Pedagogies: An International Journal

Early years is generally understood to refer to the time between birth to eight years. Transition can be understood as a child’s experience of change as he or she moves from one familiar setting to a new setting, typically from home to preschool and from preschool to primary school. Transition experiences involve the child (typically developing as well as children with special educational needs/SEN), the preschool teachers and contexts, the primary school teachers and contexts, as well as parents and family practices. Research has called for supports and guidance for children, families, early childhood care and education providers, and primary and special schools to facilitate seamless transitions.

This special issue features early years transition experiences and support practices, including the transition from home to preschool/childcare/kindergarten, and the other one to primary school. A successful transition experience can leave the child happy, engaged, and ready to take on new learning. When supports are lacking or inefficient, children can be left feeling overwhelmed and experience struggles to develop a sense of belonging and at ease in the new school, which has short-term and long-term impacts on their cognitive, social, and emotional development. The Asian experiences of early years transition in both urban and rural settings is relatively understudied in the literature as compared to studies conducted in Western contexts.

Researchers are invited to submit your work addressing the topic of early years transition experiences and support in Asian contexts. This research may employ various research methodologies reflective of diverse ontologies and epistemologies. Submissions may respond to theoretical and practical questions such as:

• Developing innovative pedagogical practices to support children in transition, either from home to early childhood settings (e.g., preschool/childcare/kindergarten), or from early childhood to primary level education, including mainstream and special schools.
• Examining the effectiveness of transition support pedagogy.
• Studies on the experiences, perspectives, and needs of children and their families during transition.
• Describing or examining supports from school and the community to children and their families. during early childhood transitions.

We invite scholars to submit an abstract of no more than 300 words (references, title, and author information not included in the word count) and clearly identify the way your submission focuses on “early years transition for children in Asian contexts”. This issue invites international scholars (university-based researchers as well as teacher researchers) who are at different stages of their careers and specifically welcomes scholars with diverse identities who may be underrepresented in academia (e.g., women, scholars from racialized and/or minoritized groups). You may include a brief statement describing your location, career stage and identify if you are from an underrepresented group and/or work with populations who are racialized and/or marginalized. (Please note this statement is not mandatory and is not included in the word count). The quality of the submission will be the main determinant for offering invitations to submit a manuscript.

To submit your abstract, please email to [email protected] with the subject line: Pedagogies Special Issue by November 1st, 2024.

Timeline:

• Abstract submission deadline: November 1, 2024
• Acceptance of abstracts and invitations for full papers: no later than December 1, 2024
• Full manuscript submission for peer review: by May 1, 2025
• Acceptance notification: no later than March 2026
• Final proof-reading and editorial: March - April 2026
• Publication: TBD

Instructions for Authors