Supporting Transitions in Children - Case Study Example

Supporting Transitions in Children: A Case Study Introduction Transitions from home to early childhood education and then to school are significant hallmarks for not only children, but also to families. The evolution into school is particularly important as preparations for school is projection of the future academic and professional attainment. The potentiality of a child to evolve successfully to school is dependent on their individual features such as temperament, personality amongst others. In addition, personal characteristics can be influenced by other factors such as parent characteristics and the societal characteristics (Centre for Community Child Health, 2008). Parent characteristic include factors such as feelings to school and the degree of paternal education amongst others, while societal distinctiveness include accessibility and the quality of local processes. The evolution to school is expected to be more challenging for those children who are from financially disadvantaged homes, black population, and such children who suffer from physical and emotional disability and families in the United Kingdom who are culturally and linguistically different from the general population. These children from such orientation are more likely to go to early child care before they begin schooling. For the children, flourishing evolution into and from the early learning environment can be aided by a raft of methods which include helping children to understand the processes and performances of the settings they are evolving into. The evolution to early learning settings into school, a collaboration that coexists between parents and institutions can aid parents in managing this period of transformation. This paper analyses the transition from home to early child care and eventually to school through a case study of Child G. Conception According to Cowan (2005), a transition in the context of this paper is the transformation in the being, in an individual’s life roles, central relationships, perceptions of self and the outer world, including individual competence to respond to novel challenges. A child in the early years in theory can predictably undergo a wide range of developments and these include: the move between home and early childhood setting, the move between a range of early childhood environment and the move from early childhood environment to school. Generally, transition concepts have been differentiated and specifically in terms of either vertical or horizontal passages. The former may imply the transformations from one phase or status to the next, contextually the upward shifts such as in the case study, and Child G’s movement from home to pre-school. However, horizontal transitions are less distinctive compared to vertical transitions, and it may imply the physical movements children make from home to school. The evolution into early childhood learning and care environment and into the learning environment is a significant hallmark not only for children, but also for their respective families. The evolution into school is particularly important as some children become better equipped for such transformation than others of a similar age group might do. Experts cite as the cause of the differences is the different cognitive, as well as non cognitive and social skills Centre for Community Child Health, 2008). This preparation for school has been explained as predictive of the future academic success or otherwise during formative school period. Duncan et al (2007) insists that future academic prowess is firmly attached to the long term academic and occupation prowess, a view shared by (Boethel & Buttram, 2004).  Significantly, the transformation from home to early childhood then to school is often misconstrued as point in time event, but the really is quite to the contrary. The true point of view should in fact be perceived as a pathway that begins before the onset of schooling and moves into the first years of school. According to Centre for Community Child Health (2008), a child’s long term success in school depends on their learning experiences derived before school and the continuing learning environment in the early school periods.  Experts suggests that knowledge during the transition to formal system away from the normal home environment or even to preschool can in the long run affect their capability to the change that comes with settling in a new environment. A successful start to a formal system is connected to the future encouraging results, both in academic and social settings. It is possible that during the period, a lot of difficulty can occur; however, careful planning can help in eliminating the bottlenecks. Importantly, effective and efficient transition is the precursor to a child’s future learning and development. Laying huge emphasis on the continuation of learning must acknowledge the previous and present experiences and this aid them in feelings of stability, security and confidence and a connection to people, locations, functions, routines and understandings. Various places and spaces have their own purposes, expectations and ways of doing things, and the preschool system in the UK in general and England in particular has been to develop different curricula. Transitions that exist between early childhood settings may lead to broad effects, and this may be a factor in promotion, or even disruption of the stability in a child’s education and growth. Promotion of continuity of learning and growth needs a partnership system between parents and educators to develop means to connect a child’s previous experiences with the novel difficulties presented when a child moves into a new setting. In this system, the contribution of children, parents and educators is paramount, and their contributions in total must be positive, supportive, and interlinked. The relationships should be in such a way that a child should feel that school is the place worth being, and as a result parents and teachers alike should assist them in the process of settling in. Parents must be included and feel part of the process from the beginning to the end; in addition, teachers, their colleagues and the whole community have a role to play, though others occur passively. Key Components of Quality Transition The major parts to consider when developing effective transitions are the principles underlying a positive start to school: ways to meaningfully engage children, families and educators in the evolution process, and the significance of community commitment. When families, schools, and communities work collaboratively in positive ways, hence the child’s capacity to achieve their learning capability is importantly improved, in particular to their general health, wellbeing, positive outlook and sense of purpose in life. In England, planning transition to school programs it is important to consider the importance of: pre-existing relations when establishing relationships, local knowledge about the needs of local children and their families. Additionally, ensuring, rather than assuming, that all the relevant information is provided to parents and recognized by them, the need to be flexible to meet the personal requirements of child and parents, permitting curricula to progress in line with the requirements of parents, children and teachers, more so in relation to logistics, dates amongst others and finally, to be mindful of making the program a part of, rather than additional to, the things already being done. The Transition from Home to early Childhood education and care environments Harrison et al (2009) longitudinal study in Australian children found out up to three quarters of Australian children to the age of four years were attending an early childhood care/education setting. The high number of children almost up to fifty nine percent begins involvement in early childhood learning and care from a young age of two years, and almost a quarter will go through childcare from a earlier age (Harrison et al, 2009). In that country, early childhood education programs as opposed to child care generally b4egin from an early age of 3 to 4 years. It is worth to note such a scenario is replicated in the United Kingdom and that in the country children benefit from spending a time in high quality early childhood education and care practices.(Elliott, 2006).  The opportunity to early childhood programs can offer children with social and cognitive skills that enhance autonomy and good attitudes to learning. The quality programs enable the transformations to school and underline later academic prowess (Elliott, 2006).  The attendance of school at early childhood education and care services can significant for a flourishing transformation to school for a child from home (Gorey, 2001). The consequence of attending a high quality early childhood education and care program are enduring children who attend high quality early learning and care programs benefit well into adulthood,, with higher levels of employment and reduced involvement in negative societal issues such as crime. High quality early learning and care practices are particularly important to those children from backgrounds that are challenged. Cunha (2005) found out those children from backgrounds that are challenged and attend preschool display a better level of attainment at the beginning of a primary school compared to similar children who did not have the chance to attend pre-school. Transition to School and Readiness A notable characteristic of any group of children who join school is the diversity. Children have diverse social and cultural backgrounds, diverse abilities and interests, though they will also be different in terms of growth and education. A positive support from all the stakeholders in the system, and they can have the potential to achieve a great deal at school. People often focus on whether a child is prepared for school when discussing commencing school, despite the fact school readiness a term that implies differently to different people. A transition to school system should be in light of a broad range of factors that shape such a period in a child’s life, and that includes cultural backgrounds of the child and their family, participation in early childhood services, the school environment and the social and emotional skills of the child. The Experience of Transition to Early Learning and care Environments There is a general scarcity of research pertaining particularly to children’s experiences of the transition to early childhood education and care environments. Much of the information that entails early childhood transformation emphasizes particularly on the transformation to school. The available research proposes that children are specifically vulnerable during such a time and may not benefit from early childhood education and care settings if they undergo problems that entail making sense of the new environment, changing to a novel role (Belsky & Mackinnon, 1994). During that time, children can also be a problem with novel habits and being separated from their parents. For successful transitions, the following must be important: Developing on a child’s prior and current experiences ensuring that a child plays an active role in the preparation for transitions, in close collaboration with families. The foundation of the analysis is the Vygotsky proximal development theory; the theory lays great emphasis on adults in expanding beyond areas. Child G obviously hostility stems from his dysfunctional family, the father had left them when he was young and the mother is suffering mentally as a result. Aiding the children to develop a thorough understanding of transitions, practices, and routines of the environments and herded to and feel inside their skin with the process. One should work closely with individual educator for the child, and others to make the transition process of a child a success. These practices are specific, and plus other factors could focus on the responsiveness to children, cultural competence, and an emphasis on stable, disciplined and reciprocal relationships, hallmarks the worth that the approaches can create to ensure children transition smoothly to the early learning and care environment. Parents Experience Children’s Transition to Early Learning and Care Environments The transition into an early childhood environment is the goal of the parents much like it is to children. Similarly, parents may experience anxieties inn such periods. The fact that children leave home to mingle with a new environment may leave the parents with a feeling of rivalry for the children’s attention and affections with that of the teachers and fellow students. More importantly, a child stepping into a new environment away from the preying and stable comfort zones provided by the parents may lead to concerns about the child’s ability to cope with the demands of the new setting. Sanagavarapu & Perry (2005) sums it up simply as learning where things are, what is expected of them, asking for help when needed. The collaboration that must exist between childhood teachers and parents may seem to improve some of these likely problems, such as the one noted in Child G, as a matter of fact, his mother is failing in helping the son transit as she does not want to collaborate with her son’s teachers. The collaboration aids in fostering an understanding between educators and parents about expectations and attitudes, and offers a base for the creation on the knowledge for both the parents and the educators. The setting is welcoming for parents, and promotes collaboration with early childhood educators, a significant boost factor for the collaboration. Transition from Early Learning Environments to School Children in the country begin their primary education between the ages of four and five. At this stage and relying on Chomsky’s information processing theory, Child G might be expected to develop their private speech, through talking loudly while performing certain tasks, a feature lacking in him. Obviously, the diagnosis of such a thing would imply an ecological effect on his development process. This is the ecological systems theory, developed by Bronfenbrenner (2009) and it refers to the balance between nature and nurture, in the case study, Child G is the midpoint of some concentric factors that make to function as he does. His volatility and impulsive behaviour perhaps are the results of environmental moulds than heredity factors.   Of those who enter, a significant populace may be vulnerable to physical health and wellbeing, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive based skill, and communication skills. In fact, early child educators have confirmed that children often have a difficulty of changing to transition and then to school (Rosier & McDonald 2011). Normally, an expression of being sick, complaints, increased worries, fears, crying, temper tantrums and finally negative attitudes towards school (Rosier & McDonald 2011). Coping properly and adjusting to the transformations that come with the transition to school is vital, often, people correlate positively the relationship between future academic success and coping and adjustments. Additionally, there is a positive correlation, with stable peer relationships, better behavioral and emotional outcomes, and good school appearances and extra curricula activities. Bandura’s social learning theory lays emphasis on the importance of peers in the development pattern of a child, Child G according to the theory has difficulty in imitating the behaviors of fellow peers, thus he is not learning much about society operates. On the other hand, a converse situation for a child may have a negative to one or all these factors. Children’s Experiences during the Transition to School According to the Centre for Community Child Health (2008), the transition from both home or early learning and care settings to school features the transition, more so as small scale to large scale interactions from high personalized relationships, and from environments with a limited variety of ages to an institution with children for different ages. In the United Kingdom, the learning framework for the formative primary students does not incorporate play based learning, which is different from the early childhood education and care setting that virtually uses the system throughout. In such systems, children sit for long periods of time, a feature these children were unused to during the early childhood education and care environments. In addition, they are required to be attentive and keenly listen to instructions from their teachers. In effect, a child can take a teacher to be an authority more than the teachers who interacted with them at the earlier stages. A rapid and abrupt transition for a child may be harmful to the long terms potential of the child and the greater the discontinuity between early childhood and school, the more complex the transition will be for children. Commencing school is not standard across the board as the children may be at different phases of developments and these include; self awareness, peer relationships, symbiotic concepts, moral judgments, physical skills and self help skills. Accoding to Vogler Crivello & Woodhead (2008) this is epitomized by the developmental stage theory, fronted by Piaget. Early child development is perceived as a natural and universal process of progressive transitions on children’s physical as well as metal and cognitive competencies According to Margetts (2002), adjustment to school, and that the children to attain their social as well as cultural function independently, which include societal acceptable behaviors. Children need make wisdom of the dissimilarities, novel processes, routines and practices and the importance that is placed on their behaviour. As the new familiarities goes on, it is assumed that children turn out to be more conscious of the need to be autonomous, and as the weights are focused on their social and cognitive skills amongst others. The coming to aware of the demands acts as a motivation for children, but this is not the general rule across students wholly as some experience anxiety with regard to expected performance and lags in development. This is significant as the need to meet the demands perhaps could be the reason to explain children’s high level of activity on their playing fields, however, emotional volatility may accompany the need to satisfy the demands. Parents experiencing their Children’s Transitions to School A child’s transition to school presents not only opportunities to the parents but also a host of challenges that accompany such situations. For a parent, the fact that a child begins schooling signifies a child’s capacity to function autonomously (Eaude, 2008). However, a parent may be concerned about their child failure or even inability to adjust to the new school. Difficulties to adapt can be manifested in a variety of forms, but mostly academic skills, behavioral difficulties and the inability to get along with peers amongst others. Parental expectations of their children can also rise in situations of achievement and behaviour ( Brooker, 2007). As a result of personal or even known negative experiences at a similar stage, some may have a concern on the mental and emotional state and safety when their children are in school. Parents with complex support need for instance those with disabilities, financial challenges may worry on their capability to offer the resources and support they have their children will demand at school. A positive and active involvement of parents can be vital driver for a successful transition into school for a young child. However, school perform an important function as they aid in the development of positive relationships with parents before the commencement of schooling, and after and before the transition period (Dowling, 2005, Ding, & Littleton 2005). Factors Influencing the Ability to adapt Cowan (2005) suggests a number of factors which are grouped under: child characteristics, parental characteristics and community characteristics. The first refers to the characteristics such as temperament, IQ, social skills and cognitive ability, and these points to the success of a transition for a child. However, parental characteristic that influences a child’s ability to transit smoothly can be manifested under parental socio-economic status, relationship status, intelligence, psychopath amongst others. Community characteristic involves the surrounding environment in which children live, available services, schools, and the relationship between these and the system generally. Child Characteristics The readiness and level of preparation to school at such a young age must be influenced by temperament, IQ, personality, social skills and cognitive ability. The ability to maintain self control and concentrate that is necessary for the strenuous class work must be as a result of training, perhaps personal self regulation attained before the transition to school. The ability to not only sustain friendship, but also make one , such a factor helps in reducing violence and the feelings of withdrawal, that has occasioned the case review under this paper. Boys often more than girls have the uncanny ability to make friends at this age and forming a certain security ring around them during the transition period. From the case study, involving child G, one or more of these factors could have been the reason that prompted a withdrawal stance and the hostility towards fellow children. Research has confirmed that if a child has undergone a number of programs, with the findings confirming that the more the better results for children, child G might have attended few of such transition programs (Carpendale & Lewis, 2006). Secondly, for a successful transition, the child’s level of developmental maturity must match a certain chronological age, a factor which probably is missing in case study under exploration. Boys, according to research have more difficulty, more than girls in adapting to the areas of social capabilities and good character. Probably, their hoe setting does not provide for the opportunity to speak English, probably another language making it difficult for the child to speak in English, merely providing the short answers of ‘No’ and ‘YES’ to the instructor. Research ha asserted that attendance of preschool activities could influence a successful transition, and finally, the availability of familiar person, probably a fellow child they have grown up with, or some child they have interacted with during early childhood care environment in the past. Parental Characteristics A positive parental can be the key towards a successful transition of the child from either home or early child care environment to school. The positive parent will predictably make the child to have a lot of confidence when approaching school for the first time. A woeful parenting who has stress and is ever anxious, for a child who is hostile, more so in t he mould of the one under case study review can impact on the child G’s ability to smoothly transit. A sound relationship between the parent and school may offer a common outlook and sustain for the main interest of the child. At home and even preschool, a child’s behavioral patterns are related to their parent’s personal experiences, probably at the same stage in life. Not that the statement does not assume that the ability to successfully transit school from either home or early child care is anything genetic, but rather it is influenced by a similar pattern in their parent. Based on this theoretical premise, Child G’s mother might be part of the reasons that informs the child’s anti social behaviour particularly in relation to the manner in which he interacts with his peers during playing times and even in class. The mover, from the information provided has struggled to cope since the birth of her youngest daughter; she has a history of anxiety, keeps on holding onto Child G at home and infrequently responds to Child’s G’s instructors even his teachers. Research claim that such cross generational influences can probably impact a child’s future academic development. Children from families that are financially challenged have been known, through research to be more prone to challenges of a successful transition. Nonetheless, for such parents, probably their parenting style may rescue their socio-economic woefulness. School Transition Programs To effectively carry out transitions in schools, experts have lauded the potentially positive impacts of transition to school programs (Devries, 2000). Such programs emphasize on the need to assist children to find comfort within a school environment even before they begin school officially (Palaiologou, 2013). This is important for one major factor, such programs can ensure that the children become more familiar with the new environment that nature has trusted upon them, including teachers activities and peers. Such programs are built on the premise that children would better adjusts in their first year of school and hence a higher degree of self confidence, and probably lower levels of hostilities and anti social behaviour such as the on e noted in the case study. In England, the provision of education for children who are under the age of five has always been patchy, more maintained by private entities, with the public system showing lower concentration on such an area. The importance of school transition is obvious, majorly for future academic success (Dunlop & Fabian 2007). Scholarly work has established that the development of a child is invariably connected to the socio-cultural settings in which the child is situated. And as a result, experts argue that a child’s learning from birth is the result of a child’s own activities and adaptive characteristics, hard wired into the cognitive faculties even before birth. Nonetheless, the support of other human individual’s peers and adults like who introduces a child to certain cultural tools such as language would eventually determine the directions the child would take, and this aids in the development, particularly on complex mental structures. Practitioners remark that children are being provided with six areas of learning by several providers in a day and this can range from breakfast care in afternoon sessions. Conclusions The transition from home to early childhood education, then to school ra the major hallmarks in the lives of children. Nonetheless, transitions can be problematic for children and even to their parents to a certain degree, particularly a disabled and financially challenged family and in the UK, families that have migrated and do not use English as the first language. In addition, preschool activities point towards successful transition to school, hence a lack of one may impact on the success of a transition. In fact, research has confirmed that a successful transition is positively related to preschool activities. The case study shows the challenges that facing certain student population, and in the case study, Child G may be a victim of his parent emotional and mental imbalance, probably, in the wider population he is a representative of a common problem that affects children from such background. Child G exhibits certain anti social behaviour towards fellow peers, a challenge to effective transition to preschool. References Belsky, J., & Mackinnon, C. (1994). Transition to School: Developmental Trajectories and School Experiences. Early Education and Development. 5, 106-119. Boethel, M., & Buttram, J. (2004). Readiness: school, family, & community connections. Austin, Tex, National Center for Family & Community Connections with Schools. Brooker, L. (2007). Supporting transitions in the early years. Milton Keynes, Open University Press. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=466363. Carpendale, J. I. M., & Lewis, C. (2006). How children develop social understanding. Malden, MA, Blackwell Pub. Centre for Community Child Health. (2008). Rethinking school readiness (PDF 36 KB) (Policy Brief no. 10). Retrieved from Read More