Contextual determinants of kindergarten culture as indicators of children's well-being during their transition and adaptation

Doris Velan,Sanja Tatalović Vorkapić

doi:10.1080/1331677x.2019.1710230

Abstract

Transition and adaptation are challenging periods in children’s lives, and some of the most common ones are concerned with the setting of early childhood care and education institution. The contemporary Ecological and Dynamic Model of Transition highlights the importance of interaction between many intra- and interpersonal factors in the efficient transition and adaptation, which often reveals the key contextual factors of kindergarten culture. Therefore, the fundamental objective of this paper is to provide a detailed and systematic overview of contemporary knowledge in the field of the culture of early childhood care and education institutions and theoretical models of transition as well as relevant practices. The contribution of this review of recent scientific literature is all the more significant since there are very few such studies as well as empirical research in our country. The defined conclusions should provide guidelines for future research in our country as well as guidelines for further theoretical reflections and discourses related to the possibilities of improving practices related to children’s transition and adaptation in early childhood care and education institutions.

Highlights

In an attempt to understand contemporary transition models and indicators of child welfare in their transition and adaptation to an early childhood education institution, it is necessary to look at the contemporary cognitions of the multidimensional concept of well-being (Ben-Arieh, Casas, Frones, & Korbin, 2014)
Transitional periods in the life of early and preschool-aged children, especially the first ones, have a significant impact on the strategies that children use in later transitions and adaptations and have a significant impact on their psychological well-being, both in current development periods and later in life
A number of these aspects are described in this paper through individual elements of the institution of early childhood care and education

Summary

Introduction

In an attempt to understand contemporary transition models and indicators of child welfare in their transition and adaptation to an early childhood education institution, it is necessary to look at the contemporary cognitions of the multidimensional concept of well-being (Ben-Arieh, Casas, Frones, & Korbin, 2014). Based on the fundamental settings of the model for adults’ well-being, this model is extremely complex because it encompasses problems of subjective well-being and happiness, the Aristotelian prospect of a good life, and the right of a person to their voice and personal choice (Rijavec, Miljkovic, & Brdar, 2008). When it comes to children, the situation is even more complex because the well-being of children implies the lives of children in the present and the way the present affects their future and development. The values underpinning the Curriculum, which represent a permanent orientation for the achievement of educational goals, direct the care and educational activities towards the assurance of individual and social well-being, reflecting thereby the culture of institutions for early childhood care and education

Objectives

Conclusion