Transformation of Children's Learning during the Transition to Elementary School: Agencies in the Learning Process of First-grade Students

• Published in: The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology Vol. 34; no. 4; pp. 298 - 311
• Main Author: Kishino, Mai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japan Society of Developmental Psychology 20.12.2023
• Subjects: Agency; Transformation of learning; Transition to elementary school
• ISSN: 0915-9029; 2187-9346
• DOI: 10.11201/jjdp.34.403

To ensure a smooth transition from kindergarten to elementary school, continuous learning and development is important for children, such that scholars and teachers have proposed various practices. Alternatively, children experience a significant transformation in their manner of learning during this transition period. The transformation of learning involves interactions in the physical, linguistic and textual, and symbolic and mathematical dimensions. This study aims to examine the interaction between people and objects and the emergence of each agency. The study conducted fieldwork for 12 months on a first-grade class in elementary school and analyzed the interrelationship between objects and people. The results indicated that children moved toward decontextualized logical and abstract thinking while going back and forth among physical, linguistic and textual, and symbolic and mathematical spaces. In these processes, the study noted the interrelation of the agency of objects, people, and structures of places.