Skip to main content

Transition to School: Normative or Relative?

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Transitions to School - International Research, Policy and Practice

Abstract

Managing the transition to school has become a focus of Australian education policy at local, state and national levels. In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of transition programmes, approaches and interventions all aimed to ease the transition to school. Many of these assume that the transition to school is problematic, particularly for some groups of children, families and communities. One aim then, of transition programmes and approaches, has been to manage transitions in ways that ameliorate these problems.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    This use of the term normative in relation to transition contrasts with Bronfenbrenner’s reference to normative transitions as the predicted and expected transitions that will be experienced by the majority of people within a life course.

References

  • Australian Government. (2009). National Indigenous reform agreement (Closing the Gap). http://www.socialinclusion.gov.au/Initiatives/Pages/closingthegap.aspx. Accessed 2 June 2012.

  • Australian Government. (2010). Social inclusion principles. http://www.socialinclusion.gov.au/SIAgenda/Principles/Pages/default.aspx. Accessed 10 July 2012.

  • Berg, I. K., & Kelly, S. (2000). Building solutions in child protective services. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beilharz, L. (Ed.). (2002). Building community: The shared action experience. Brisbane: Solutions Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biesta, G., & Tedder, M. (2007). Agency and learning in the lifecourse: Towards an ecological perspective. Studies in the Education of Adults, 39(2), 132–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradley, R. H., Corwyn, R. F., McAdoo, H. P., & Garcia Coll, C. (2001). The home environments of children in the United States: Part 1. Variations by age, ethnicity and poverty status. Child Development, 72(6), 1844–1867.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U. (1994). Ecological models of human development. In T. Husen & T. N. Postlethwaite (Eds.), International encyclopedia of education (2nd ed., Vol. 3, pp. 1643–1647). Oxford: Pergamon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U. (2005). The bioecological theory of human development. In U. Bronfenbrenner (Ed.), Making human beings human: Bioecological perspectives on human development (pp. 3–15). Thousand Oaks: Sage. Original work published 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. (1998). The ecology of human developmental processes. In W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development (5th ed., Vol. 1, pp. 993–1029). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooker, L. (2002). Starting school: Young children learning cultures. Buckingham: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooker, L. (2008). Supporting transitions in the early years. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Childs, G., & McKay, M. (2001). Boys starting school disadvantaged: Implications from teachers’ ratings of behaviour and achievement in the first two years. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 71(2), 303–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corsaro, W., Molinari, L., & Rosier, K. B. (2002). Zena and Carlotta: Transition narratives and early education in the United States and Italy. Human Development, 45(5), 323–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Council of Australian Governments (COAG). (2009). Investing in the early years – A national early childhood development strategy. http://acecqa.gov.au/storage/national_ECD_strategy.pdf. Accessed 11 May 2012.

  • Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. (2009). Closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage: The challenge for Australia. http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/05_2012/closing_the_gap.pdf. Accessed 7 June 2012.

  • Dockett, S., & Perry, B. (2002). Who’s ready for what? Young children starting school. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 3(1), 67–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dockett, S., & Perry, B. (2005). Starting school in Australia is “a bit safer, a lot easier and more relaxing”: Issues for parents from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Early Years, 25(3), 271–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dockett, S., & Perry, B. (2007). Transitions to school: Perceptions, expectations, experiences. Sydney: University of NSW Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dockett, S., & Perry, B. (2009). Readiness for school: A relational construct. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 34(1), 20–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dockett, S., Perry, B., & Kearney, E. (2010). School readiness: What does it mean for Indigenous children, families, schools and communities? Closing the Gap Clearinghouse, Issue paper No. 2. http://www.aihw.gov.au/closingthegap/documents/issues_papers/ctg-ip02.pdf. Accessed 8 May 2011.

  • Dockett, S., Perry, B., Mason, T., Simpson, T., Howard, P., Whitton, D., Gilbert, S., Pearce, S., Sanagavarapu, P., Skattebol, J., & Woodrow, C. (2007). Successful transition programs from prior-to-school to school for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/ATSI_Successful_Transition_programs_Report_Dec_2007.pdf. Accessed 2 April 2011.

  • Ecclestone, K. (2009). Lost and found in transition. Educational implications of concerns about ‘identity’, ‘agency’ and ‘structure’. In J. Field, J. Gallacher, & R. Ingram (Eds.), Researching transitions in lifelong learning (pp. 9–27). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fabian, H., & Dunlop, A-W. (2007). Outcomes of good practice in transition processes for children entering primary school. Working paper 42. The Hague: Bernard van Leer Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giroux, H. A. (2005). Border crossings (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griebel, W., & Niesel, R. (2003). Successful transitions: Social competencies help pave the way into kindergarten and school. In A-W Dunlop, & H. Fabian (Eds.), Transitions: European Early Childhood Education Research Monograph Series, 1, 25–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harvard Business School. (2008). Managing human capital: Global trends and challenges. http://www.hbs.edu/centennial/businesssummit/global-business/managing-human-capital-global-trends-and-challenges.html. Accessed 17 July 2012.

  • Heckman, J., & Tremblay, R. (2006). The case for investing in early childhood. http://www.thesmithfamily.com.au/webdata/resources/files/Heckman_Tramblay_Snapshot_April_2006_B4F68.pdf. Accessed 4 Aug 2012.

  • Heinz, W. R. (2009). Structure and agency in transition research. Journal of Education and Work, 22(5), 391–404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janus, M., Lefort, J., Cameron, R., & Kopechanski, L. (2007). Starting kindergarten: Transition issues for children with special needs. Canadian Journal of Education, 30(3), 628–648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • MacNaughton, G., Hughes, P., & Smith, K. (2007). Early childhood professionals and children’s rights: Tensions and possibilities around the United Nations General Comment no. 7 on children’s rights. International Journal of Early Years Education, 15(2), 161–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magnuson, K., Meyers, M. K., Rouhm, C. J., & Waldfogel, J. (2004). Inequality in preschool education and school readiness. American Educational Research Journal, 41(1), 115–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McTurk, N., Nutton, G., Lea, T., Robinson, G., & Carapetis, J. (2008). The school readiness of Australian Indigenous children: A review of the literature. Menzies School of Health Research, School for Social and Policy Research, Charles Darwin University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meisels, S. J. (1999). Assessing readiness. In R. C. Pianta (Ed.), The transition to kindergarten (pp. 39–66). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Munford, R., & Sanders, J. (Eds.). (2003). Making a difference in families. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petriwskyj, A., & Grieshaber, S. (2011). Critical perspectives on transition to school: Reframing the debate. In D. Laverick & M. Jalongo (Eds.), Transitions to early care and education (pp. 75–86). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Petriwskyj, A., Thorpe, K., & Tayler, C. (2005). Trends in construction of transition to school in three western regions, 1990-2004. International Journal of Early Years Education, 13(1), 55–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pianta, R. (2004). Going to kindergarten: Transition models and practices. In D. Whitton, S. Dockett, & B. Perry (Eds.), Proceedings of the international conference, continuity and change: Transitions in education (CD rom). Sydney: University of Western Sydney.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pianta, R. C., Rimm-Kaufman, S., & Cox, M. (1999). Introduction: An ecological approach to kindergarten transition. In R. C. Pianta & M. Cox (Eds.), The transition to kindergarten (pp. 3–12). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollard, A., & Filer, A. (1999). The social world of pupil career: Strategic biographies through primary school. London: Cassell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rimm-Kaufman, S., Pianta, R. C., & Cox, M. (2000). Teachers’ judgements of problems in the transition to kindergarten. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 15(2), 147–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosier, K., & McDonald, M. (2011). Promoting positive education and care transitions for children. Communities and Families Clearing house Resource Sheet. http://www.aifs.gov.au/cafca/pubs/sheets/rs/rs5.html. Accessed 19 May 2012.

  • Rous, B., Myers, C. T., & Stricklin, S. B. (2007). Strategies for supporting transitions of young children with special needs and their families. Journal of Early Intervention, 30(1), 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saleebey, D. (Ed.). (2006). The strengths perspective in social work practice (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010). Learning in the home and at school: How working class children ‘succeed against the odds’. British Educational Research Journal, 36(3), 463–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smart, D., Sanson, A., Baxter, B., Edwards, B., & Hayes, A. (2008). Home-to-school transitions for financially disadvantaged children: Summary report. Sydney: The Smith Family and Australian Institute of Family Studies. http://www.thesmithfamily.com.au/site/page.cfm?u=105. Accessed 4 July 2012.

  • Stipek, D. (2002). At what age should children enter kindergarten? A question for policymakers and parents. Social Policy Report, 16(2), 3–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodhead, M. (2006). Changing perspectives on early childhood: Theory, research and practice. Background paper prepared for the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2007, Strong foundations: early childhood care and education. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001474/147499e.pdf. Accessed 31 May 2012.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sue Dockett .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Dockett, S. (2014). Transition to School: Normative or Relative?. In: Perry, B., Dockett, S., Petriwskyj, A. (eds) Transitions to School - International Research, Policy and Practice. International perspectives on early childhood education and development, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7350-9_14

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics