Perspectives for the transition from preschool to primary school education in an online environment

Abstract

The Covid-19 world health crisis has profound implications and its consequences throughout the world have social, cultural, economic and educational ramifications. Worldwide, preschool teachers were forced to develop the students' learning experience in a new online environment. This research aims to investigate preschool teachers' views about literacy and literacy practices during face-to-face and remote teaching. As a result, the effectiveness of these practices during remote teaching to support the transition from kindergarten to primary school is investigated. Views and practices from 18 Greek preschool teachers were collected with semi-structured interviews and were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results showed that although, during remote teaching several literacy activities took place, teachers expressed their frustration with literacy and transition practices implemented in this educational setting. Teachers seem to be really disappointed with this experience, especially for written language activities, as they considered that the problems they faced and the transformations that were made to their literacy practices did not offer the appropriate framework to meet the requirements of the primary school and the transition from early literacy to school language. Furthermore, they expressed their desire to create a framework for collaboration by primary school teachers via a continuous and systematic training program, especially in case that 'remote teaching comes back'. In conclusion, preschool teachers' reactions and attitudes could be the pillars for establishing a framework for collaboration to ensure continuity through a balanced literacy program and the transition from kindergarten to primary school.

Preschool teachers' perceptions of preschool education during Covid-19 in Greece: a diary-interview study

“…The issue of Internet accessibility and the lack of technical means that would allow children to participate in ERT has been consistently reported in the Greek context (e.g. Markaki & Kostas, 2022;Gkoros & Papageorgiou, 2023;Apostolou, 2023). Similar findings from other countries also indicate that a number of preschool children could not attend remote teaching due to a lack of resources (e.g.…”

“…While not the case with all teachers, two participants reported that many children were unable to participate in remote education due to lacking the necessary technological equipment (e.g. Yıldırım, 2021; Timmons et al, 2021;Nikolopoulou, 2022;Markaki & Kostas, 2022;Gkoros & Papageorgiou, 2023;Apostolou, 2023), which indicated that they were practically excluded from the education system. This practice could be detrimental to children's sense of belonging to school, as it resonates with exclusion and rejection and denies children the opportunity to participate in education and develop socialemotional and academic skills.…”

“…Timmons et al, 2021;Gomes et al, 2021;Abdul-Majied et al, 2023;Apostolou & Lavidas, 2021;Lavidas et al, 2022;Gkoros & Papageorgiou, 2023) are addressed in the future, no solutions have been proposed to overcome the limitations of remote teaching and meet the needs of this age group. Issues such as the lack of autonomy of young children, (Samuelsson et al, 2020;Pyun, 2021;Chalari & Charonitis, 2022;Gkoros & Papageorgiou, 2023), the difficulties of replicating the preschool classroom environment in an online context and providing the same quality of educational experiences (Chalari & Charonitis, 2022;Apostolou, 2023) are challenging to reconcile.…”

“…Like children all around the world, pupils in Greek preschools lost face-to-face contact with their teachers and peers, the opportunity to interact with the material space and objects of the school, their routines and familial ways of learning (Papandreou & Vellopoulou, 2023). Meanwhile, no guidelines were given on how teachers were expected to achieve curriculum objectives such as developing collaboration and socialization skills, understanding the value of teamwork or preparing children for a smooth transition to primary school through this type of learning (Foti, 2020;Chalari & Charonitis, 2022;Markaki & Kostas, 2022;Apostolou, 2023).…”

“…Significant problems with the implementation of ERT in preschool classrooms have been reported in a number of Greek studies as well as the international literature for teachers, children and parents alike. Prominent issues reported by Greek preschool teachers include lack of training and insufficient technological skills (Foti, 2020;Apostolou & Lavidas, 2021;Markaki & Kostas, 2022;Dadatsi & Koukouriki, 2022;Gkoros & Papageorgiou, 2023;Apostolou, 2023;Tympa et al, 2023), difficulties in developing appropriate materials for online learning in a limited period of time (Foti, 2020;Chalari & Charonitis, 2022;Markaki & Kostas, 2022;Nikolopoulou, 2022), the inability of ERT to meet children's emotional and educational needs (Apostolou, 2022(Apostolou, , 2023Gkoros & Papageorgiou, 2023) and the lack of internet and technological equipment in preschools and children's homes (Markaki & Kostas, 2022;Nikolopoulou, 2022;Gkoros & Papageorgiou, 2023;Apostolou, 2023).…”