Call for Articles: Special Collection
Guest Editors: Associate Professor Rachel Takriti and Associate Professor Sally Peters
Abstract deadline: 31st October 2022
Submission deadline: 12th January 2023
Throughout their early years, children experience multiple changes or transitions. These include, infants or young children starting at an early childhood education service, moving between levels within a service or to different services, moving classes or changing school. However, it is argued that none of these are as significant as starting school for the first time as a young child. Internationally, this move occurs at different ages and there has been considerable debate in a number of countries regarding the appropriate age for school entry. Overall, there is a general consensus that supporting the transition to school to go well is important for children’s academic and social development. The first move to an early childhood services or to school is not a move which children undergo in isolation, with key stakeholders, such as parents, family members, teachers, etc. playing a key role in the transitioning process and likely experiencing a transition of their own, especially in the case of parents and caregivers as they adapt to this new experience as a family.
Given the importance of transitions for young children, this special edition will aim to address key gaps in the literature, leading to international and interdisciplinary perspectives and the identification of recommendations for future research, policy, and practice. The focus is on infants and young children starting early childhood care and education services or children entering formal schooling although we recognise there are a range of other life transitions that are important and also welcome papers which focus on other early years transitions involving children and families.
Key questions which articles could address include:
- How have early years transitions been conceptualized and theorized?
- What can we learn from research about ways to support infants and their families as they transition to early childhood services?
- What role does curriculum play in supporting early years transitions?
- What is the evidence base for factors contributing to positive or negative early years transitions?
- What strategies have been effective in supporting the transitions of children from different cultural backgrounds?
- How do parents/carers experience their children’s early transitions and are there differences related to cultural background/geographical settings?
- What are the links between transitions of the child and significant others (e.g., families, professionals, peers)?
- How is the first school transition managed in different countries?
- What is the evidence behind different positions in the debates regarding the age at which children should start school?
- How is starting school for the first time experienced differently by children who have attended pre-school settings?
- What impact do early years transitions have on later social, emotional and cognitive outcomes?
We welcome contributions from authors from different disciplines and sectors. Articles could be based on literature reviews, empirical studies, analysis of key policies/legislation, or secondary data analysis, using qualitative, quantitative and mixed-method designs.
Submitted articles should comply with the journal author guidelines and submission procedures. The articles can take various forms, for example, texts, multi-media.
Please submit your abstracts to r.takriti@uaeu.ac.ae and sally.peters@waikato.ac.nz by 31st October 2022. Should your abstract be selected you will be asked to submit the full article by 12th January 2023, when it will undergo peer review.
