism
- Black Undergraduate Women: Critical Race and Gender Perspe...
- Black Women in Academia
- Blended Learning
- Bullying
- Case Study in Education Research
- Changing Professional and Academic Identities
- Character Education
- Children’s and Young Adult Literature
- Children's Beliefs about Intelligence
- Children's Rights in Early Childhood Education
- Citizenship Education
- Civic and Social Engagement of Higher Education
- Classroom Learning Environments: Assessing and Investigati...
- Classroom Management
- Coherent Instructional Systems at the School and School Sy...
- College Admissions in the United States
- College Athletics in the United States
- Community Relations
- Comparative Education
- Computer-Assisted Language Learning
- Computer-Based Testing
- Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Evaluating Improvement Net...
- Continuous Improvement and "High Leverage" Educational Pro...
- Counseling in Schools
- Creativity
- Critical Approaches to Gender in Higher Education
- Critical Perspectives on Educational Innovation and Improv...
- Critical Race Theory
- Crossborder and Transnational Higher Education
- Cross-National Research on Continuous Improvement
- Cross-Sector Research on Continuous Learning and Improveme...
- Cultural Diversity in Early Childhood Education
- Culturally Responsive Leadership
- Culturally Responsive Pedagogies
- Culturally Responsive Teacher Education in the United Stat...
- Curriculum Design
- Data Collection in Educational Research
- Data-driven Decision Making in the United States
- Deaf Education
- Desegregation and Integration
- Design Thinking and the Learning Sciences: Theoretical, Pr...
- Development, Moral
- Dialogic Pedagogy
- Digital Age Teacher, The
- Digital Citizenship
- Digital Divides
- Disabilities
- Distance Learning
- Distributed Leadership
- Doctoral Education and Training
- Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in Denmark
- Early Childhood Education and Development in Mexico
- Early Childhood Education in Aotearoa New Zealand
- Early Childhood Education in Australia
- Early Childhood Education in China
- Early Childhood Education in Europe
- Early Childhood Education in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Early Childhood Education in Sweden
- Early Childhood Education Pedagogy
- Early Childhood Education Policy
- Early Childhood Education, The Arts in
- Early Childhood Mathematics
- Early Childhood Science
- Early Childhood Teacher Education
- Early Childhood Teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand
- Early Years Professionalism and Professionalization Polici...
- Economics of Education
- Education For Children with Autism
- Education for Sustainable Development
- Education Leadership, Empirical Perspectives in
- Education of Native Hawaiian Students
- Education Reform and School Change
- Educational Research Approaches: A Comparison
- Educational Statistics for Longitudinal Research
- Educator Partnerships with Parents and Families with a Foc...
- Emotional and Affective Issues in Environmental and Sustai...
- Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
- English as an International Language for Academic Publishi...
- Environmental and Science Education: Overlaps and Issues
- Environmental Education
- Environmental Education in Brazil
- Epistemic Beliefs
- Equity and Improvement: Engaging Communities in Educationa...
- Equity, Ethnicity, Diversity, and Excellence in Education
- Ethical Research with Young Children
- Ethics and Education
- Ethics of Teaching
- Ethnic Studies
- Europe, History of Education in
- Evidence-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention
- Family and Community Partnerships in Education
- Family Day Care
- Federal Government Programs and Issues
- Feminization of Labor in Academia
- Finance, Education
- Financial Aid
- Formative Assessment
- Future-Focused Education
- Gender and Achievement
- Gender and Alternative Education
- Gender, Power and Politics in the Academy
- Gender-Based Violence on University Campuses
- Gifted Education
- Girls' Education in the Developing World
- Global Mindedness and Global Citizenship Education
- Global University Rankings
- Governance, Education
- Grounded Theory
- Growth of Effective Mental Health Services in Schools in t...
- Higher Education and Globalization
- Higher Education and the Developing World
- Higher Education Faculty Characteristics and Trends in the...
- Higher Education Finance
- Higher Education Governance
- Higher Education Graduate Outcomes and Destinations
- Higher Education in Africa
- Higher Education in China
- Higher Education in Latin America
- Higher Education in the United States, Historical Evolutio...
- Higher Education, International Issues in
- Higher Education Management
- Higher Education Policy
- Higher Education Research
- Higher Education Student Assessment
- High-stakes Testing
- History of Early Childhood Education in the United States
- History of Education in the United States
- History of Technology Integration in Education
- Homeschooling
- Inclusion in Early Childhood: Difference, Disability, and ...
- Inclusive Education
- Indigenous Education in a Global Context
- Indigenous Learning Environments
- Indigenous Students in Higher Education in the United Stat...
- Infant and Toddler Pedagogy
- Inservice Teacher Education
- Integrating Art across the Curriculum
- Intelligence
- Intensive Interventions for Children and Adolescents with ...
- International Perspectives on Academic Freedom
- Intersectionality and Education
- Knowledge Development in Early Childhood
- Leadership Development, Coaching and Feedback for
- Leadership in Early Childhood Education
- Leadership Training with an Emphasis on the United States
- Learning Analytics in Higher Education
- Learning Difficulties
- Learning, Lifelong
- Learning, Multimedia
- Learning Strategies
- Legal Matters and Education Law
- LGBT Youth in Schools
- Linguistic Diversity
- Linguistically Inclusive Pedagogy
- Literacy
- Literacy Development and Language Acquisition
- Literature Reviews
- Mathematics Identity
- Mathematics Instruction and Interventions for Students wit...
- Mathematics Teacher Education
- Measurement for Improvement in Education
- Measurement in Education in the United States
- Meta-Analysis and Research Synthesis in Education
- Methodological Approaches for Impact Evaluation in Educati...
- Methodologies for Conducting Education Research
- Mindfulness, Learning, and Education
- Mixed Methods Research
- Motherscholars
- Motivation
- Multiliteracies in Early Childhood Education
- Multiple Documents Literacy: Theory, Research, and Applica...
- Multivariate Research Methodology
- Museums, Education, and Curriculum
- Music Education
- Narrative Research in Education
- Native American Studies
- Nonformal and Informal Environmental Education
- Note-Taking
- Numeracy Education
- One-to-One Technology in the K-12 Classroom
- Online Education
- Open Education
- Organizing for Continuous Improvement in Education
- Organizing Schools for the Inclusion of Students with Disa...
- Outdoor Play and Learning
- Outdoor Play and Learning in Early Childhood Education
- Pedagogical Leadership
- Pedagogy of Teacher Education, A
- Performance Objectives and Measurement
- Performance-based Research Assessment in Higher Education
- Performance-based Research Funding
- Phenomenology in Educational Research
- Philosophy of Education
- Physical Education
- Play
- Podcasts in Education
- Policy
- Policy Context of United States Educational Innovation and...
- Politics of Education
- Portable Technology Use in Special Education Programs and ...
- Post-humanism and Environmental Education
- Pre-Service Teacher Education
- Problem Solving
- Productivity and Higher Education
- Professional Development
- Professional Learning Communities
- Program Evaluation
- Programs and Services for Students with Emotional or Behav...
- Psychology Learning and Teaching
- Psychometric Issues in the Assessment of English Language ...
- Qualitative Data Analysis Techniques
- Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Research Samp...
- Qualitative Research Design
- Quantitative Research Designs in Educational Research
- Queering the English Language Arts (ELA) Writing Classroom
- Race and Affirmative Action in Higher Education
- Reading Education
- Refugee and New Immigrant Learners
- Relational and Developmental Trauma and Schools
- Relational Pedagogies in Early Childhood Education
- Reliability in Educational Assessments
- Religion in Elementary and Secondary Education in the Unit...
- Researcher Development and Skills Training within the Cont...
- Research-Practice Partnerships in Education within the Uni...
- Response to Intervention
- Restorative Practices
- Risky Play in Early Childhood Education
- Role of Gender Equity Work on University Campuses through ...
- Scale and Sustainability of Education Innovation and Impro...
- Scaling Up Research-based Educational Practices
- School Accreditation
- School Choice
- School Culture
- School District Budgeting and Financial Management in the ...
- School Improvement through Inclusive Education
- School Reform
- Schools, Private and Independent
- School-Wide Positive Behavior Support
- Science Education
- Secondary to Postsecondary Transition Issues
- Self-Regulated Learning
- Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices
- Service-Learning
- Severe Disabilities
- Single Salary Schedule
- Single-sex Education
- Single-Subject Research Design
- Social Context of Education
- Social Justice
- Social Network Analysis
- Social Pedagogy
- Social Science and Education Research
- Social Studies Education
- Sociology of Education
- Standards-Based Education
- Statistical Assumptions
- STEM-related Education, Indigenous Science Education and
- Student Access, Equity, and Diversity in Higher Education
- Student Assignment Policy
- Student Engagement in Tertiary Education
- Student Learning, Development, Engagement, and Motivation ...
- Student Participation
- Student Voice in Teacher Development
- Sustainability Education in Early Childhood Education
- Sustainability in Early Childhood Education
- Sustainability in Higher Education
- Teacher Beliefs and Epistemologies
- Teacher Collaboration in School Improvement
- Teacher Evaluation and Teacher Effectiveness
- Teacher Preparation
- Teacher Training and Development
- Teacher Unions and Associations
- Teacher-Student Relationships
- Teaching Critical Thinking
- Technologies, Teaching, and Learning in Higher Education
- Technology Education in Early Childhood
- Technology, Educational
- Technology-based Assessment
- The Bologna Process
- The Regulation of Standards in Higher Education
- Theories of Educational Leadership
- Three Conceptions of Literacy: Media, Narrative, and Gamin...
- Tracking and Detracking
- Traditions of Quality Improvement in Education
- Transformative Learning
- Transitions in Early Childhood Education
- Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities in the Unite...
- Understanding the Psycho-Social Dimensions of Schools and ...
- University Faculty Roles and Responsibilities in the Unite...
- Using Ethnography in Educational Research
- Value of Higher Education for Students and Other Stakehold...
- Virtual Learning Environments
- Vocational and Technical Education
- Wellness and Well-Being in Education
- Women's and Gender Studies
- Young Children and Spirituality
- Young Children's Learning Dispositions
- Young Children's Working Theories