Icelandic Children's Early Education Transition Experiences

Abstract

Research Findings: The aim of this study was to shed light on how children perceive the differences between their early childhood setting and primary school and what they felt they learned when they started primary school. The children's playschool teachers were co-researchers, participating in the data generation, as well as participants in the study. The study was premised on a view of children as strong and competent actors in their own lives and a belief that the voices of children should be heard and taken seriously. Children's perspectives were elicited through group interviews and children's drawings a few months after they started primary school. Practice or Policy: The results of this study indicate that the children had the experience, knowledge, and ability to reflect on both their playschool experience and the transition to primary school and therefore that their voices should be heard and listened to by adults, thereby enabling children's perspectives to influence policy and practice.