Understanding  the  influence  of  academic  expectations  and  changes  in  the  school

The  big  thing  for  us  was  being  positive  ourselves  about  it.  You  know,     we  didn’t  necessarily  look  forward  to  moving,  or  it  wasn’t  a  decision     that  we’d  taken  lightly.  To  be  positive  ourselves,  to  say  this  would  be     good  for  the  family,  and  I  think  we  made  it  quite  clear  why  we  were     leaving.      

The  role  of  Paul  and  his  wife  Amanda  in  this  process  of  transition  began  before   the  actual  move.    They  built  this  up  to  be  a  positive  experience  for  the  family  as  a   whole,  and  then  together  they  worked  to  make  it  a  success.    They  acknowledged   that  this  was  a  difficult  thing  for  them  to  do  as  adults  and  understood  that  it   would  not  be  easy.    Sarah,  Michael  and  Natalie  said  similar  things,  about  giving   the  children  something  to  look  forward  to  and  become  excited  about  their  move.    

In  hindsight,  Natalie  said  that  as  parents,  ‘we  underestimated  how  it  would  be’.    

This  was  their  first  international  family  move  and  none  of  the  family  really  knew   what  to  expect.    Thus  the  prior  experiences  of  the  parents  affected  how  they   handled  the  transition,  meaning  that  children  had  variable  preparation  for  the   move,  which  is  another  complex  factor  surrounding  their  transitions.  

5.2.3   Understanding  the  influence  of  academic  expectations  and   changes  in  the  school  environment  

Five  of  the  parents  interviewed  had  sent  their  children  to  a  British  international   primary  school  in  the  previous  country  they  had  lived  in.    For  these  parents,   there  appeared  to  be  a  consensus  of  opinion  that  this  would  help  to  ease  

transition  for  their  children  from  an  academic  standpoint  since  the  expectations   would  be  similar.    These  parents  aimed  to  maintain  some  continuity  regarding  

schooling  as  much  as  possible  (Mayfield,  2003).    When  discussing  this  with   Michael’s  parents,  they  explained  that  they  had  chosen  a  British  education   system  for  their  son  and  that  this  helped  to  eliminate  some  potential  anxieties.    

Sofia  elaborated  that  ‘all  the  terms  were  very  familiar  to  him  already.    He  already   knew  how  things  work  and  we  have  assembly  and  we  have  this  and  that  so  for   him  that  so  him  that  aspect  was  rather  easy  to  change’.    Similarly,  Paul  when   discussing  his  children’s  transition  and  the  choice  of  schooling  explained  that  as   parents,  they  had  chosen  their  ‘pathway’  for  the  children.    He  explained  that  they   had  moved  countries  before  and  ‘we  could  transfer  between  schools  with  a  bit   more  ease  and  you  know,  we  could  move  with  the  expectation  that  it  would  not   be  that  far  removed  from  where  we’d  left  and  we’ve  certainly  found  that  the   whole  way  through’.    Sarah  highlighted  the  same  reasoning  when  discussing  her   children’s  international  moves  and  explained  that  when  following  a  British   education  system,  ‘academic  expectations  I  think  are  quite  similar.’    In   understanding  that  international  movement  provides  many  challenges  to   children,  these  parents  chose  to  limit  the  changes  as  much  as  possible  in  the   approach  to  education  and  maintain  some  continuity  between  the  children’s   experiences  of  school  worldwide  (Mayfield,  2003).        

However,  for  Natalie  who  had  temporarily  moved  to  Vietnam  with  her  family   from  England,  the  British  system  here  did  not  reflect  schooling  in  England  and   this  was  a  source  of  concern  for  her.    She  said  that  ‘maybe  we  should  have   thought  about  it  a  little  more  carefully’,  explaining:    

It  does  worry  me  when  we  go  back  to  the  UK  that  they’ll  drop  behind     a  little  bit.  Like  Liza—her  level—she's  come  on  with  her  reading,    

but  actually  I’ve  found  a  lot  of  stuff  she's  done  here—she’s  just  repeated   things  she's  already  done  at  home.  

While  the  move  to  Vietnam  was  considered  overall  as  a  good  experience,  it  came   as  a  surprise  to  Natalie  that  the  system  here  was  less  structured  than  in  England   and  that  she  worried  about  the  potential  ‘effect  on  their  education’.    Natalie’s   concerns  link  to  prior  research  on  pupil  transition  at  unconventional  times.  

Quantitative  studies  both  in  New  Zealand  by  Hattie  (2009)  and  in  the  United  

States  of  America  by  Scherrer  (2013)  claim  that  changing  schools  during  one   phase  of  education,  such  as  primary  schooling  or  secondary  schooling,  can  have  a   negative  effect  on  academic  outcomes.    While  my  research  did  not  consider  the   academic  impact  on  schooling,  this  is  still  a  consideration  when  discussing  pupil   experiences  of  transition.    Comments  from  certain  children  about  their  new   school  being  less  demanding  academically,  also  add  to  this  concern  that  changing   schools  midway  through  a  phase  of  education  may  have  an  impact  on  

performance.  

Regardless  of  the  schools  and  education  systems  that  the  parents  had  previously   chosen  for  their  children,  one  aspect  of  supporting  their  children  through  

transition  meant  acclimatising  to  this  particular  school.    Sofia,  Ji-­‐Yeon  and  Steven   all  spoke  about  the  ways  in  which  the  new  school  was  different  and  their  role  in   supporting  their  children  in  learning  to  understand  the  rules  and  routines.    In   accordance  with  sociocultural  theory,  the  children  and  their  parents  needed  to   learn  about  the  community/institutional  elements  involved  in  the  transition  and   the  role  in  which  they  played  in  this  (Rogoff,  1995).    Learning  to  adapt  meant   becoming  a  part  of  this  new  environment,  learning  the  routines  as  well  as  the   rules  and  expectations  here.    As  found  by  Ahtola  et  al  (2016),  parents  can  better   support  children  if  they  understand  the  school  environment  and  the  

expectations  that  are  in  place.    In  particular,  for  Sofia  and  Michael  who  were   supporting  their  son,  Michael  through  transition,  they  themselves  remarked  on   three  different  occasions  during  the  interview  that,  at  times,  they  did  not  know   what  was  expected  of  them  as  parents  and  also  of  their  son,  which  became  a   source  of  anxiety.    As  Sofia  explained,  ‘some  processes  are  not  straightforward’  

and  ‘we  are  kind  of  lost’.    Despite  being  familiar  with  the  academic  expectations   of  the  school  curriculum,  transition  for  them  also  meant  knowing  what  their  role   was  in  this  particular  environment.    Using  Bronfenbrenner’s  (1979)  model  of   ecosystems,  they  needed  to  establish  their  family-­‐school  relationship  

mesosystem  in  order  to  fully  integrate  and  become  a  part  of  the  school  

environment.    Sofia  and  Michael’s  experiences  are  in  contrast  to  how  the  school   portrays  itself  in  written  documentation.    The  ‘New  Pupil  Orientation’  

presentation  introduced  key  terminology  and  dates,  and  referred  parents  to  the  

parent  handbook  for  more  information.    Furthermore,  it  stressed  that  ‘trust  and   support’  were  fundamental,  and  encouraged  parents  to  approach  the  school   directly  with  any  questions  (British  School,  2014b:25).    Thus,  despite  good   intentions  by  the  school,  for  some  parents  such  as  Sofia  and  Michael,  changes  in   school  routines  and  procedures  can  become  overwhelming  and  may  lead  to   barriers  in  developing  the  relationship  between  home  and  school.  

In  summary,  when  establishing  what  are  the  parents’  perspectives  of  supporting   their  children’s  transitions,  three  main  aspects  can  be  included.    Firstly,  all  the   parents  in  this  study  spoke  about  the  importance  of  friendships  for  their   children.    Secondly,  the  comments  made  by  Amanda,  Natalie,  Paul  and  Sarah,   quoted  above,  demonstrated  how  they  played  a  key  role  in  supporting  their   children  cope  emotionally  with  the  changes  that  occurred  during  transition.    

Thirdly,  the  comments  parents  made  showed  how  they  supported  their  children   academically  and  worked  together  to  understand  the  rules,  routines  and  

expectations  of  the  new  school.    The  ways  in  which  parents  prepared  and   supported  their  children  through  transition  varied  depending  on  their  prior   experiences,  thus  highlighting  the  complex  nature  of  international  transition.    

The  three  elements  introduced  here  work  in  accordance  with  Rogoff’s  (1995)   account  of  sociocultural  theory  as  parents  worked  to  support  their  children   through  the  three  planes  of  development.    The  interview  responses  here   demonstrate  how,  through  the  intrapersonal  plane,  they  sought  to  strengthen   relationships;  acknowledgement  of  the  interpersonal  plane  meant  supporting   children  cope  emotionally  and  in  their  own  individual  ways,  while  the  

community/institutional  plane  is  reflected  in  the  parents’  attempts  to  

understand  the  various  new  school  systems  that,  as  a  family,  they  all  had  to  grow   accustomed  to.          

5.3   Research  question  3:  What  factors  influence  children’s