Introduction

At a time when young children are likely to have experience of many different transitions both educationally and in their family lives, there is more emphasis on an earlier start in group day-care and educational settings than ever before. By the time children enter statutory education they may have already attended a number of educational settings. Each of these experiences is likely to affect children and their capacity to adjust and to learn. Such is the significance of early transitions for young children that it is essential that parents, educators, policy makers and politicians pay close attention to young children’s experiences in order to provide well for them. Recently there has been an increase in the demand for early years education in the countries that are the subject of this book. Expansion of early education has led to an increase in the number of moves that young children experience and awareness by practitioners of the need to address the issues surrounding transitions. Expansion of early education, the nature of the curriculum and the dominance of an ‘early start’ raise issues of differing perspectives on what is important for young children: legislation on children’s rights demands that children have a chance to express a view; parents have a right of choice in deciding their child’s schooling; and educators are expected to meet the requirements of the curriculum. We ask whether varied perspectives matter; what is the optimum environment and appropriate pedagogy for young children’s learning; how are the transitions experienced for parents, educators and the children themselves as they move from home to the various educational settings in which they find themselves; and whether there are ways in which adults can better support and empower children in transition. We find that these are international issues although there are cultural differences in the ages of transition, provision and curriculum ideology.