Supporting Transition to School for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children
What it means and what works?
Published June 2013
Executive Summary
Education is a key strategy through which to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to overcome generational disadvantage. Every child begins their schooling life with a transition from home or an early childhood centre to pre- or primary school. The experience of this transition period for a child and their family is crucial in providing a foundation for future schooling life and education outcomes.
For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, this transition period presents significant challenges, but also opportunities. Notably, a successful transition can facilitate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s engagement with the school community and environment, enabling them to experience a range of positive academic, developmental, physical, socio-emotional and wellbeing outcomes. It can also support and encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families to engage with their children’s education, and promote a sense of inclusion amongst children and families within the school environment.
For these outcomes to be achieved, however, evidence indicates that particular attention is required to the holistic engagement of multiple stakeholders, including children, families, communities, schools and early childhood services. Furthermore, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, the importance of applying a cultural lens to all aspects of the transition process is critical.
A review of Australian literature on successful school transitions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children confirms that a series of key features are essential:
- relationship building and engagement with a range of stakeholders;
- high quality programs and experiences;
- strengths-based approaches;
- flexibility;
- cultural competence; and
- involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff.
In keeping with contemporary approaches to school transition, this review views five ‘dimensions’ as important for positive school transitions: ready schools; ready services; ready communities; ready families; and ready children. Together, these elements provide a holistic foundation for children’s transition to school that utilises the range of necessary supports and stakeholders that are crucial to children’s early development.
Research on these five different dimensions is of varying breadth and quality, and there remain significant research gaps. Strong commonalities are emerging, however, indicating the following:
The key features of ready schools are:
- school and family relationships;
- welcoming and inclusive school environments;
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and presence;
- positive relationships between teachers and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students;
- cultural competence;
- high expectations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students by all involved in transition; and
- valuing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge and ways of learning.
Comprehensive understanding of ready early childhood services is a knowledge gap. It is well understood, however, that these services play a vital role in preparing children for school in terms of academic skills and adaptation to a school environment. Key to this are positive relationships between early childhood education and care professionals and teachers.
Current thinking proposes that ready communities provide safe, supportive and nurturing environments for children to transition. Little research has examined this, however, within the Australian, and specifically within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander context. Some preliminary findings indicate that community leadership and ownership of early childhood services are important.
In regard to ready families, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families possess qualities that can support their children’s transition to school, but they may also experience a range of barriers in engaging with schools during the early years and the transition process. Transition programs need to address these barriers and ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families are able to engage both in the process of preparing their children for school and also with the school environment and educational process.
The meaning of the term ready children reflects a broad, holistic capacity, encompassing a range of developmental, academic, socio-emotional and physical skills and qualities that can enable children to smoothly transition to school. Current assessment measures are criticised for being too narrow in their assessment criteria and for being culturally inappropriate. A strengths-based approach to evaluating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s readiness for school is needed to appreciate and acknowledge the qualities and skills (including language skills) that they bring to school.
In summary, the paper proposes that to be effective, current approaches to school transition must recognise that transition requires a multidimensional focus, with a strengths-based approach to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s development and learning, applying a cultural lens, and targeting the five dimensions of ‘readiness’.