The Transition from Preschool to Primary School: Views of Parents of Children from Diverse Backgrounds in Iceland

• Main Author: Egilsson, Björn Rúnar
• Other Authors: Jóhanna Einarsdóttir og Sue Dockett, Deild kennslu- og menntunarfræði (HÍ), Faculty of Education and Pedagogy (UI), School of education (UI), Menntavísindasvið (HÍ), Háskóli Íslands, University of Iceland
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Háskóli Íslands, Menntavísindasvið 2022
• Subjects: Transition; Parents; Preschool; Primary School; Diverse background; Skil skólastiga; Foreldrar; Leikskólar; Grunnskólar; Fjölbreyttur bakgrunnur; Doktorsritgerðir; Reykjavík; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/3814

The transition to primary school has been identified as a critical event in the lives of children that can have long term implications for their learning and development. The transition to primary school is also widely regarded as an emotional period of multifaceted transformations and adoptions of different strategies for parents, yet relatively little is known about the lived transition experiences of parents of children from diverse (linguistic, cultural, socio-economic) backgrounds. The aim of the research project is to examine the transitions from preschool to primary school from the perspectives of parents of children from diverse backgrounds in Iceland. Fourteen participants were recruited at two partner preschools in Reykjavík and invited to four rounds of semi-structured interviews over the course of twelve months, beginning at the end of their children’s stay at preschool and continuing throughout their first year of primary school. Photo-elicitation was employed during interview sessions and the data was interpreted through eclectic analytical frameworks and theoretical lenses. The findings of this study, which have been published in four articles, suggest both overlap and divergence in parental experiences and attitudes towards the transition to primary school. Preschools were generally regarded as positive places for the children but attitudes towards parental belonging in the preschool community were nuanced, with some participants preferring to stay on the ‘outside’. The start of primary school was characterized by the families’ acquaintance with parallel communities of practice: the primary school, after-school care centers, organized sports and leisure activities, and heritage language learning. Parents leveled criticism towards the former two and seemed more actively engaged in the latter two. At the individual level, narratives of taking action when the child’s wellbeing was considered at stake and of re-evaluation of the participants’ own cultural backgrounds and values of their upbringing ...