Page 341 - Pedagoška vizija / A Pedagogical Vision

Transition Practice from Kindergarten to Elementary School

nection and rare mutual cooperation, and to the fact that practices in the
kindergarten-school relationship are not implemented (Urbina-Garcia 2019).
The National Curriculum for Early and Preschool Education (Odluka o
donošenju nacionalnog kurikuluma za rani i predškolski odgoj i obrazovanje
2015) and its expanded version from 2017 provide guidelines for support-
ing quality transitional practice in Croatia (Odluka o donošenju nacionalnog
kurikuluma za rani i predškolski odgoj i obrazovanje 2015). Curriculums that
integrate approaches and contain clear goals and activities for creating an
environment that fosters children’s transition to school are crucial for en-
suring continuity and quality in transitional practice (Prelogović 2005). De-
spite the importance of this process, and the implementation of transitional
practices through different approaches, research on transitional practices in
Croatia is rare, which emphasizes the need for further research and pointing
out the importance of cooperation between kindergartens and elementary
schools.

Research Methodology
The study was carried out as part of an extensive research project of a com-
bined research approach (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie 2004; Teddlie and
Tashakkori 2011; Creswell 2014) on the cooperation of preschool teachers and
elementary school teachers in the processes of transition from kindergarten
to elementary school, which is currently being carried out in Croatia. The
presented results are part of processed quantitative data collected through a
survey questionnaire, which was filled out by 228 preschool teachers of early
and preschool age and 113 elementary school teachers from the Republic of
Croatia.
The fundamental goal of the presented quantitative research study is to
appraise the quality elements of the current transitional practice of children
from kindergartens to elementary schools and the importance of coopera-
tion between preschool teachers and elementary school teachers in achiev-
ing its quality, from the perspective of both preschool teachers and elemen-
tary school teachers. The fundamental goal is elaborated through the follow-
ing research tasks:

1. To examine the perspectives of preschool teachers of children of pre-
school age and of elementary school teachers about the quality ele-
ments of the current transition practice of children from kindergarten
to elementary school.
2. Examine the agreement with the statement Cooperation between pre-

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