Perspectives of teachers, children, and parents on the transition to first grade

Abstract

This research is a case study of a school that sought to ascertain what is required for the optimal adjustment of children to first grade from the perspective of each partner in the education triad – children, parents, and the teaching staff (teachers and assistant teachers). The research tools adapted to the participants are open-ended questionnaires to elicit the perspectives of the parents and teaching staff, and interviews of the children following their creation of a metaphorical collage to elicit their perspectives. Participants were three first-grade teachers, the assistant first-grade teacher, ten children from one of the first-grade classes, and twelve parents of these children. All the children attend a regional primary school and come from [cooperative Israeli settlements in central Israel. The findings indicate that the emotional climate of the school was regarded as positive by all the respondents. Although all respondents expressed a desire for more inter-personal communication with each other, the expectations of parents and teachers differed with respect to the desired frequency and setting limits on the communication between them. The paper also describes changes instituted to improve communication between the school and the parents in light of the research findings.