Co-creating affirmative transitions for children with refugee and asylum-seeker backgrounds

Co-creating affirmative transitions for children with refugee and asylum-seeker backgrounds

Children experience various ecological transitions throughout childhood, and for some children, going to school for the first time represents a major transition. This presentation reports on a research project, funded and supported by The Queensland Department of Education and The Creche and Kindergarten Association, which explored how children could be positively supported with early years transitions into school. Using a qualitative, ethnographic approach, the study followed ten children and their families who had refugee and asylum-seeker backgrounds as they transitioned from two kindergartens to seven different primary schools in Southeast Queensland. We gathered data through interviewing families and educators, collecting teaching and learning artefacts, and observing children and educators between October 2021 and July 2022. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis and preliminary findings were shared with key stakeholders (children, families, educators, principals and organisational representatives) before a final report was completed in February 2023. Of interest to early years educators, leaders and policymakers, the presentation offers practical strategies for co-creating affirmative environments for refugee and asylum-seeking children and families. The presentation affirms the transformative potential of early years education, and it discusses the nuanced shift of educators’ practices and approaches from being ‘trauma-informed’ to ‘healing-centred’.

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