Outcomes of Good Practice in Transition Processes for Children Entering Primary School
Description:... The transition to primary school is one of the greatest challenges of early childhood. Handled well, it can set children into virtuous cycle of learning. But how can transitions be made more effective? Based on a background paper for UNESCO's Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2007, this paper assesses the literature and draws lessons about ways of forging links between primary schools, children's home environments and early childhood programmes. Starting from Bronfenrenner's systems theory, the authors identify different models for looking at transitions and present an overview of research, covering such topics as inclusion and resilience. They go on to consider the perspectives of the key actors in transitions--children, educators and parents--and present examples of successful initiatives from twenty countries and regions around the world. The authors then identify lessons learned from their analysis of successful initiatives, including the importance of children's social competencies, their capacity to make transitions with existing friends and to make new friendships, planning transition activities, and communication between schools, pre-schools and parents in advance of children's transitions. The paper concludes by identifying implications for policy planning and implementation, including suggestions for schools.
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