A systematic review: Parental perspective on school readiness during the pre- and post-transition periods

Parental perspectives on school readiness reflect diverse changing and sustained beliefs as children move from home life or early childhood education (ECE) to school. This review analysed parental perspectives in pre- and post-transition periods captured within the qualitative and quantitative literature over the past two decades. This paper presents a systematic review of 71 studies that drew conclusions about parental perspectives on the school readiness of children who were about to or had just started formal schooling. Employing reflexive thematic analysis, the studies were categorised into four main themes across the two time points: socio-emotional development, academic development, physical development, and collaborative school readiness. The findings suggest that parents frequently emphasised socio-emotional and academic development over physical development and collaborative school readiness at both time points. The review offers important insights about parents’ concerns before their child’s transition to school and their experiences once they begin.