‘Ready for big school’: making the transition to primary school – a Jamaican perspective

Abstract

The aim of this small-scale, qualitative study is to understand the perspective of varying stakeholders responsible for student transitions from pre-primary to primary school in the Jamaican context. The questions that guided the research are: What factors affect student transitions to primary school? What skills do children need in order to successfully transition? and Who/what is responsible for preparing students to transition from pre-primary to primary school? To answer these questions a representative from the Early Childhood Commission, 13 parents and 16 Grade 1 teachers from 12 schools across the island of Jamaica were interviewed. Findings reveal that student transitions from pre-primary to primary school need systematic attention particularly in light of how this impacts on student success, not only in primary school, but in their secondary years as well. The data also reveal that a major issue affecting student transitions is the quality of pre-primary education and parenting practices in the early years. Also highlighted are the differing perspectives of teachers and parents on the skills needed for success in primary school. Parenting programmes and professional development for both parents and teachers, respectively, are critical if strides are to be made.

Select Caribbean teachers’ perspectives on the socio-emotional skills children need to successfully transition to primary school

“…According to research conducted by Kinkead-Clark (2015), primary school teachers believed that children's socio-emotional maturity increased the likelihood that they were ready to learn. Guided by this, through curriculum reform and development, preprimary school teachers were encouraged to support the development of such skills through intentional instruction.…”

“…Hardly unique from other regions, increasing use of standardized tests and the focus on teacher accountability have resulted in greater dependence on quantitative measures to determine what children know, what they do not know and sadly, how well teachers are teaching. For the most part, the majority of these studies have been fairly consistent in their findings with regard to the required skills and concepts children need to know and as such are generalizable (American Psychological Association, 2016;Kinkead-Clark, 2015;RimmKaufman et al, 2000). On the other hand, research has revealed that, within the Caribbean, there are differences as it relates to the socio-emotional skills needed by children to be successful.…”

“…Research has been very clear in outlining that multiple factors impact how successful young children are in the transitional phase, from pre-primary to primary school (Cassidy, 2005;Early, Pianta, & Cox, 1999;Kinkead-Clark, 2015;Woodhead & Moss, 2007). Globally, much research has been done on this issue because it is widely recognized that successful transitioning is a critical aspect of children's readiness for school.…”

Actualizing children’s rights through early childhood care and education: A focus on the Caribbean

“…This was the ambit of the family and traditionally occurred at the knees of a female – whether mother, grandmother or aunt. ‘Concerned citizens and/or organizations – UNICEF, Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF), religious denominations’ (Charles and Williams, 2006: 5; Davies, 1997; Kinkead-Clark, 2015) were credited with introducing formal ECCE throughout the Caribbean. The ‘predominance of private/charitable initiative’ (Charles and Williams, 2006: 5) mixed with ‘varying degrees of programme maintenance and monitoring support from Governments’ (Davies, 1997: 2) is the hallmark of today’s early childhood care service delivery across the Caribbean; and despite increases in the number of schools catering to children in the early years, there are significant differences in the quality of the offerings in these centres.…”

Profundizando en la transición entre educación infantil y educación primaria: la perspectiva de familias y profesorado

“…En este sentido, las familias otorgan más importancia que el profesorado a su adquisición, algo que coincide con lo identificado por autores como Chan (2012), Dockett y Perry (2014) y Kinkead-Clark (2015), llegando a señalar Yi Hung Lau (2014) que las familias trabajan en casa estas actividades académicas para preparar bien a sus hijos. Este hecho pone de relieve que no existe un acuerdo claro entre lo que familias y profesorado entienden por «estar preparado» para la Educación Primaria, tanto en nuestro contexto como en el ámbito internacional.…”