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The transition from kindergarten toprimary school, as experienced byteachers, parents and children in HongKongWai Ling Chan aa Department of Early Childhood Education , Hong Kong Instituteof Education , Tai Po, Hong KongPublished online: 09 Jan 2009.

To cite this article: Wai Ling Chan (2010) The transition from kindergarten to primary school, asexperienced by teachers, parents and children in Hong Kong, Early Child Development and Care,180:7, 973-993, DOI: 10.1080/03004430802586130

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Early Child Development and CareVol. 180, No. 7, August 2010, 973–993

ISSN 0300-4430 print/ISSN 1476-8275 online© 2010 Taylor & FrancisDOI: 10.1080/03004430802586130http://www.informaworld.com

The transition from kindergarten to primary school, as experienced by teachers, parents and children in Hong Kong

Wai Ling Chan*

Department of Early Childhood Education, Hong Kong Institute of Education, Tai Po, Hong KongTaylor and FrancisGECD_A_358781.sgm(Received 30 September 2008; final version received 28 October 2008)10.1080/03004430802586130Early Childhood Development and Care0300-4430 (print)/1476-8275 (online)Original Article2008Taylor & Francis0000000002008Wai [email protected]

This study investigates the transition from kindergarten to primary school throughthe experiences of the teachers, parents and children involved. Emphasis is givento the transitional activities participated in by the stakeholders and theeffectiveness of these activities. These experiences of children’s transition toschool will inform further research into the design of effective transitionprogrammes in the local context. The means of investigation in this study includequestionnaires, semi-structured interviews and observations. The results show thatthe teachers and parents generally believed that the children performed quite wellacademically, although the primary school teachers reported that they wereaverage in discipline. The findings from both the questionnaires and the interviewsshow that most of the respondents agreed that strong connections betweenkindergarten, primary school and parents could facilitate a smoother transition toschool. However, in reality, both kindergarten and primary school teachersshowed ignorance of each other’s teaching practices and curriculum.

Keywords: transitional activities; experiences; effective transitional programmes

Introduction

The transition to school is believed to be ‘one of the most important changes’ thatoccurs in childhood (Curtis, 1986). This transition is a developmental and transac-tional process, during which the changes are continual and vary as children grow, andtheir peer groups, families, teachers, schools and even community are all involved andinteract with one another (Ramey & Ramey, 1994). Some studies have found that asmooth transition to school contributes to children’s later academic and social success(Dockett & Perry, 2003; Pianta, Rimm-Kaufman, & Cox, 1999; Ramey, Lanzi,Phillips, & Ramey, 1998).

The transition to school has long been a popular topic for investigation andresearch in the field of early childhood education. Various international studies haveconsidered both the risk factors and outcomes of the transition process, as well asmeasures and suggestions for a successful transition. The context of this study is thetransition experiences of teachers, parents and children in Hong Kong.

Both the authorities and academics in Hong Kong have been concerned with theissue of the transition to school from as early as 1993, the year in which the localEducation Department carried out research to investigate the continuity of teaching

*Email: [email protected]

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practices between the kindergarten and primary school levels of education. In recentyears, the Education Bureau (EDB) has begun to organise seminars and workshopsto gather the school heads and teachers of preschools and primary schools to allowthem to discuss and share their experiences of children’s transition. The CurriculumDevelopment Council (CDC) in June 2001 launched a seed project concerningthis transition in two pilot primary schools (see http://www.edb.gov.hk/index.aspx?nodeid=2874&langno=2). The aim of this project was to strengthen transitionpractices based on the guidelines of the ‘Basic Education Curriculum Guide –Booklet 9A: Interface at Kindergarten and Primary One’ (2002) to help children tomake a smoother transition. Although the results of these activities and projectswere fruitful, such events are not regularly held; hence, only limited stakeholders areinvolved and benefit. Other than these ad hoc projects and activities, parents andschools can only collect the information and guidelines published by the educationauthorities in booklets and leaflets about helping children to adapt to their newprimary school life.

Children in Hong Kong are required by law to have formal schooling from the ageof five years and eight months. There are essentially no prerequisites for eligible appli-cants to enter primary school in Hong Kong, although most parents tend to enrol theirchildren in preschools. According to the 2001 population census of Hong Kong, therate of school attendance in the three to five age groups was 94.7%, which is a veryhigh percentage. This is because parents in Hong Kong generally believe that apreschool education can prepare their children to enter primary school (Ebbeck,1995).

There have been studies related to the transition to school in Hong Kong, but mostof them have aimed to identify the difficulties faced by children (Chan, Lau, & Poon,1999; Wong, 2003) or to investigate the continuities between the preschool andprimary school curricula (Education Department, 1993; Kwun Tong GovernmentPrimary School (AM), 2002). There is limited research that investigates the transitionexperiences of the teachers, parents and children in Hong Kong’s preschools andprimary schools.

A study by Chan et al. (1999) investigated the transition practices adopted bykindergartens and primary schools and found that the latter did hold transitional activ-ities at the beginning of the academic year, but had few communications with parentsthereafter. The study also found that kindergartens also had activities to prepare chil-dren for the transition to primary school and that they had a close relationship withparents.

The goals of the current study are as follows:

(1) To investigate how teachers and parents prepare children for primary school.(2) To identify the experiences of teachers, parents and children in the transition

to school.

Methods and procedures

Data were collected from the teachers and parents through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. As the children were too young to fill in questionnaires, inter-views and observations were used to collect their opinions and viewpoints.

The samples for investigation were chosen randomly from different locationswithin Hong Kong and include two kindergartens, one childcare centre and three

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Early Child Development and Care 975

government-aided primary schools. The study was limited to Kindergarten Three (K3)and Primary One (P1) children. The form teachers and parents from the selected classesreceived questionnaires and were invited to attend interviews. One kindergarten andone primary school were chosen for classroom observation.

The exact numbers of the study participants are as follows:

(1) 26 kindergarten teachers who taught in K3;(2) 12 primary school teachers who taught in P1;(3) 259 parents of children from the K3 classes of three preschools;(4) 523 parents of children from the P1 classes of three primary schools; and(5) 40 children aged six to seven who studied in K3 at the same kindergarten.

Results

Questionnaires

About 820 questionnaires were distributed to the participants, and 418 of them werereturned, of which 6.22% were answered by kindergarten teachers, 17.46% by kinder-garten parents, 2.40% by primary school teachers and 73.92% by primary schoolparents.

The ways to prepare children to adapt to primary school life

Table 1 presents the most popular ways among teachers and parents to help childrento be well prepared and equipped for the primary curriculum, and Table 2 presents themethods they use to help them adapt to primary school life. It was found that teachingchildren the proper posture for holding a pencil is the most frequently adopted prepa-ratory activity carried out by preschool teachers, followed by encouraging children toread. Preschool teachers said they only gave tests and dictations to children some-times. The results show that only very few of the parents gave their children privatetuition; however, they sometimes asked their children to do supplementary exercises.Primary school teachers and both preschool and primary school parents rated encour-age children to read as the most common way of preparing children to adapt toprimary school life.

From the results shown in Table 2, it can be seen that the methods used by teachersand parents to help children become accustomed to primary school life were ratherdiverse. The most common method used by preschool teachers and parents is trainingchildren for independence, whereas, for primary school teachers and parents, teachingchildren the rules and regulations of primary school was more popular. Primaryschool teachers also often chose offer more care to newcomers. Table 2 shows thatparents generally do not explain and discuss primary school life with their children asfrequently as teachers do, as the mean score was lower than 4.00 for parents, whereasthose for preschool and primary school teachers were 4.00 and 4.22, respectively.

Transitional activities organised/participation and effectiveness

The responses from the preschool teachers show that the most popular, and also mosteffective, transitional activity is letting children visit a primary school, with a meanof 4.15. Although most of the preschools do arrange visits to primary schools for thechildren, they seldom give them the chance to have lessons together with the primary

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976 W.L. Chan

Tabl

e 1.

Way

s to

acc

usto

m c

hild

ren

to t

he p

rim

ary

curr

icul

um.

Per

cent

age

of a

nsw

ers

(%)

and

the

mea

n

Pre

scho

ol t

each

ers

Pri

mar

y sc

hool

tea

cher

sP

resc

hool

par

ents

Pri

mar

y sc

hool

par

ents

Way

s to

acc

usto

m c

hild

ren

to

the

prim

ary

curr

icul

um5

43

21

M5

43

21

M5

43

21

M5

43

21

MT

otal

1. E

ncou

rage

chi

ldre

n to

rea

d40

4812

00

4.12

2245

330

03.

8934

4321

10

4.11

2538

324

13.

813.

892.

Tea

ch c

hild

ren

the

prop

er

post

ure

for

hold

ing

a pe

ncil

4056

40

04.

1922

3433

110

3.67

1439

3113

33.

4924

3927

73

3.74

3.72

3. S

uppl

emen

tary

exe

rcis

es4

4036

164

3.12

——

——

——

1012

4717

142.

884

943

2618

2.54

2.63

4. T

ests

and

dic

tati

ons

416

4832

02.

81—

——

——

—1

1635

2523

2.48

514

3429

182.

592.

59

5. P

riva

te t

uiti

on—

——

——

——

——

——

—1

1026

1944

2.07

68

1412

611.

881.

92

6. A

ssig

n le

ss h

omew

ork

——

——

——

1133

560

03.

56—

——

——

——

——

——

—3.

56

7. G

ive

few

er t

ests

and

di

ctat

ions

——

——

——

022

780

03.

22—

——

——

——

——

——

—3.

22

Not

e: K

ey:

5 =

alw

ays,

4 =

oft

en, 3

= s

omet

imes

, 2 =

sel

dom

, 1 =

nev

er.

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Tabl

e 2.

Way

s to

hel

p ch

ildr

en a

dapt

to

prim

ary

scho

ol l

ife.

Per

cent

age

of a

nsw

ers

(%)

and

the

mea

n

Pre

scho

ol t

each

ers

Pri

mar

y sc

hool

tea

cher

sP

resc

hool

par

ents

Pri

mar

y sc

hool

par

ents

Way

s to

hel

p ch

ildr

en a

dapt

to

pri

mar

y sc

hool

lif

e5

43

21

M5

43

21

M5

43

21

M5

43

21

MT

otal

1. E

xpla

in a

nd d

iscu

ss

prim

ary

scho

ol l

ife

wit

h ch

ildr

en

3139

300

04.

0045

3322

00

4.22

1233

3517

33.

3621

3235

102

3.58

3.59

2. T

each

chi

ldre

n th

e ru

les

and

regu

lati

ons

of

prim

ary

scho

ol

3142

1512

03.

9244

560

00

4.44

729

519

43.

2625

4125

72

3.79

3.72

3. T

rain

chi

ldre

n to

be

inde

pend

ent

6131

80

04.

54—

——

——

—27

4429

00

3.97

2340

295

33.

763.

85

4. O

ffer

mor

e ca

re t

o ne

wco

mer

s—

——

——

—44

560

00

4.44

——

——

——

——

——

——

4.44

5. B

e le

ss s

tric

t w

ith

new

com

ers

——

——

——

2267

110

04.

11—

——

——

——

——

——

—4.

11

Not

e: K

ey:

5 =

alw

ays,

4 =

oft

en, 3

= s

omet

imes

, 2 =

sel

dom

, 1 =

nev

er.

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978 W.L. Chan

pupils, as shown in item 3 in Table 3. The figures also show that most of thepreschools simulate the primary school setting for the children, and the majority(77%) of the preschool teachers found this to be effective.

The findings of the primary school teachers’ responses are presented in Table 4.Meetings for primary school teachers, pupils and parents to meet one another beforeschool starts was reported to be the most popular and effective transitional activity. Itwas found that joint activities held together with preschools and letting parents havelessons together with their children are not common practices in primary schools.

Table 5 shows the responses of the primary school parents about the activitiesparticipated in by their children to ease the transition to school. The results coincidewith those of the activities organised by the preschool teachers (Table 3), as a visit toa primary school is also rated as the most popular and effective transitional activity.The primary school parents also found simulating primary school setting at preschooland meetings for primary school teachers, pupils and parents to meet each otherbefore school starts to be quite effective as transitional practices for their children.

The primary school parents thought that joint activities held by preschools andprimary schools and a meeting for primary school teachers, pupils and parents tomeet one another before school starts are the most effective transitional activities,with the latter also the most popular activity participated in by parents. A few of the

Table 3. Activities organised/effectiveness (preschool teachers).

Percentage of answers (%)

Activity organised by preschool teachers 5 4 3 2 1 Mean Number

1. Simulate primary school setting at preschool 9 77 14 0 0 3.95 222. Let children visit a primary school 23 69 8 0 0 4.15 26

3. Let children have lessons with P1 pupils 27 46 18 9 0 3.91 11

4. Hold seminars about children’s transition from preschool to primary school

22 57 21 0 0 4.00 14

Note: Key: 5 = very effective, 4 = effective, 3 = a small effect, 2 = no effect, 1 = the opposite effect.

Table 4. Activities organised/effectiveness (primary school teachers).


Activity organised by primary school teachers 5 4 3 2 1 Mean Number

1. Meetings for primary school teachers, pupils and parents to meet one another before school starts

17 83 0 0 0 4.17 6

2. Buddy programmes in which elder pupils help newcomers

0 100 0 0 0 4.00 2

3. Letting parents have lessons together with their children

— — — — — — 0

4. Joint activities held together with preschools 0 0 100 0 0 3.00 15. Seminars on children’s transition from preschool to

primary school0 33 67 0 0 3.33 3


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respondents had joined P1 lessons together with their children, and the responses tothis activity were better than average, with 48% of the 61 respondents saying that thisactivity had a small effect and 31% of them reporting it to be effective, as shown inTable 6.

Preferences about transitional programmes/activities

This section considers the preferences of the respondents about the transitionalactivities and programmes organised, or the practices carried out by, different parties.They could choose more than one of the activities or practices from the list. Thepercentages represent the number of answers for a particular item over the totalnumber of respondents in each group. Table 7 shows the participants’ responses aboutthe activities they wished were organised by preschools. The pattern of the results forthe preschool teachers and primary school parents is very similar: both groups prima-rily chose letting children visit a primary school, followed by simulating primaryschool setting at preschool and discussing primary school life with children. It wasunexpected that only 54% and 47% of the preschool parents chose letting childrenvisit a primary school and letting children have lessons with P1 pupils at primaryschool, respectively. Instead, they wished that preschools had more discussions aboutprimary school life with the children. An interesting finding is that only a very few

Table 6. Activities that parents participated in/effectiveness (primary school parents).


Activity participated in by parents 5 4 3 2 1 Mean Number

1. Seminars on children’s transition from preschool to primary school

7 46 40 7 0 3.53 126

2. Meeting for primary school teachers, pupils and parents to meet one another before school starts

15 43 36 5 1 3.65 226

3. Joining P1 lessons together with children 8 31 48 11 2 3.33 614. Joint activities held by preschools and primary schools 11 52 30 7 0 3.68 118


Table 5. Activities that children participated in/effectiveness (primary school parents).


Activity participated in by children 5 4 3 2 1 Mean Number

1. Simulation of primary school setting at preschool 15 53 27 5 0 3.77 1902. A visit to a primary school 18 52 25 5 0 3.81 2483. Having lessons with P1 pupils at primary school 11 33 39 15 2 3.37 904. Meeting for primary school teachers, pupils and

parents to meet one another before school starts16 50 30 4 0 3.77 210

5. Buddy programmes in which the elder pupils help the newcomers to primary school

16 45 29 7 3 3.65 106


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responses were received from the primary school teachers for the item letting childrenhave lessons with P1 pupils at primary school; however, this was a fairly desirableoption among the preschool teachers, with a response rate of 65%.

The preferences of the respondents about the work to be done by preschool teach-ers to ease children’s transition to school are presented in Table 8. What the preschoolteachers themselves wanted most was to be able to observe the adaptability of the chil-dren after they had transferred to primary school, with 88% of them wishing to under-take such an activity. However, primary school teachers most desired to obtainchildren’s performance from their preschool teachers, with 90% of them giving thisresponse.

Preschool and primary school parents have similar preferences about the work tobe done by preschool teachers. They both hoped that these teachers could exchangeopinions with P1 teachers and that they could observe the adaptability of their childrenafter the transition; the responses for these two items were more.

The figures in Table 9 show the percentage of answers given by the respondentsabout their wishes for the work to be done by primary schools. The results of thepreschool teachers, preschool parents and primary school parents were of a similarpattern. They all preferred that primary schools use an activities approach to teaching,with a response rate of more than 80%, followed by run transitional programmes for

Table 7. Activities wished for in preschools.


Preschool teachers

Primary school teachers

Preschool parents

Primary school parents

1. Simulating primary school setting at preschool

88 40 63 78

2. Letting children visit a primary school 92 70 54 813. Discussing primary school life (e.g.

classroom setting, teaching approach, textbooks, etc.) with children

85 80 82 77

4. Letting children have lessons with P1 pupils at primary school

65 10 47 45

Table 8. Wishes for work to be done by preschool teachers.


Preschool teachers

Primary school

teachersPreschool

parents


1. Participate in P1 teaching 46 20 47 532. Observe the adaptability of children

after their transfer to P188 40 61 65

3. Provide children’s performance reports to P1 teachers

42 90 56 51

4. Exchange opinions with P1 teachers 58 50 71 65

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newcomers and lower the pupil–teacher ratio. However, for primary school teachers,lowering the pupil–teacher ratio was most desired, with almost all of the respondentsin this group choosing this item.

The preferences of the respondents for the activities to be held by primary schoolsare presented in Table 10. One hundred per cent of the preschool teachers chose letteachers, pupils and parents get to know one another before school starts; the secondmost preferred activity was school orientation for newcomers, with 88% of therespondents choosing this item. The other three groups of respondents all most wishedthat primary schools would hold a school orientation for newcomers, followed by letteachers, pupils and parents get to know one another before school starts. One notableobservation is that the figures for the item let parents join the lessons at primaryschool are significantly low for the primary school teachers and preschool parents,who scored it 20% and 32%, respectively. The other two groups of respondentsresponded to this item with a relatively high percentage of more than 50%.

Table 11 presents the respondents’ wishes for activities to be carried out byprimary school teachers. Most of them, especially the preschool teachers and thepreschool and primary school parents, said they wished that primary school teacherscould exchange opinions with preschool teachers. Most of the primary school teacherswished that they could make visits to preschools, with a 70% response rate for thisitem. There was a fairly low response rate of 20% among the primary school teachers

Table 9. Wishes for work to be done by primary schools.


Preschool teachers

Primary school

teachersPreschool

parents


1. Run transitional programmes for newcomers

88 50 67 79

2. Use the activities approach to teaching 92 50 83 803. Lower the pupil–teacher ratio 77 90 65 574. Obtain children’s performance reports

from preschools53 40 43 44

Table 10. Activities respondents wished were held by primary schools.


Preschool teachers

Primary school

teachersPreschool

parents


1. Hold school orientation for newcomers 88 90 92 872. Let teachers, pupils and parents get to

know one another before school starts100 60 64 81

3. Let parents join the lessons at primary schools

69 20 32 55

4. Run a buddy programme to let the elder pupils help the newcomers

81 60 60 59

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for the item participating in preschool teaching, whereas the preschool teachers werequite supportive of this practice, with 65% of them choosing this option. It is interest-ing to find that parents, in general, did not wish for primary school teachers to visitpreschools, as the responses of the preschool and primary school parents to this optionwere 19% and 25%, respectively.

Semi-structured interviews

Current transition practices – preschools

Simulation of primary school setting. All three of the participating preschools offereda simulation of primary school life in the last few weeks of the academic year, forexample, copying a homework list, having recess time and introducing class rules.However, one of the teachers reflected that there are differences between a simulationand the real situation. She said: ‘We can only get the meaning … or the concept. …What does the handbook look like exactly? What do they write in the handbook?Actually, we don’t know much about that … it’s only a simulation … the setting hereis still the same’. Another teacher proposed that ‘they [the primary school] … lend usa classroom for us to have classes for a whole day … that’s a concrete setting…’. Theteachers felt that firsthand experience is the most effective way for children to learnabout primary school life.

Visits to a primary school. The participating preschools had also arranged visits toprimary schools for the children. One of the teachers shared her experiences with usand said: ‘The children here [who] have visited [a] primary school may easily get usedto the routine of primary school life. For the children I taught before [in anotherpreschool in which they did not visit any primary schools], they may need more effortsto adjust’. However, only one of the preschools had allowed the children to participatein normal lessons with the pupils at the primary school; the other two just toured theprimary school campus. Most of the parents said that visits to primary schools werethe most effective way of helping children to grasp the concept of primary school life.One of them said: ‘I’m glad that they [the preschool] have arranged visits to a fewprimary schools for my daughter. Then they [the children] already have the basicknowledge of … life at primary school in their minds’. In addition, he also thoughtthat transition activities actually helped parents to become aware of the issue of thetransition to school, noting that ‘maybe we adults are very busy, we [don’t] noticesuch details …. After attending such [transition] activities, I realised that we have totell the children [what] primary school is like’.

Table 11. Wishes for activities to be carried out by primary school teachers.


Preschool teachers

Primary school

teachersPreschool

parents


1. Visit preschools 58 70 19 252. Participating in preschool teaching 65 20 42 353. Organise activities with preschools 73 60 63 594. Exchange opinions with preschool teachers 73 60 71 73

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Talks and seminars. Two of the participating preschools held talks or seminars forparents, in which they told them about the psychological adjustments that childrenwould need to make during the transition period and the preparations that they couldmake to help them. The third participating preschool only held a talk about theprimary allocation system. One of the parents found these activities to be particularlyhelpful for those who were having their first child enter primary school: ‘Because sheis my first child … I don’t have such experience, like [in] choosing the schools … [orin] the procedures. I [couldn’t have told] her … what she will face in Primary One orwhat the differences [between preschool and primary school] are if I [hadn’t] partici-pated in such activities’. A few of the parents thought that seminars were important,as they allowed them to learn more about how to prepare their children for the transi-tion to school. One of the parents further explained: ‘Parents can continue with theeducation at home’.

Other activities. One of the preschools invited P1 pupils to come to the preschool toshare their experiences with the preschoolers and to answer their queries aboutprimary school life. Most of the parents interviewed said that the arrangements madeand the activities held by their children’s preschools were good enough. However,some of them made further comments. One parent thought that the transition activitiescould be held earlier, as children began to think about the issue of the transition toschool when their parents submitted their Primary One Admission (POA) applicationsfor a Discretionary Place early in September of the year before they were to enterprimary school.

Current transition practices – primary schools

Welcoming programmes. All three of the participating primary schools held orienta-tion days or parents’ meetings for newcomers and their parents before school startedor on the first day of school to help the children to familiarise themselves with theenvironment and meet their new teachers and classmates. To build a sense of belong-ing to the school among the children, one of the primary schools set up a ‘CaringTeam’ and operated a ‘Buddy Programme’, in which teachers or pupils of the uppergrades would send small presents to the children and provide them with care andsupport or help them with their homework. One of the teachers explained: ‘We … giveeach of them a bookmark, which [was] made by their class teacher, on their first day[of] school to let them feel that they are welcome[d] by all of the teachers’.

The parents interviewed generally welcomed such activities and found them to beuseful. However, one of them said: ‘I just regard these [the orientation and the parentsmeeting] as a kind of procedure. Because this is my second child to enter primaryschool, I don’t have such [a] need. If this is for parents who have their first child here,it’s very useful. But for me … I would say it’s a waste of time’.

Academic assistance. In addition to transition activities, there are also other measuresdesigned by the participating primary schools to help newcomers. Two of the three puttheir homework lists online so that parents can check it at home everyday. Some ofthe parents found it very helpful to have such a system, with one of them explaining:‘I can check the homework that they have to do whenever I want. And I can check …if my child has got it wrong’.

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One of the teachers said that the school uses more lively methods, such as attrac-tive teaching aids and activities, to present the lessons to gain the attention of the chil-dren. For children who were unable to follow the teachers very well, it was arrangedthat they sit with other pupils who were more competent.

Routine help. All of the participating primary schools in the study shortened theschool day for the first few days of school. Pupils had to stay at school for only a halfday to learn the rules and regulations and the daily routines and to become familiarisedwith the school environment, rather than attending normal lessons.

For one of the participating whole-day schools, parents volunteered to be helpersduring lunchtime. They assisted in distributing lunch boxes to the children and incleaning or tidying up the tables. Slightly more than half of the parents interviewedthought that such arrangements were good. Some of them suggested that there shouldbe more activities for parents to participate in at the beginning of the school semester,such as funfairs or even birthday parties. They also thought that it would be a goodidea to allow parents to come to the school during recess time. One of the parents feltthat the transition period should be longer, for example, three months, and that duringthis time the children should take part in activities instead of normal lessons. Thiswould allow them more time to get used to the new physical and social settings,routine and more formal atmosphere at primary school.

Preschool–primary school partnership

Almost all of the preschool and primary school teachers admitted that they had almostno interaction with the other sector. They had only a few opportunities to meet oneanother, and contact was only at the administrative level.

Both groups of teachers were uncertain about the teaching approaches and curric-ulum used in the other sector. As there is wide diversity in preschool practice, oneprimary school teacher said: ‘Actually I don’t know much about that. I just know thecurriculum … maybe … [is] much easier than that of … Primary One’. The teachersfrom the primary schools thought that the approaches most commonly used bypreschools were the activities approach and the thematic approach. The preschoolteachers responded that the P1 curriculum overlapped a lot with that of K3. They alsoknew that increasing numbers of primary schools were using the activities approach.However, one of them had the following impression: ‘… I think the activity approachthey used is kind of conventional … they just have the students divided in differentgroups, but the teacher is still dominating the class’.

All of the teachers interviewed suggested that there should be more exchanges andmeetings between preschool and primary school teachers. ‘This [would] actually letthem [the primary school teachers] know how to help the children in the transition.That could lessen their difficulties too’, one preschool teacher said. The preschool teach-ers felt that primary school teachers seldom made visits to preschools, with one of themnoting that ‘[we’ve] been to the primary school … several times. But if you say theprimary [teachers] visit … preschool[s] … according to my own experience, it’s rare’.

Suggestions for enhancing preschool–primary school partnership

Some of the preschool teachers and parents suggested that cooperation betweenpreschools and primary schools should involve more than visits. They felt that it

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would provide a good opportunity for children and parents to have a closer look at,and a more comprehensive understanding of, primary school if these schools heldmore parent–child events, such as funfairs or open days, and invited the preschoolswithin the region to participate. One of the parents also added: ‘Parents [would] also[learn] more about the quality of the primary schools within the region [if] they partic-ipate[d] in these joint activities’. Another parent said: ‘The information we knowabout primary school is out-of-date’. Therefore, he thought that talks or seminars heldby primary schools would be very helpful for parents, as many of them are not familiarwith primary school life today.

The parents also suggested reciprocal visits and placement arrangements betweenthe two parties. One of them said: ‘The primary school teachers could visit thepreschool, so that they could have a better understanding [of] their teaching methodand practice’. However, the parents also realised that such arrangements would bevery difficult to make, as there are many administrative restraints. Few of them feltthat the present level of cooperation and relationship between the two parties wasgood enough.

A few of the primary school teachers suggested that preschools could co-operatewith primary schools by providing them with the performance records of graduatingchildren. ‘Send us a report of the details of child, I mean, about how he [or she]performed in learning, about his [or her] character …. I think we can have a betterunderstanding of the children’, one teacher suggested.

Observations

At the kindergarten

The first part of the observations was undertaken at one of the participating kindergar-tens. The teachers introduced the topic of primary school life to the children anddiscussed it with them. The children’s responses to and perspectives about the issuewere observed. They expressed their expectations for their new school life, and, at thesame time, showed their worries and ignorance about it. The children were excitedduring the discussion and made known their wishes for the transition to school. Someof them wanted to have better academic achievements, for example, to get high marksfor dictations and become first in their class. However, some of them also hoped thatthere would not be much homework and that the homework would be very easy to do.Socially, most of them hoped to make more new friends. In general, they hoped thatthe teachers in primary school would treat them very well and not scold them.

The children also had expectations for the primary school environment. They wereasked to draw their own primary school campus. Most of the drawings were colourfuland dynamic. One of the children drew many facilities in his ‘campus’, such as arestaurant, vending machine, swimming pool, etc. Another child drew a campus witha lot of staircases and said: ‘There are many staircases at the primary school. I have toclimb many steps to go to the classroom’. This shows that the children thought thatthe primary school campus was very large and had many facilities.

In addition to their hopes for primary school, they also shared their worries withothers during the discussion. Most of these worries concerned academic study and theteachers’ attitudes. The children had been told by their parents or siblings that therewould be a huge amount of homework at primary school, and they worried about it alot. Also, they were afraid that the teachers at primary school would punish them andscold them. Children were free to ask any questions related to primary school during

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the discussion, and this revealed their ignorance. They were curious about the physicalsetting of the learning environment, and they wanted to know if there would be toysand books and wondered where they would put their school bags in the classroom.They asked about the number of floors and the kinds of special rooms at primaryschool. They also asked about the routine and the activities of their new school life,such as the types of extra-curricular activities and those that could be done duringrecess. The children also asked questions about the new curriculum; they did not havemuch knowledge about the different kinds of subjects at primary school. The kinder-garten teacher answered some of these questions, but for others, she asked them tofind out for themselves during their visit to a primary school.

After the observations in the kindergarten class, three visits to three differentprimary schools in the region were then observed. The children toured around thecampus, joined some of the lessons with the primary pupils, and took part in recess onthe playground. Once they were back at the kindergarten, they reported their feelingsabout the visits and answered the questions they had raised before. They gave positivefeedback and were very excited about the trip. Some of them even said that they wouldlike to attend primary school at once. From the visits, the children noticed that thereare many discrepancies between kindergarten and primary school. They pointed outthat there were different toilets for boys and girls and that the hall was much larger.Most of the children liked the art room and the computer room the most. They alsovery much enjoyed recess, as they could talk and move around freely and have snacks.Overall, they had a positive attitude towards transferring to primary school, as most ofthem thought that it also symbolised their transition to an ‘older-child’.

At the primary school

The second part of the observations took place at a primary school and focused on theperformance of the children in class, at recess and during lunchtime.

Sometimes, the children did not pay attention in class. They chatted with theirclassmates or played with things they’d brought with them. When they were inter-ested in what the teacher was talking about, they paid more attention. It seems thatthey found the classes uninteresting or that the content was too easy, as most of thematerial had been covered in their kindergarten curriculum. It was observed thatthe children had difficulties in understanding teachers’ instructions in some of thelessons, for example, in English and Putonghua. The children were asked to writedown the work they had to do in their handbook at the end of each lesson, but it wasfound that most of them were unable to do this correctly, as they were not familiarwith the table in the handbook. Some of them wrote very slowly, and they weregiven only a short time to write.

During recess, the children were free to gather on the playground. Most of thembehaved well socially and shared food and talk and played with their classmates orfriends from other classes. Only a few of the pupils stayed alone on the playgroundand did not play with or talk to others. The children were also able to find their ownway to the toilet.

At the end of recess, the children were asked to queue up. It was found that theywere able to queue up quickly, but not all of them were able to stand quietly in thequeue and listen to the teacher who was holding the assembly. In addition to thisdiscipline problem, the children were also observed to have difficulties in sitting stilland keeping quiet in class. It seems that they were not yet used to the more formal

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practices in the primary school classroom, as many of them acted as if they were stillin kindergarten, where they had been comparatively free to speak and move aroundmore freely. The teachers had to make several interruptions to calm down the pupilsin a 30-minute lesson.

There were few problems with the children’s self-sufficiency skills, as theymanaged to eat properly and clean up after themselves at lunch. However, it wasfound that the time allowed for lunch was too short, and quite a number of the childrenwere unable to finish their meals within the given time.

Discussion

This study provides insights into the experiences of teachers, parents and childrenwith regard to the transition to primary school. A more comprehensive picture of thistransition has now been formed, and hence, we have a more thorough understandingof the situation. The significant findings of the study are analysed in this section, alongwith possible explanations to account for the results. Recommendations of solutionsto facilitate effective transition programmes are also provided.

Transitional activities

Most of the parents were satisfied with the transition activities arranged by thepreschools and primary schools, and they found the visits to primary schools to be themost effective activity. The parents complimented the preschools on their transitionarrangements, as they felt that they gave the children a brief understanding of andsome preparation for primary school life and also benefited parents. However, mostof the parents said there was not enough support from primary schools.

This implies that the effects of the transition activities organised by preschools ismore noticeable and shows faster results, whereas the work done by primary schoolshas only gradual outcomes and impact. Another explanation is that the supportprovided by primary schools is not enough to take care of all of the pupils in theschool. The most problematic pupils will almost certainly gain the most attention fromteachers or even from the social worker at the school. However, pupils with moderatetransition problems will probably be neglected. From this point of view, such prob-lems as a lack of social workers and a high pupil–teacher ratio may also account forthe situation.

Another problem identified is that both preschool and primary school teachersexpressed frustration that they have little or no interaction or communication witheach other. It is unlikely that the two parties can construct smooth transition arrange-ments or practices without communicating with each other, which suggests that theydeal with children’s transition problems on their own. Although there is cooperationbetween preschools and primary schools, for example, visits and open days, theexchange is limited to a superficial level. The difficulties faced by the participatingpreschool teachers reveals the significance of both parties having a thorough under-standing of each other, as these teachers felt that they lacked knowledge about primaryschool teaching practices and the curriculum. This means that they have to use theirimagination, make assumptions and convey outdated information to prepare youngchildren for the transition.

In general, the children in this study did not encounter any huge transition prob-lems. They were able to do fairly well academically and socially and could look

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after themselves during recess and lunch. The major difficulty was found to be disci-plinary problems, and these may be attributable to the size of the class and to theshort attention span of children.

Recommendations

To ensure a smooth transition for each individual, as mentioned before, the transitionprocess needs to be continual, developmental and transactional (Pianta & Walsh,1996). Still, the suggestions given here should serve as explicit and concrete measuresfor improving the situation and minimising discontinuities.

Suggestions for effective transition

Transition practices

● By preschoolsExperiencing and exploring primary school life. The respondents regardedprimary school visits as the most common and effective transitional practiceprovided by preschools. They allow children to observe and experience theconcrete setting and objects, as well as primary school life. The ideal is for thepreschoolers to participate in lessons and activities along with the primaryschool pupils during these visits. As previously mentioned, the person whoestablishes the link between the two places is crucial (Bronfenbrenner, 1979);therefore, children may project a more secure and comfortable feeling onto thenew setting if they experience primary school life with their preschool peers andteachers. With such first-hand experience, their anxieties and uncertainties aboutthe new setting can be diminished.

Interactive, open and continual discussion for parents and children. Although itis common for schools to hold talks and seminars for parents about the transitionto school, these activities are indispensable, especially for those who have a firstchild entering school. These activities not only provide information and solutionsfor parents, but also arouse their attention about the issue. This allows them tobe prepared for any problems and hence begin any necessary intervention as earlyas possible. It should be noted that the discussion in such sessions should be openand interactive, with participants given the opportunity to ask questions andconfer with one another about transition issues. This will be more valuable thana speech or talk. Also, these kinds of discussion should be held continuallythroughout the entire transition process, for example, from the second half of thelast academic year of preschool to the end of the first semester of P1. This willallow follow-up actions to be taken and transition practices to be evaluated.

Discussions should also be organised for the young children, as they are curiousbut ignorant about the transition. Preschools could invite primary school teach-ers and pupils to share their experiences of primary school life with thepreschoolers and answer any questions they may have, as well as discuss theirworries and anxieties.

Pre-academic skills reinforcement and behavioural guidance. According to theexperiences of the participating preschool and primary teachers, pre-academic

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skills reinforcement and behavioural guidance are recommended over the simu-lation of primary school setting and routine at preschool. First, as preschoolshave inadequate resources and knowledge to run a simulation that is close to real-ity, and the situation may vary at different primary schools, children may still beunprepared for the new primary school setting after a simulation. Second, thepractices at primary school may not be developmentally appropriate forpreschoolers. Moreover, it is believed that the formal ‘structure’ experienced inpreschools has an insignificant relationship with the nature of children’s transi-tion (Peters, 2000). Finally, pre-academic skills reinforcement and behaviouralguidance were highlighted by the majority of the teachers and parents, whocommented that both needed to be improved to facilitate young children’s learn-ing processes when they enter primary school. This implies that even though thechildren had experienced a simulation of primary school setting and routine andhad massive practice with mechanical handwriting tasks as part of their earlychildhood education, they were still not as competent as adults expected them tobe.

Preschools could focus more on basic writing skills (e.g. the proper posture forwriting, the sequence of strokes) and meaningful writing activities (e.g. writinggreeting cards, keeping a diary, making posters) and on reading, instruction-following and self-expression skills, rather than asking young children to copyhomework lists, giving them difficult and huge amounts of mechanical writingdrills or asking them to memorise materials that are far beyond the comprehen-sion of young children. In addition to pre-academic skills, behavioural guidancealso needs to be strengthened at preschools. Although preschools encourage amore informal style of learning and advocate ‘learning through play’, childrenshould also be taught proper behaviour. Preschool teachers could cultivate inchildren basic social manners and teach them appropriate greetings and theproper behaviour to adopt in a learning environment, such as showing respectfor, paying attention to and not interrupting other speakers, no matter whetherthey are teachers or other pupils.

● By primary schoolsWelcoming programmes. As children enter primary school, welcomingprogrammes, such as orientation, transition week or even summer school, couldestablish in them a sense of belonging as such programmes allow them tobecome familiar with the physical and social setting of the new environment. Inits curriculum guide (CDC, 2002), the CDC also suggests that schools hold avariety of activities within an induction programme to provide more opportuni-ties and time for children to adapt, as building a sense at school is crucial foryoung children’s future development. Some primary schools in Hong Kong,including one of the participating schools, have a ‘Buddy Programme’ thatallows pupils from higher grades to guide new entrants by touring the campuswith them or helping them with their homework. This is one of the CDC’ssuggested transition practices.

Clear school policies and goals. It is widely believed that having clear schoolpolicies and goals for both teachers and parents is essential to lessen children’sstress (Hoffman, 1991; Purkey & Smith, 1983). When teachers and parents sharethe same goals, education can be extended to the home. According to the findings

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of the current study, some teachers find that parents are unable to follow theacademic and disciplinary approach used at primary schools. Some families arealso unfamiliar with or have no idea of the directions and goals of the school.Thus, children may experience diverse standards and approaches at home andschool, which confuses them and causes them stress. If school policies and goalsare stated clearly to families, then discrepancies in expectation between teachersand parents can be reduced or better handled.

Dynamic transitional measures. To accommodate the constantly changingnature of the transition to school, transition measures need to be adjusted grad-ually over time. First, the transition period in primary schools should be length-ened to allow new pupils to adapt to individuals changes step by step. Thisperiod could last as long as one semester instead of the common practice of afew days or a week. Second, examples of other concrete measures that could betaken include shortening the length of the school day during the transitionperiod, eliminating the requirement to copy the homework list and adjusting theacademic levels and requirements. According to the results of the current study,parents too desire such measures.

Preschool–primary school partnership

Exchanges between teachers

There is no doubt that the relationship between preschool and primary school is vital.The transition process would be more coherent if there were mutual understanding ofthe curriculum and teaching pedagogy between the two sectors. For such a goal to beachieved, such activities as visits, seminars and workshops should be undertaken toprovide more opportunities for the teachers of the two sectors to have more exchangesand discussions about transition issues. Denmark has co-operative team teaching, inwhich preschool and primary school teachers work together and plan the transitionprogramme for preschool groups (UNESCO, 1996). This is certainly an ideal mode ofcollaboration, but it is probably not practical in Hong Kong at present. Reciprocalclass observations and placements, however, may be relatively feasible and also help-ful. Through such experiences and observations, teachers will be able to learn aboutthe interaction styles and participation patterns of, and topics of interest to, children atthe two different levels of education and obtain more up-to-date information.

Holding joint activities

In addition to interactions between the two groups of teachers, there should also beexchanges for parents and children. For example, preschools and primary schoolscould co-organise joint activities, such as funfairs or even ‘summer schools’. Thesemix-aged activities would benefit both preschoolers and primary school pupils. It hasbeen proposed that the critical link between the two settings is the person who estab-lishes the link in the first place (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Children can develop a morepositive attitude towards the primary school setting if their initial visit to a primaryschool is with their parents during joint activities.

According to the findings of the current study, preschools hope to seek supportfrom primary schools to provide a real setting in which preschoolers can experience

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the new learning environment. This would also form a type of interaction betweenthe two sectors. If possible, it would be helpful for preschoolers to have triallessons conducted by their preschool teachers at the primary school that they aregoing to attend. In this way, children can experience the adjustments in a concreteenvironment.

Exchanging children’s information

Primary school teachers would like to receive children’s detailed written assessmentreports, rather than just their grade reports, from preschool teachers to give them moreknowledge of new entrants. This is also a form of collaboration between preschool andprimary school and allows primary school teachers to have a more comprehensiveunderstanding of the competence of each child to reduce mismatches and discontinu-ities between children’s abilities and teachers’ expectations.

Fostering school collaboration

Both the preschool and primary school teachers in this study admitted that commu-nication and interaction with each other are important. The CDC guidelines (2002)also suggest that schools ‘develop school policy and formulate action plan[s]’ toaddress the issue and execute adjustment measures. It is suggested that a preschooland primary school alliance be formed to set up working groups to formulate goalsand policies for effective transition and to organise and plan transition programmesand curricula.

Family–school partnership

Providing more channels for communication

The family plays an important role in children’s transition to school, as they givesupport and encouragement to children to help them overcome initial difficulties.According to the findings of this study, primary school parents do not have as muchcommunication with the school as do preschool parents. These parents understand thatteachers have a heavy academic and administrative workload, but they still expect tohave frequent communication with them. Therefore, they would like there to be morechannels for communicating with the school and teachers, for instance, by utilisinginformation technology in the form of bulletin boards, discussion forums, chatroomsand the like.

Despite the availability of communication channels, schools should also have anopen attitude to the family by establishing a comfortable and welcoming environment.This allows families to develop a ‘belonging relationship’ with the school, which isessential for strengthening family–school partnership.

Proactive support for families

Schools also need to take a proactive approach to communicating with parents, as, aswas found in this study, some parents may not be aware of the problems faced bynew entrants or the support offered by primary schools. Preschools and primaryschools should actively provide easily accessible information and frequent support,

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for example, booklets, reference books and materials, and regular seminars andworkshops, to arouse the attention of parents about children’s transition to school andto educate them about the important role played by the family in this period. In addi-tion, teachers can also take on an active role in understanding individual pupils’experiences and level of adaptability via informal meetings or phone calls, especiallyat the initial stage of the transition period. As prevention and early intervention arealways better than remedies, it is necessary to alert families about such issue beforethere are any negative impacts on children.

Responsive two-way communication

Two-way communication is the key to creating a strong bond in a relationship.According to some of the parents interviewed, schools and teachers listen to theirconcerns about children’s difficulties, but most of the time they do not see much of aresponse or any obvious action taken by the school. Families have the feeling that theirworries and concerns are not being addressed and blame the school for not takingaction. At the same time, however, teachers complain that the family does not alwaysrespond to their advice or requests for cooperation and help with children’s academicand disciplinary problems. Therefore, it is vital that these two parties be more respon-sive to each other. Even if it does not improve a particular situation, responsive two-way communication can help to establish a closer, more consistent and promisingrelationship, which can enhance information exchange and mutual understanding andease the discontinuities in the expectations and experiences of the two parties.

Conclusion

The effects of the transition to school on children seem to be quickly revealed andshort-term, and any obvious problems are quickly resolved. This study has notresearched the long-term effects of this transition on children, which require furtherinvestigation. This study has, however, identified the weaknesses and insufficienciesof current transition practices, as well as the actions that should be taken to improvethe situation and thus ensure that young children have a smooth and effective, or atleast an easier and shorter, transition to school.

To achieve the ultimate goal, which is promoting an effective transition frompreschool to primary school, collaboration between school, family and community isvery important. Without the support, coordination and promotion of these parties,none of the recommended programmes or strategies will be successful.

Notes on contributorWai Ling Chan is the Lecturer of Early Childhood Education at the Hong Kong Institute ofEducation. She was the principal of the Hong Kong Institute of Education HSBC Early Child-hood Learning Centre from 2001 to 2007. This research project was supported by the InternalResearch Grants from the Hong Kong Institute of Education.

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