Preschool educator’s views on transition: Influence on daily practice and children’s well-being

This chapter reports on a study in which two researchers worked collaboratively with a group of educators in one preschool setting to implement a new learning area in the Icelandic National Curriculum Guide for Preschool (Ministry of Education, Science and Culture 2011), focusing on children’s well-being. This action research approach was used to reflect on practice and the way this influenced the children’s well-being. The findings indicated that the educators experienced a dilemma between being in control of children’s activities and learning and supporting their autonomy. Educators argued that it was important to prepare children for the transition between preschool settings and primary school, and to achieve this, they tended to use controlling approaches. During the project, the educators’ views towards the children changed; they realised that the children were more competent and diverse than they, the educators, had assumed. In that way, the educators saw the transition to school more as a continuing process.