International Perspectives on Transition to School by Margetts Kay;Kienig Anna;

Author:Margetts, Kay;Kienig, Anna;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1211695
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group

What we have learned

In the Nordic countries, almost all children have attended preschool for several years before they start primary school. However, preschools and primary schools in the Nordic countries have different histories, traditions and philosophies. The Swedish researchers Gunilla Dahlberg and Hillevi Lenz Taguchi (1994) have highlighted two different views of children predominant in preschools and primary schools. In the preschool philosophy, childhood is seen as the innocent period of a person's life where freedom and innocence are emphasised. In the primary school, on the other hand, the image of the child has been as a reproducer of culture and knowledge. Child-directed and play-oriented methods have predominated in preschools instead of teacher direction, content areas and large-group instruction experienced in the primary school (Dahlberg & Lenz Taguchi 1994). This is in harmony with the Icelandic national curriculum guidelines for preschool and primary school, which clearly represent different views on children, teaching, learning and the curriculum (Mennta- og menningarmálaráðuneytið 2011a, 2011b). The results of the four studies reviewed above indicate that Icelandic children are very much aware of the differences between the two institutions and view starting primary school as a turning point in their lives. The findings are in considerable harmony with results from other transition studies that have examined children's views on transition from preschool to primary school (Broström 2006; Corsaro & Molinari 2000a, 2000b, 2005; Dockett & Perry 2007; Eide & Winger 1994; Griebel & Niesel 2002, 2003; Loizou 2011; Peters 2010a, 2010b; Yeo & Clarke 2005).

Findings from these four Icelandic studies, taken together (Einarsdottir 2003b, 2010, 2011, 2012), reveal several patterns.

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