Are We All Talking the Same Language? Parents, Practitioners and Teachers Preparing Children to Start School

Abstract

In England, since the beginning of mass compulsory schooling, the responsibility of preparing children for the transition to school has lain with parents and families. Over time, changes in society’s attitudes to working mothers’ and policy makers’ involvement in the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector have led to parents sharing the children’s preparations for school with ECEC practitioners and reception teachers. Political involvement in the ECEC sector has led to an emphasis on preparing children to be ready for school. This chapter considers the findings of a case study which explored parents’, ECEC practitioners’ and teachers’ beliefs and experiences of preparing children to be school ready. There were two transitions with which school readiness was associated and each had different expectations of children. These different expectations influenced parents’ relationships with ECEC practitioners and teachers. One implication for local and national political administrators of education is an aim to create transition policies and practices that foster relationships between the adults preparing children so that they can engage in two-way communication and co-construction of meaning.