engleski

Re-conceptualizing the role of a school pedagogue during the transition to school

The educational practice during transition to school noticed across the Croatian CSE indicates that transition process is perceived through children’s school readiness. During the process of starting school, school pedagogue is usually the first person that has direct contact with children through assessing their abilities and consequently, their readiness. School pedagogue has a role of a diagnostician labeling children as ready or unready for school. School pedagogues regularly use a handbook comprised of non-standardized tests to do so. The literature shows that testing children’s readiness with no consensus on definition of readiness, with no clear methodology and with arbitrary interpretation of already questionable results, gives a false image of a child. Socio- constructionist paradigm states that testing children in that manner gives no information on true learning process and children’s prior experience as guiding lines for teachers to ensure continuity and children’s future development. That is why during child’s transition to school, a school pedagogue has to surpass his role of a diagnostician of children’s level of readiness and take a central role of a professional developer insuring the quality of teachers practice. This paper tends to give the theoretical background on assessing children’s abilities prior to starting school as well as school pedagogue’s role in that process. It also provides alternatives to traditionally based roles of a school pedagogue by evoking a pedagogue as a professional developer.

quality of practice, readiness assessment, school pedagogue, sense of belonging, changing paradigm, transition to school

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