Abstract
Aim
Despite continued international interest in primary-secondary transitions, there do not appear to be any systematic literature reviews that have analysed primary-secondary school transition ontology, i.e. researchers’ worldviews, theories/models and frameworks. This is a major gap and concerning given that it is difficult to trust the robustness of a study if its basic foundation, such as researchers’ conceptualisation of transitions, is not visible. Our objectives were to explore researchers’ and research participants’ conceptualisation of transitions, the conceptual framework used by the researchers and their discourse about transitions.
Methodology
Using the EPPI-centre approach, we undertook a systematic literature review of empirical studies published internationally between 2008 and 2018.
Findings
Of the 96 studies, most had not clearly defined transition, and even when conceptualisation was explicit, it did not underline the research design or frame the findings. Most researchers adopted previously used conceptualisations and theoretical frameworks and, therefore, we are no further forward in terms of a meta-theory/world view. Further, the majority of studies did not report participants’ conceptualisation of transitions. Of concern is that the majority of researchers used a negative discourse about primary-secondary transitions, with some mixed views and only two papers had a primarily positive discourse.
Conclusions
This systematic literature review is the first study to provide a review of school transition ontology and offers unique insights into the conceptual and methodological gaps that the international research community should address.
Despite continued international interest in primary-secondary transitions, there do not appear to be any systematic literature reviews that have analysed primary-secondary school transition ontology, i.e. researchers’ worldviews, theories/models and frameworks. This is a major gap and concerning given that it is difficult to trust the robustness of a study if its basic foundation, such as researchers’ conceptualisation of transitions, is not visible. Our objectives were to explore researchers’ and research participants’ conceptualisation of transitions, the conceptual framework used by the researchers and their discourse about transitions.
Methodology
Using the EPPI-centre approach, we undertook a systematic literature review of empirical studies published internationally between 2008 and 2018.
Findings
Of the 96 studies, most had not clearly defined transition, and even when conceptualisation was explicit, it did not underline the research design or frame the findings. Most researchers adopted previously used conceptualisations and theoretical frameworks and, therefore, we are no further forward in terms of a meta-theory/world view. Further, the majority of studies did not report participants’ conceptualisation of transitions. Of concern is that the majority of researchers used a negative discourse about primary-secondary transitions, with some mixed views and only two papers had a primarily positive discourse.
Conclusions
This systematic literature review is the first study to provide a review of school transition ontology and offers unique insights into the conceptual and methodological gaps that the international research community should address.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 13 Dec 2021 |
| Event | School of Education and Social Work Research and Scholarship Conference - Dalhousie Building, Dundee, United Kingdom Duration: 13 Dec 2019 → 13 Dec 2019 Conference number: 2019 https://www.dundee.ac.uk/esw/events/2019/19-12-13-annualresearchandscholarshipconference2019.php |
Conference
| Conference | School of Education and Social Work Research and Scholarship Conference |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
| City | Dundee |
| Period | 13/12/19 → 13/12/19 |
| Internet address |
