Transitions In to Settings: A Literature Review

Introduction

In considering children within Early Years going through transitions into settings Walsh and Taylor (2008) studied an array of literature suggesting that children can suffer great difficulties going from play based learning to more structured learning in schools. Sharp, (2002 Cited in Walsh and Taylor, 2008) stated that in some cases, children are starting school from as young as 4 years 2 months of age; studies show that this early formal start in schooling has few benefits to the children.

About types of transitions

Transitions are processes that children go through in everyday life, according to Early Years Matters (2012)Transitions are defined as times of excitement, change, new opportunities and growth for every child. However there can also be times of uncertainty, expectations and procedures changing and surroundings not being the same. Transitions are sought to be an ongoing journey and not a destination, including the child’s input along with guidance from the parents, carers and practitioners.

Moreover O’Connor (2013) describes transitions as not only about the milestones, but the vertical transitions – not only the milestone changes in a life of a child, but also the “stepping sideways” that takes place…. that take place at different ages and stages ‘stepping sideways’ (Brooker, 2008 cited in O’Connor, 2013), Brooker describes horizontal transitions as something that happens every day in a young child’s life and explains this as the child not just ‘stepping up’ the ladder but also ‘stepping sideways’ . Furthermore Goldschmeid and Jackson (Cited in O’Connor, 2013) explored the impact of daily horizontal transitions implying that having a different practitioner assisting one child in different daily activities, for instance, one person nappy changing and another, then assisting with lunch can be somewhat unsettling for a child, not to mention that children will find it very hard to form bonds/relationships with practitioners in these circumstances.

Consequences of good and poor transitions…….. [Horizontal, vertical, life stage…

Department for Education and Skills (2003) state that the transition to school is the most crucial event a child and their family will go through, accord to Sayers and Lorains (2012) preparing a child for school is of utmost importance as it affects their long term outcomes. Research suggests that it is not just merely the schools that help the process of the child and families with transitioning to school but that the process of starting school actually starts years before the child starts school and carries on for a number (Dockett and Perry 2007 cited in Sayers and Lorains 2012). This process can be thought of as ecological terms reflecting relevant issues such as how an individual child perceived readiness for school (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) the study also expresses how economic climate can affect a child’s ‘school readiness’ and is categorised in to four components, first being the capacity of families and the home

The consequences of a poor transition are that in one study expresses how some young adults feel social exclusion, this particular study on young adults who were