Describing Transitional Competences for Grade 1 Students With Diverse Backgrounds for Social Inclusion

• In Event: Teacher Perspectives About Classroom Practices

Abstract

Transitioning from pre-school to primary school is a challenging period for children. This study aims at finding the most important transitional competences for grade one linguistically diverse pupils (LDPs) and local Chinese students in Hong Kong for a smooth transition and social inclusion. A 25-item questionnaire was developed and validated based on the ratings of 102 LDPs and local Chinese students from four schools by their seven teachers on transitional competences. A six-factor solution was generated and results revealed that as opposed to common beliefs, LDPs were only rated lower than local students in pre-academic competence (p =.001) while performing similarly in other competences (affective social competence, self-sufficiency competence, self-discipline, emotional adjustment, and self-awareness).

Authors

• Wan Yi Eva Liu, The University of Hong Kong

• Wai Ming Cheung, The University of Hong Kong

• Stephanie W. Y. Chan, The University of Hong Kong