La transición entre Educación Infantil y Educación Primaria

Abstract

Introduction. The transition from Early Childhood Education to Primary Education is the first transition that students undergo to enter the compulsory education system, and the lack of adaptation has consequences that condition educational success. For this reason, it is a matter of international concern and involves two educational stages with different social, academic, curricular, and administrative considerations. These differences undoubtedly hinder coordination and the approach to the continuity between the stages. The preparation of this process usually focuses on the one hand, on working on academic and behavioural competencies and, on the other hand, on the maturity of the students to overcome this evident discontinuity and adapt to primary school. Aim. This thesis aims to analyse the variables involved in the transition of pupils from Early Childhood Education to primary education that can condition their adaptation to the compulsory education system, reducing the risks involved in this process. Method. The design of the thesis is qualitative, using mainly documentary analysis and case studies as research methods. It is developed in five studies. The first study is qualitative, based on the documentary analysis method from the Eurydice portal of the European Commission. The second, third and fourth studies are based on a systematic literature review, and the fifth is based on image analysis. Conclusions. It has been detected that there is no standard model for dealing with this transition in the European Union. However, two large blocks with similar characteristics in terms of the management of aspects that interfere with the transition can be distinguished, the northern countries of the European Union and the southern countries, in addition to detecting greater awareness in some countries. On the other hand, more than 300 variables have been identified that have been studied about transition, providing 29 groups of variables distributed in the academic and nonacademic context. On the other hand, the characteristics of the research methods that should be considered when studying the transition from Early Childhood Education to primary education are identified. Finally, it is shown that the classroom is a factor of discontinuity between stages, which should be the object of coordination in educational centres.