Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Influences on School Transition

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

Abstract

My interest in starting school research, policy and practice is located in my wider interest in the continuity (or discontinuity) of children’s lives, in which key transitions are potential points of stress that exemplify and illustrate differences in individual experience. From this perspective, I see school transition as a stage in a continuum, requiring research that looks to the years before starting school to explain what leads to a successful transition and to the years after to consider the long-term impact of this transition. In this chapter I consider the many theoretical and practical influences on my transition to school research and measure each of them against their impact on my work and the broader field.

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

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
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

References

  • Ahnert, L., Gunnar, M. R., Lamb, M. E., & Barthel, M. (2004). Transition to child care: Associations with infant-mother attachment, infant negative emotion, and cortisol elevations. Child Development, 75(3), 639–650.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahnert, L., Pinquart, M., & Lamb, M. E. (2006). Security of children’s relationships with non-parental caregivers: A meta-analysis. Child Development, 77(3), 664–679.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belsky, J., Bakkermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & Van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2007). For better and for worse: Differential susceptibility to environmental influences. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16(6), 300–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belsky, J., & Pluess, M. (2009). Beyond diathesis stress: Differential susceptibility to environmental influences. Psychological Bulletin, 135(6), 885–908.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belsky, J., & Pluess, M. (2012). Differential susceptibility to long-term effects of quality of child care on externalizing behaviour in adolescence. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 36(1), 2–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birch, S. H., & Ladd, G. (1996). Interpersonal relationships in the school environment and children’s early school adjustment: The role of teachers and peers. In J. Juvonen & K. R. Wentzel (Eds.), Social motivation. Understanding children’s school adjustment (pp. 199–225). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Blair, C. (2002). School readiness. Integrating cognition and emotion in a neurobiological conceptualisation of children’s functioning at school entry. American Psychologist, 57(2), 111–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowes, J., Harrison, L. J., Sweller, N., Taylor, A., & Neilsen-Hewitt, C. (2009). From child care to school. Influences on children’s adjustment and achievement in the year before school and the first year of school. Findings from the Child Care Choices Longitudinal Extension Study. NSW Department of Community Services. http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/docswr/_assets/main/documents/research_childcare_school.pdf. Accessed 1 Aug 2012.

  • Bradbury, B., Corak, M., Waldfogal, J., & Washbrook, E. (2011). Inequality during the early years: Child outcomes and readiness to learn in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, and United States. IZA Discussion Paper No. 6120. Social Science Research Network. http://ssrn.com/abstract=1965137. Accessed 15 July 2012.

  • Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U. (2005a). Ecological systems theory. In U. Bronfenbrenner (Ed.), Making human beings human: Bioecological perspectives on human development (pp. 106–173). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U. (2005b). 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Claessens, A. (2009, December). School readiness and achievement in middle childhood. Paper presented at the 2nd Growing Up in Australia: Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) Research Conference, Melbourne.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coplan, R. J., Barber, A. M., & Gagne-Seguin, D. G. (1999). The role of child temperament as a predictor of early literacy and numeracy skills in preschoolers. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 14(4), 537–553.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Schipper, C., Tavecchio, L. W. C., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2008). Children’s attachment relationships with day care caregivers: Associations with positive caregiving and child’s temperament. Social Development, 17(3), 454–470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Schipper, C., Tavecchio, L. W. C., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & van Zeijl, J. (2004). Goodness-of-fit in centre day care: Relations of temperament, stability and quality of care with the child’s adjustment. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19(2), 257–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dockett, S., & Perry, B. (2004). Starting school. Perspectives of Australian children, parents and educators. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 2(2), 171–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan, G. J., Dowsett, C. J., Claessens, A., Magnuson, K., Huston, A. C., Klebanov, P., Pagani, L., Feinstein, L., Engel, M., Brooks-Gunn, J., Sexton, H., Duckworth, K., & Jape, C. (2007). School readiness and later achievement. Developmental Psychology, 43(6), 1428–1446.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, M. T. (2006). Promoting resilience in children and youth. Preventative interventions and their interface with neuroscience. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1094(1), 139–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groeneveld, M. G., Vermeer, H. J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Linting, M. (2012). Stress, cortisol and well-being of caregivers and children in home-based child care: A case for differential susceptibility. Child Care, Health and Development, 38(2), 251–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamre, B. K., & Pianta, R. C. (2001). Early teacher-child relationships and the trajectory of children’s school outcomes through eighth grade. Child Development, 72(2), 625–638.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamre, B. K., & Pianta, R. C. (2005). Can instructional and emotional support in the first-grade classroom make a difference for children at risk of school failure? Child Development, 76(5), 949–967.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, L. J. (2012, April). Teacher-student relationship profiles in Australian children. Paper presented in the symposium, Teacher-child relationships from an attachment perspective. International Conference on Interpersonal Relationships in Education, Vancouver.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, L. J., & Ungerer, J. A. (2006, July). Child and teacher perspectives on their relationship with each other: Concurrent and longitudinal relations. Paper presented in the symposium, Gender differences in child-teacher relations and school adjustment, Biennial meetings of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Melbourne.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, L., Clarke, L., & Ungerer, J. (2007). Children's drawings provide a new perspective on linkages between teacher-child relationship quality and school adjustment. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 22(1), 55–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, L. J., Ungerer, J. A., Smith, G. J., Zubrick, S. R., & Wise, S., with Press, F., Waniganayake, M. and the LSAC Research Consortium. (2009). Child care and early education in Australia. The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Social Policy Research Paper No. 40. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/05_2012/sprp_40.pdf. Accessed 14 May 2012.

  • Harrison, L., Sumsion, J., Press, F., Wong, S., Fordham, L., & Goodfellow, J. (2011). A shared early childhood development research agenda: Key research gaps 2010–2015. Research report commissioned by the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth for the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. http://www.deewr.gov.au/Earlychildhood/Resources/Documents/ASharedECDResearchAgenda.pdf. Accessed 12 July 2012.

  • Harrison, L. J., Spilt, J. L., & Walker, S. (2012, July). Trajectories of teacher-student relationships to age 8 years and achievement in literacy and numeracy in a nationally representative study of Australian 4–5 year olds. Paper presented in Symposium 80: Stability and change in teacher-student relationships at school transition and through the elementary school years. Biennial meetings of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Edmonton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howes, C., Phillipsen, L. C., & Peisner-Feinberg, E. (2000). The consistency of perceived teacher-child relationships between preschool and kindergarten. Journal of School Psychology, 38(2), 113–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kochanska, G., Aksan, N., & Joy, M. E. (2007). Children’s fearfulness as a moderator of parenting in early socialization. Developmental Psychology, 43(1), 222–237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mantzicopoulos, P., & Neuharth-Pritchett, S. (2003). Development and validation of a measure to assess Head Start children’s appraisals of teacher support. Journal of School Psychology, 41(6), 431–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray, E. (2008). Children’s perspectives on the first year of school: Adjusting to the personal, interpersonal and institutional aspects of school. Unpublished dissertation. Charles Sturt University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, B., Martin, R. P., Hodge, S., Havill, V., & Kamphaus, R. (1999). Modeling the prediction of elementary school adjustment from preschool temperament. Personality and Individual Differences, 26(4), 687–700.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pesonen, A.-K., Rȁikkȍnen, K., Heinonen, K., Komsi, N., Jȁrvenpȁȁ, A.-L., & Strandberg, T. (2008). A transactional model of temperamental development: Evidence of a relationship between child temperament and maternal stress over five years. Social Development, 17(2), 326–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pianta, R. C., Nimetz, S. L., & Bennet, E. (1997). Mother-child relationships, teacher-child relationships, and school outcomes in preschool and kindergarten. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 12(3), 263–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pluess, M., & Belsky, J. (2009). Differential susceptibility to parenting and quality child care. Developmental Psychology, 46(2), 379–390.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rimm-Kaufman, S. E., & Pianta, R. C. (2000). An ecological perspective on the transition to kindergarten: A theoretical framework to guide empirical research. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 21, 491–511.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russ, S. J., Herbert, J., Cooper, P., Gunnar, M. R., Goodyer, I., Croudace, T., & Murray, L. (2012). Cortisol levels in response to starting school in children at increased risk for school phobia. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 37(4), 462–474.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sameroff, A. J. (1983). Developmental systems: Contexts and evolution. In P. Mussen (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 237–294). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sameroff, A. J. (1995). General systems theories and psychopathology. In D. Cicchetti & D. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology (Vol. 1, pp. 659–695). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanson, A., Nicholson, J., Ungerer, J., Zubrick, S., Wilson, K., Ainley, J., Berthelson, D., Bittman, M., Broom, D., Harrison, L. J., Rodgers, B., Sawyer, M., Silburn, S., Strazdins, L., Vimpani, G., & Wake, M. (2002). Introducing the longitudinal study of Australian children. LSAC Discussion Paper No. 1. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies. http://www.growingupinaustralia.gov.au/pubs/discussion/dp1/discussionpaper1.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2012.

  • Sanson, A., Hemphill, S. A., & Smart, D. (2004). Connections between temperament and social development: A review. Social Development, 13(1), 142–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spilt, J. L., Hughes, J. N., Wu, J.-Y., & Kwok, O.-M. (2012). Dynamics of teacher-student relationships: Stability and change across elementary school and the influence on children’s academic success. Child Development, 83(4), 1180–1195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sroufe, L. A. (1996). Emotional development: The organization of emotional life in the early years. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Thyssen, S. (2000). The child’s start in day care centre. Early Child Development and Care, 161(1), 33–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner-Cobb, J. M., Rixon, L., & Jessop, D. S. (2008). A prospective study of diurnal cortisol responses to the social experience of school transition in four-year-old children: Anticipation, exposure, and adaptation. Developmental Psychobiology, 50(4), 377–389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valeski, T. N., & Stipek, D. J. (2001). Young children’s feelings about school. Child Development, 72(4), 1198–1213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2012). Differential susceptibility experiments: Going beyond correlational evidence: Comment on beyond mental health, differential susceptibility articles. Developmental Psychology, 48(3), 769–774.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Volling, B. L., & Feagans, L. V. (1995). Infant day care and children’s social competence. Infant Behavior and Development, 18, 177–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Australia

    Linda J. Harrison

Authors
  1. Linda J. Harrison
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Linda J. Harrison .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Charles Sturt University, Albury-Wodonga, New South Wales, Australia

    Bob Perry

  2. School of Education, Charles Sturt University, Albury-Wodonga, New South Wales, Australia

    Sue Dockett

  3. School of Early Childhood, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Queensland, Australia

    Anne Petriwskyj

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Harrison, L.J. (2014). Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Influences on School Transition. 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_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation