Children’s transitions in early childhood education and care: various combinations of dis-/continuities

This longitudinal multiple case study explores children’s transitions within early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Finland. In ECEC children typically transition from one group or center to another. This study explores how physical, social and philosophical discontinuities and continuities constitute these transitions. Five focus children’s transitions were followed in and between separate ECEC centers. The data include interviews with parents and educators as well as observations noted. Fabian’s discontinuity division, which argues that transition consists of physical, social, and philosophical discontinuities, was used for content analysis of interviews as primary data. Interpretations were reflected on and supplemented with fieldnotes as secondary data. Analysis demonstrated that children’s transitions in ECEC comprise various permutations of discontinuities and continuities. Based on our findings, we suggest that the dis-/continuities in children’s daily lives should be considered when identifying and planning transitions as well as in planning ECEC centers’ operation and grouping structures.