CHILDREN’S DIFFICULTIES IN TRANSITION TO PRIMARY SCHOOL IN GREECE

Marina Besi, Maria Sakellariou

Abstract


In recent years, extensive research has been carried out concerning the transition of children from pre-school to primary school. However, little has been done in Greece. The purpose of this paper is to record the opinions of Greek teachers regarding which children are to experience difficulties in their transition to the next educational level. The survey was carried out on a sample of 1,602 teachers from the entire Greek educational domain. The tool used was a questionnaire consisted of closed-ended questions. It was also analyzed how their responses varied according to their gender and job position. Teachers believe that children with behavioral problems, learning difficulties, low self-esteem and discipline problems in the classroom, are at greater risk of experiencing a difficult transition. On the contrary, they do not consider that the gender of the children, their age and the area they live in, have a significant impact on their transition from pre-school to primary school.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter

DOI

Keywords


school transition, pre-school, primary school, Greece

Full Text:

PDF

References


Ahtola, A., Poikonen, P. L., Kontoniemi, M., Niemi, P., & Nurmi, J. E. (2012). Successful handling of entrance to formal schooling: Transition practices as a local innovation. International Journal of Transitions in Childhood, 5(1), 3-21.

Ayoub, C., O’Connor, E., Rappolt-Schlictmann, G., Vallotton, C., Raikes, H., & Chazan- Cohen, R. (2009). Cognitive skill performance among young children living in poverty: Risk, change, and the promotive effects of Early Head Start. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 24(3), 289-305.

Barnett, W. S., Jung, K., Yarosz, D. J., Thomas, J., Hornbeck, A., Stechuk, R., et al. (2008). Educational effects of the Tools of the Mind curriculum: A randomized trial. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 23(3), 299–313.

Biedinger, N., Becker, B., & Rohling, I. (2008). Early Ethnic Educational Inequality: The Influence of Duration of Preschool Attendance and Social Composition, European Sociological Review, 24 (2), 243 – 256.

Blair, C., & Raver, C. C. (2015). School readiness and self-regulation: A developmental psychobiological approach. Annual review of psychology, 66, 711-731.

Brooker, L. (2008). Supporting transitions in the early years. Maidenhead, England: Open University Press McGraw Hill.

Bryman, A, & Bell, E. (2015). Business research methods. 4nd edition. Oxford University Press.

Camilli G, Vargas S, Ryan S, Barnett WS. (2010). Meta-analysis of the effects of early education interventions on cognitive and social development. Teachers College Record, 112, 579–620.

Dockett, S., & Perry, B. (2008). Starting School: A Community Endeavor, Childhood Education, 84 (5), 274.

Dockett, S., & Perry, B. (2004). Starting school: Perspectives of Australian children, parents and educators. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 2(2), 171-189.

Dubow, E. F., Boxer, P., & Huesmann, L. R. (2009). Long-term effects of parents’ education on children’s educational and occupational success: Mediation by family interactions, child aggression, and teenage aspirations.Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 55(3), 224-249.

Einarsdottir, J. (2010). Children's experiences of the first year of primary school. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 18(2), 163-180.

Fantuzzo, J., Bulotsky-Shearer, R., McDermott, P. A., McWayne, C., Frye, D., & Perlman, S. (2007). Investigation of dimensions of social–emotional classroom behavior and school readiness for low-income urban preschool children. School Psychology Review, 36, 44–62.

Janus, M., Lefort, J., Cameron, R., & Kopechanski, L.(2007). Starting Kindergarten: Transition Issues for Children with Special Needs. Canadian Journal of Education, 30 (3), 628-648.

Hopson, L. M., & Lee, E. (2011). Mitigating the effect of family poverty on academic and behavioral outcomes: The role of school climate in middle and high school. Children and Youth Services Review, 33(11), 2221-2229.

Kiernan, G., Axford, N., Little, M., Murphy, C., Greene, D., & Gormley, M. (2008). The School Readiness of Children Living in a Disadvantaged Area in Ireland, Journal of Early Childhood Research, 6 (2), 119-144.

LoCasale-Crouch, J., Mashburn, A. J., Downer, J. T., & Pianta, R. C. (2008). Pre- kindergarten teachers’ use of transition practices and children's adjustment to kindergarten. Early childhood research quarterly, 23(1), 124-139.

Lloyd, D., Austen-Baker, K., Newell, S., Hughes, D., & Dietrich, U. (2007). Box Ridge Transition to School Program 1999-2003: Evaluation Report. Prepared for Health Promotion Unit, North Coast Area Health Service, Lismore, May 2007.

Margetts, K. (2004). Identifying and supporting behaviours associated with co- operation, assertion and self-control in young children starting school. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 12(2), 75-85.

McClelland, M.M., Cameron, C. E., Connor, C. M., Farris, C. L., Jewkes, A. M., & Morrison, F. J. (2007). Links between behavioural regulation and preschoolers' literacy, vocabulary, and math skills. Developmental Psychology, 43, 947–959.

McMullen, M., Elicker, J., Wang, J., Erdiller, Z., Lee, S. M., Lin, C. H., & Sun, P. Y. (2005). Comparing beliefs about appropriate practice among early childhood education and care professionals from the US, China, Taiwan, Korea and Turkey. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 20(4), 451-464.

Mistry, R. S., Benner, A. D., Biesanz, J. C., Clark, S. L., & Howes, C. (2010). Family and social risk, and parental investments during the early childhood years as predictors of low-income children's school readiness outcomes. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 25(4), 432-449.

O’Κane, M., & Hayes, N. (2006). The transition to school in Ireland: Views of preschool and primary school teachers. International Journal of Transitions in Childhood, 2, 4- 16.

Pianta, R. C., & Kraft-Sayre, M. (2003). Successful kindergarten transition: Your guide to connecting children, families, and schools. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.

Rimm-Kaufman, S. E., Curby, T. W., Grimm, K. J., Nathanson, L., & Brock, L. L. (2009). The contribution of children’s self-regulation and classroom quality to children’s adaptive behaviors in the kindergarten classroom. Developmental Psychology, 45(4), 958.

Rosenkoetter, S. E., Hains , A. H., & Dogaru, C. (2007). Successful Transitions for Young Children with Disabilities and Their Families: Roles of School Social Workers, Children & Schools, 29(1), 25-34.

Sektnan, M., McClelland, M. M., Acock, A., & Morrison, F. J. (2010). Relations between early family risk, children's behavioral regulation, and academic achievement. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 25(4), 464-479.

Schmitt, S. A., McClelland, M. M., Tominey, S. L., & Acock, A. C. (2015). Strengthening school readiness for Head Start children: Evaluation of a self-regulation intervention. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 30, 20-31.

Welsh, J. A., Nix, R. L., Blair, C., Bierman, K. L., & Nelson, K. E. (2010). The development of cognitive skills and gains in academic school readiness for children from low-income families. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(1), 43-53.

White, G.,& Sharp, C. (2007). It Is Different Because You Are Getting Older and Growing up - How Children Make Sense of the Transition to Year 1, European Early Childhood Education Research Journal ,15(1), 87 - 102.

Wildenger, L. K., & McIntyre, L. L. (2012). Investigating the relation between kindergarten preparation and child socio-behavioral school outcomes. Early Childhood Education Journal, 40(3), 169-176.

Yoshikawa, H., Aber, J. L., & Beardslee, W. R. (2012). The effects of poverty on the mental, emotional, and behavioral health of children and youth: implications for prevention. American Psychologist, 67(4), 272-284.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejsss.v0i0.516

Copyright (c) 2019 Marina Besi, Maria Sakellariou

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The research works published in this journal are free to be accessed. They can be shared (copied and redistributed in any medium or format) and\or adapted (remixed, transformed, and built upon the material for any purpose, commercially and\or not commercially) under the following terms: attribution (appropriate credit must be given indicating original authors, research work name and publication name mentioning if changes were made) and without adding additional restrictions (without restricting others from doing anything the actual license permits). Authors retain the full copyright of their published research works and cannot revoke these freedoms as long as the license terms are followed.

Copyright © 2016 - 2023. European Journal Of Social Sciences Studies (ISSN 2501-8590) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library. All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms. All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and standards formulated by Budapest Open Access Initiative (2002), the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing (2003) and  Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities (2003) and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Copyrights of the published research works are retained by authors.


 

Hit counter