Supporting the transition from early childhood education to school: Insights from one Centre of Innovation project

Abstract

Introduction This article presents some of the findings from a three-year (2005-8) Centre of Innovation research project at Mangere Bridge Kindergarten in Auckland. The Centre of Innovation programme, funded by the Ministry of Education, was designed to promote a deeper exploration of innovative teaching and learning processes already underway in early childhood services. The project built on a history of research by teachers at Mangere Bridge Kindergarten, which aimed to develop shared understandings between the early childhood and school sectors and support children's transition to school. Earlier research in 20 schools and 27 early childhood services in Auckland had painted a disturbing picture of the relationship between early childhood and schools (Timperley, McNaughton, Howie, & Robinson, 2003; Timperley & Robinson, 2002). Despite a commitment to collaborate, teachers from the two sectors (early childhood services and school) had very different expectations of each other, and most were dissatisfied with the current arrangements. A recommendation from the study was that early childhood-school teacher relationships need to be more focused on how well they achieve the task of a satisfactory transition (Timperley et al., 2003). Mangere Bridge Kindergarten's research was conducted at a time when the recently published The New Zealand Curriculum described an alignment between the strands of the early childhood curriculum and the key competencies at school (Ministry of Education, 2007), and the early childhood strategic plan, Pathways to the Future: Nga Huarahi Arataki, recommended that both early childhood and school teachers should have an understanding of pedagogy and curriculum in the other sector (Ministry of Education, 2002). These documents provide a framework and commitment towards more positive transition arrangements than was reported by Timperley et al. (2003). Nevertheless, as researchers we were aware that these policy documents only set the scene for transitions. As Peters (2008) discussed, the 2007 Curriculum provides a potential bridge to support children's learning across sectors, but the strength of the bridge depends on the connections that are deliberately made by both early childhood and school teachers. This project has provided new insights into the nature of these connections and how they can be strengthened. The New Zealand context Although primary schooling is not compulsory until a child reaches six years of age, in New Zealand most children start school on the day they turn five. This means that any day of the week a child may be leaving an early childhood service and beginning school the next day. The first class at school is usually called the new-entrant classroom, and beginning pupils are called new entrants. The New Zealand system contrasts with the more common annual, biannual or termly intakes that occur elsewhere. Overseas, cohort entry means a focus on transition often forms a specific aspect of the school year cycle, while in New Zealand new-entrant teachers are continually overseeing school entry. For children and families the experience can be very individualistic in nature as a child may be the only one beginning school at that time. The setting Mangere Bridge Kindergarten is situated in a South Auckland suburb, with a strong community focus. The community is culturally and economically very mixed. In 2008 the centre's records showed the children's ethnicities as 36 percent Pakeha, 27 percent Maori, 20 percent Pasifika, 10 percent Asian or South-East Asian and 7 percent Other, which includes Australian, South African, British, Czech and Spanish. The kindergarten is under the umbrella of the Auckland Kindergarten Association, with a parent/whanau group who support the running of the kindergarten. The kindergarten is sessional, with 43 children in the daily morning session programme and 43 children in the three afternoon sessions each week. …