Child Transition Research Paper

What is a transition and what are the strategies to help children with them?
A transition happens all throughout someone’s day, such as finding a different route to school when a road is closed or a life-altering event (McHugh 2007). Transitions happen during arrival time, moving from large group activities to small (and vice versa), going from inside the classroom to outside of the classroom and also when you finish a task or assignment. Teachers can help students have smooth transitions by providing strategies such as visual prompts, movement activities, and auditory signals.
Does one particular person struggle with transitions?
One particular person does not struggle with transition, lots of people do. Adults struggle just as much as students
do. Adults just have more experience; we use our past experiences in order to help guide us when we can’t figure out our next step. We also know how to look to others for assistance, Where as students need more guidance and support. (McHugh 2007) Teachers play a big role in creating a predictable learning environment. A classroom environment that is, well-planned, warm and inviting, and consistent, will therefore provide a platform for positive behavior in your classroom (Hancock and Carter 2016).
Why is it important to have transitions strategies in place? It is very important for a teacher to plan or have an idea of strategies during transitions times.
It provides and sets up students with a positive learning experience (Thelen and Peggy 2011). Having a transition strategy in place during the day is important because it reduces behavior problems and supports positive behavior and learning. “The scope and length of use of each strategy will vary from child to child and be adjusted or eliminated as needed” (Thelen and Peggy 2011). An Assessment tool is a great resource teachers can use when observing their classrooms. This type of tool will help teachers support their children’s positive behaviors. The assessment tool outlined in the article, Building Environments that Encourage Positive Behavior starts off by providing an overview of the self-assessment tool, then goes into how you create a predictable environment, your expectations, acknowledging the appropriate behavior and how you respond to challenging behavior. After the teacher does the steps above, they move onto looking at the data they collected and use that information to help support positive behavior in their students. The article also provides an example on how you use the self-assessment tool. At the end of the article, the author gives recommendations for teachers who use this tool (Hancock, C. L., & Carter, D. R.
2016).
What happens when there isn’t any transition?
When there is not a strategy or plan in place there tends to be a large amount of waiting time between each activity and students may become confused or disoriented when the routines and schedule is not clearly defined (Buck 1999). Challenging behavior also occurs when a transition strategy is not in place. Teachers play an important roll, in supporting students with positive behavior, by “planning for them ahead of time, alerting children before transitions occur, and providing a clear signal at the beginning of each transition” (Hancock and Carter 2016).
Are there any studies or research behind transitions?
In the article The Impact of Checklist-Based Training on Teachers’ Use of the Zone Defense Schedule, Casey and McWiliam discus a study, which assessed three teaching teams on the importance of a Zone Defense Schedule.
“The zone defense schedule (ZDS) is a system for organizing the staff and environment in early childhood classrooms, that allows teachers to man zones and children to move between teachers (in contrast to man-to-man defense, which requires teachers to follow specific children around the classroom)” (Casey and McWiliam 2011). The teaching teams used the ZPD for each transition, 3 days a week for 60 min. Below in Figure 1. are the results they
found.