School Readiness: the Views of Pre-Service Preschool Teachers and Pre-Service Primary Teachers

Abstract

This study compares the views of the concept of school readiness held by 50 pre-service preschool teachers and 50 pre-service primary teachers. Data were collected through a semi-structured interview protocol, and the word-list and key-words-in-context techniques were used for qualitative data analysis. Findings show that pre-service preschool teachers and pre-service primary teachers have similar views related to school readiness. Both emphasised that school readiness may be defined through the lens of developmental domains, and exhibited broad agreement that the most effective people in the school-readiness process were parents. On the other hand, some differences between the preschool respondents and the primary school respondents were identified. For instance, when defining school readiness, enhancing all developmental skills of children was mostly emphasised by the primary group.