Abstract
Extensive international literature is available on aspects and impacts associated with students' transition from primary to secondary school. However, in regional and rural Australia, it is challenging for educators and healthcare professionals to ensure that interventions supporting the emotional wellbeing of students transitioning to secondary school are informed by context-specific evidence. This paper presents a narrative review of research published since 2010 investigating students' emotional wellbeing and psychological impacts of the transition to secondary school, with a focus on programs implemented to support young people during this transition. Research specific to students in regional and rural areas of Australia was lacking, with a marked absence of studies in regional and rural settings outside Western Australia and Tasmania. Similarly, research evaluating programs to support the psychological wellbeing of students transitioning to secondary school was lacking. However, this review provides a comprehensive overview of factors influencing the transition to secondary school from the perspectives of young people, their parents and teachers. These Australian data capture particular concerns and features that may inform development and implementation of interventions specific to the needs of young people in regional and rural communities across Australia. In schools where no specific intervention is planned, this review provides general guidance regarding challenges faced by transitioning students and possible ways students can be supported. In particular, this review highlights the need for educators and researchers to work together to develop and evaluate programs to support young people as they transition from primary to secondary school.
Highlights
There is an extensive body of literature focused on aspects and impacts associated with students’ transition from primary to secondary school
The present review focuses on recent studies investigating: students’ emotional wellbeing, the psychological impacts of transition to secondary school experienced by students in regional areas of Australia, and programs designed to support the psychological wellbeing of students transitioning in regional schools
Non-Australian studies: perspectives on transition A comprehensive evaluation of factors that predicted successful or difficult transitions to secondary school was reported in the School Transition and Adjustment Research study conducted in South East England from 2012–2013 (Rice et al, n.d.)
Summary
There is an extensive body of literature focused on aspects and impacts associated with students’ transition from primary to secondary school. Erikson (1963, 1968) described human development as a series of stages, with adolescence defined as a time of identity formation Extensive exploration of this developmental stage over many decades has highlighted the complexity of the identity formation process and the multitude of factors that influence and impact on this process (Kroger, 2012). Bosacki (2016) suggested that few researchers and theorists have directed equal attention to the social and emotional developmental needs of young people transitioning from later childhood to early adolescence. She describes this period as comprising ‘complex social cognitive dimensions of...both...private and public worlds’ Young people in Australia transition from primary to secondary school in this complex context
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