Sue Dockett

This article reports a praxeological study exploring educational practices and cooperation among teachers intended to create continuity between one preschool and one primary school in Reykjavík. The main participants were two preschool and two primary school teachers, with additional data obtained through interviews with the principals of the two participating schools. Utilising the framework of praxeology, the aim of the study was to promote educational transition and continuity benefitting children with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The participating teachers worked with the researcher to develop a joint project intended to support the children's linguistic repertoire, facilitate communication, and create a platform for collaboration between the teachers. While the preschool teachers felt supported by the project and the research collaboration, the primary school teachers reported fewer professional benefits. Overall, the project encouraged some professional exchanges, but opportunities for ideological and pedagogical exchange between teachers in different settings were either limited or not explored.

To those of us closer to the Antarctic region of the world, the concept of the Circumpolar North is quite intriguing. The chapters in this book provide some insights into the lived experiences of people across the Circumpolar North, with a specific focus on educational equity and inclusion. In their descriptions of what it is like to live, work, and be in this place within the Circumpolar North, the authors explore learning, teaching, educational provision, and connections between culture, identity, and language. The chapters provide points of connection, enabling readers to highlight both the similarities and differences between their own contexts and those described. One of the great values in promoting such connections lies in the generation of opportunities for reflexivity, as we each consider our own context, question what we take for granted, and why that might be so. At the same time as recognising the uniqueness of the region, the chapters in this book draw us away from romanticised tourist images of the Circumpolar North that focus on snow-covered wonderlands, pristine landscapes, and thriving Indigenous communities living in harmony with nature. While acknowledging the challenges associated with remoteness, they also steer us away from stereotypes of disadvantage that automatically equate remoteness with deficit. Rather, the chapters describe contexts across the Circumpolar North that are both similar and different – from each other as well as from those of readers living and working outside the region. The rich culture and history of each context is noted, providing a base for addressing the complex challenges associated with promoting educational equity and inclusion.

The chapter explores ways families across 30 remote locations in Queensland, Australia positioned themselves, and were positioned by others, as they engaged with the Remote Kindergarten Pilot (RKP), which provided access to preschool programs within local schools. Theoretically, analysis is based on Massey’s notions of place and space, centring on the role and place of relations. Data from the RKP impact assessment indicate overwhelming support, noting particularly the importance of resource provision as an equity and social justice issue and highlighting the relational elements of place by attending to the networks of social relations enacted at each site. The chapter explores notions of social inequality and one effort to promote greater equity. It also questions notions of rural disadvantage and social justice, particularly the constructions and positioning of families and their connections with school education. The uniqueness of each place and each family has implications for the development and implementation of universal policy.

This paper explores memories of children in the upper years of primary school about their transition into the first year of school and the ways in which this transition impacted on their ongoing relationship with primary school. The insights shared by eleven Year four and five students (aged 10–11 years; five boys and six girls) in an Australian primary school contribute to understandings of the strategies children develop and utilise in their educational transitions (transitions capital), not only in the transition to school but also in ongoing educational transitions throughout school. The older children reflected on their younger selves related to transitions expectations, and experiences and illustrated their strategies for self-management of change, positioning them as potential resources within transition programs. Despite this, the participants reported that their expertise and experience generally were not acknowledged, and they were often not invited to contribute to transition programs involving new school entrants.

Participatory, rights-based methodologies in childhood studies have explored conditions that realise children’s rights to participation. One avenue of investigation has been to explore assent procedures that respect children’s rights to make informed decisions about participation. Less attention has been directed towards the ways in which children indicate their dissent. This paper highlights children’s self-chosen ways to participate (or not) in a study that explored their perspectives of play in an Australian early childhood education setting. The study analysed the design of ethical spaces in research with children’s expressions as departure points for their participatory experiences. This highlighted three concepts that characterised their choices: agency; privacy; and relationships. The outcomes informed the development of a framework of ethical research spaces, incorporating physical, creative and social-emotional spaces. How the concepts of agency, privacy and relationships are anchored in the three spaces is addressed.