Cathrine Neilsen-Hewett

Transitioning to school is a crucial point in a child’s educational journey. There is a strong evidence base for what contributes to an effective transition, including positive relationships, flexibility and responsiveness, and respecting contextual aspects of children’s community. However, people experience transitions differently, and there is a need to understand non-normative transitions and diverse cohort experiences. We draw from case studies with four children from refugee backgrounds—along with their parents, preschool teachers, and teachers—starting their first year of full-time school in Australia. We apply reflexive thematic analysis on interview data with adult participants and play based activities with children, and use the Step Model of Transition Capital to discuss how connections and disruptions occur due to the presence, absence or disconnect of material, cultural and social capitals within the transition environment. We find moments of disconnection in the transition process which are particularly pronounced for children and families with intersecting identities. We also find opportunities for connection such as programs designed to establish relationships and familiarity with school environments.

This study employed netnography across two early childhood education services that used the Storypark platform to explore how educator-family relationships are enacted through digital communication. Although Storypark is designed to foster collaboration and partnerships, this study indicates that its affordances do not consistently translate into practice. Analysis of digital posts and family interviews revealed that educators primarily used the platform for one-way information sharing—such as announcements and documentation of children’s learning—rather than reciprocal dialogue or co-construction of meaning. Families demonstrated greater engagement when educator communication was personalised, underscoring the relational value of human voice over platform features. Drawing on an ecological systems theory and behaviour setting theory lens, this disconnect highlights tensions between the platform’s intended relational function and its everyday use. While digital platforms hold significant potential to extend intersetting knowledge between home and early childhood contexts, this potential is not self-activating. Intentional framing, recognition of familial voice, and dedicated time for reciprocal practices are essential. The findings signal a need for professional learning that positions digital communication as a pedagogical and relational practice rather than a compliance task. Bridging this gap could transform platforms like Storypark into spaces of authentic connection, shared meaning-making, and mutual knowledge exchange.

The transition to school is a very important time in children’s educational journey, as well as for their families’ engagement with the community. Previous research has identified the complex interrelations of factors that influence this transition, emphasising the contextual nature of ‘effective’ transition. In recent years, critical theoretical approaches have been utilised to highlight systemic power imbalances within transition processes, particularly for children from priority cohorts or who are experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage. While several models and guides exist for creating and evaluating transition programs, there remains a need for an accessible model that incorporates a critical theoretical approach to understanding the diversity of experiences of transition. The current paper draws upon the newly developed Step Model of Transition Capital to better understand the transition to school process experienced by four children from refugee backgrounds within Australia. The paper outlines how the Step Model can be used as a tool for critical reflection, and to examine how children and families may experience the transition to school process differently. The Step Model can, therefore, be used to identify risks and opportunities to better support children and families through this important period.

Children and families from refugee backgrounds are underrepresented in many areas of research and when included, are often discussed in a way that focuses on deficits. To address both the underrepresentation and the positioning of people from refugee backgrounds, it is the responsibility of researchers to identify and alleviate barriers in both the design and implementation of research projects. There is significant risk of power disparity between researcher and participants in research conducted with marginalised groups, particularly when the researcher is not a member of the group. This raises important ethical and methodological questions about who should conduct such research and the best approach to doing so. Between November 2023 and April 2024, our research navigated these considerations in a series of case studies with children and families from refugee backgrounds transitioning into their first year of full-time school in Australia. This paper does not discuss the findings from these case studies but provides critical reflections on their design and implementation. We reflect on the question of positionality, discuss strengths and weaknesses in the research design, and unpack both expected and unexpected barriers experienced throughout the process. From these reflections, in this paper we provide recommendations for future research conducted across language and cultural divides.

The shortage of qualified Early Childhood Teachers is one of the most complex challenges facing the Australian early learning sector. The Early Childhood Elevate Mentoring Program (ECEM) was conceptualised, developed and implemented with ECTs to enable them to support Diploma trained educators as they studied an accelerated Bachelor of Early Years degree. Mentoring is an effective strategy to build shared understandings and support career progression. The ability to demonstrate a strong professional identity is important for educators, and for their leadership of the profession. This paper reports key components for a mentoring program to empower ECTs as leaders - short asynchronous video lectures, written content, professional readings, reflective questions, outside module tasks, video interviews and the opportunity to participate in a community of practice – and the experiences of the mentors as they engaged with each. Findings showed the program offered a powerful way to build capacity

Despite the vast array of app choices available to children and evidence of a high prevalence of persuasive design features (e.g., rewards, character pressure, and aesthetic manipulation) within these apps, little is known about how, and to what extent, these design elements influence children’s digital app play. The current study investigated the effects of app persuasive design and children’s self‐regulation, and their interaction, on children’s ability to disengage from digital devices. The study adopted a three‐arm acute experimental design, wherein 73 children, aged 3–5 years, were randomly assigned to engage with one of three apps (of high, moderate, or low persuasive design), with a novel “digital disengagement” paradigm that measured the time to disengage from app play and researcher‐rated degree of independent disengagement. Children’s self‐regulation outside of digital contexts was also assessed. General linear models were used to compare the main effects of and interaction between app condition and child self‐regulation on children’s digital disengagement. Given similar disengagement means in high and moderate conditions, these were collapsed and compared with the low condition. Significant interactions between persuasive design (moderate‐high and low) and self‐regulation (high and low) were found for disengagement time and degree of independent disengagement for one of the two self‐regulation measures. Young children with higher self‐regulation were able to disengage from the digital device regardless of persuasive design level (even at moderate‐high levels). Children with lower self‐regulation disengaged more easily and promptly under low persuasive design but took longer and needed more support to disengage when exposed to moderate‐high persuasive design. This first‐of‐its‐kind study offers novel insight into which children are more susceptible to extended digital engagement due to persuasive design. The study highlights the importance of considering the design elements within apps together with the child’s abilities to aid families make more informed digital choices.

A wide range of benefits are associated with children's positive transition to school. Applying a critical sociological lens in understanding transitions allows for cycles of sociocultural inequality to be challenged and disrupted. This is of particular importance for understanding transition experiences of children from socially demarcated groups, such as children from refugee backgrounds. This paper outlines how critical sociological theory can be used to identify settler‐colonial ideology and to unpack how children are understood and positioned within their broader sociocultural context, and how this understanding can lead to a strength‐based approach that recognises the rights, agency and voice of children and their families.

This article considers the realm of knowledge in early childhood education (ECE); what knowledge is valued, and how different types of knowledge position children and educators. To this end, two different examples of practice informed by different types of knowledge are provided: one from an educator working in a long day care service (Duncan) and a second, a national assessment of young children’s development, the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC). The two examples reflect practices that one might see in Australian ECE settings, and due to governance and regulations, both illustrations could be evident in the same context. Using a dialogic approach we provide an insight into the requirements of the everyday work of educators and the disparate and often irreconcilable understandings of knowledge that inform their everyday work. We conclude with some suggestions for more equitable approaches and identify some of the challenges of attempting to do this.