Depictions of teachers and teacher practices in picture books about starting kindergarten

Educators and families frequently use children’s picture books to introduce young children to unfamiliar experiences, including the start of school. In this study, we examine 52 U.S. picture books portraying the transition to kindergarten. Specifically, this content analysis explores the depiction of kindergarten teachers, including the demographic characteristics of these teachers, the extent to which these teacher characteristics mirror those of the kindergarteners in their classrooms, the ways teachers interact with kindergarteners, and the learning environments teachers create for entering kindergarteners. Results show that teachers are generally portrayed as abled and female, with White teachers depicted more frequently than teachers from any other racial or ethnic group. Our findings also indicate that many books about starting kindergarten do not depict a mix of racially diverse kindergarteners and teachers or teacher-student racial and ethnic match. Finally, we find that teachers are portrayed in narrow ways; characterized as classroom supervisors who have relatively limited engagement with children and who rarely inspire students in their intellectual pursuits. Overall results indicate a need for an expanded offering of books about starting kindergarten that are more representative of diverse kindergarten experiences, including both more teacher and student diversity as well as images of kindergarten teachers who are actively engaged in children’s kindergarten transition.

Qualitative Inquiry in Early Childhood Education Research

Recent research on the kindergarten transition highlights the importance of alignment across contexts to provide high-quality interactions. Yet, we know less about how families make sense of their experiences in the transition. This chapter explores families' experiences with the kindergarten transition from a funds of knowledge perspective. Results from a qualitative interview study of schools' recognition of families' funds of knowledge during the kindergarten transition are presented. Families in the study discussed parent-initiated involvement and disconnects between school perceptions of their home culture and their own self understandings. The authors argue that understanding families' own experiences with the transition is an important step in conceptualizing families' involvement in their children's education.

Supporting Children and Families During the Kindergarten Transition

This chapter describes the theoretical basis for and implementation of a kindergarten-transition-focused home visiting program, the connection-focused home-visiting intervention program (CHIP). CHIP was designed to support children and their families during the kindergarten transition through development of strong connections between parents, children, teachers, schools, and communities. In this chapter, the authors explain the theoretical framework that guided the development of CHIP and key features of the program design, including connection development, the use of transition coordinators, and individualization. In addition, this chapter includes descriptions of scenarios encountered during CHIP that exemplify the nature of the program and design decisions. Finally, this chapter provides a summary of early evidence of program effectiveness and directions for continued research.