Journal article
Stepping into school: using the Step Model of Transition Capital to critically understand children’s transition to school
- Abstract:
- The transition to school is a very important time in children’s educational journey, as well as their families’ engagement with the community. Previous research has identified the complex interrelations of factors that influence this transition, emphasising the contextual nature of ‘eAective’ 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 diAerently. The Step Model can, therefore, be used to identify risks and opportunities to better support children and families through this important period.
- Publication status:
- Accepted
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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- Files:
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 2.6MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1007/s10643-026-02161-4
Authors
- Publisher:
- Springer
- Journal:
- Early Childhood Education Journal More from this journal
- Publication date:
- 2026-03-25
- Acceptance date:
- 2026-02-16
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1573-1707
- ISSN:
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1082-3301
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
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2378774
- Local pid:
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pubs:2378774
- Deposit date:
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2026-02-19
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Green et al
- Copyright date:
- 2026
- Rights statement:
- © The Author(s) 2026. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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