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Reframing transitions to school as continuity practices: the role of practice architectures

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Abstract

This paper makes a case for conceptualising transitions from the before school sector to the compulsory years of schooling as continuity practices. It begins by presenting an overview and critique of constructions of transitions to school that contribute to contemporary discourses and agendas (e.g. the conflation of transitions and readiness). Then recent international trends in understanding transitions as continuity are analysed and synthesised into three broad categories: structural, developmental and contextual continuities. These categories are subsequently used to develop a conceptual model for reframing transitions. The model is then used to first, examine a snapshot of familiar Australian transitions practices; second, highlight the interdependence of the practices and the sites in which they are enacted; and third, support the argument to reframe transitions as continuity practices. Finally, contributions the paper makes to transitions to school theory, research and practice are explicated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Southern Cross University, Locked Mail Bag 4, Coolangatta, 4225, Australia

    Tess Boyle

  2. Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, 4001, Australia

    Anne Petriwskyj

  3. School of Education, La Trobe University, Bundoora, 3086, Australia

    Susan Grieshaber

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  1. Tess Boyle
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  2. Anne Petriwskyj
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Correspondence to Tess Boyle.

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Boyle, T., Petriwskyj, A. & Grieshaber, S. Reframing transitions to school as continuity practices: the role of practice architectures. Aust. Educ. Res. 45, 419–434 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-018-0272-0

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