Universal access to preschool education: approaches to integrating preschool with school in rural and remote communities

Abstract

In 2012, the government of South Australia responded to Federal agreements aimed at universal access to preschool education for children in the year before starting formal schooling by introducing a trial designed to ‘integrate’ preschool children into first year of school programmes in rural and remote areas of the state. This paper reports on the evaluation of this trial, exploring the ways in which integration was interpreted and implemented in eight rural and/or remote sites, the perceived value of collaboration in planning integrated provision and the ways in which two new curriculum documents – one for the prior-to-school years and the other for compulsory school – influenced the delivery of integrated preschool–school programmes. Results identify several types of integration, highlight some of the challenges of collaboration in integrating preschool with school and share the caution of educators about the push down of school curriculum into preschool contexts.

Keywords:

• preschool
• universal access
• integration with school
• rural and remote
• Australia

Acknowledgement

The authors of this paper wish to acknowledge the South Australian Department of Education and Child Development, the children, staff and parents of the sites in which the study was conducted, the study reference group, and the ETC² research team at Charles Sturt University.

Additional information

Funding

Funding. The study was funded by South Australian Department of Education and Child Development.