This paper analyses the differences in understanding the transition from the perspective of all those involved in the process (children, parents, teachers), as well as their role in the transition processes. This paper approaches transition as a process of changing educational settings, not just as preparation for school. Approaches to the concept of `preparing children for school' vary, ranging from adapting to school requirements to advocating for the `protection' of children. The theoretical framework deals with changes (identities, activities, learning strategies) and the process of the transition. This paper emphasised the responsibilities of everyone involved in the process of ensuring the quality of transitions. The aim of this research project was to understand the transition from different perspectives. The research was conducted with children through conversational interviews (n = 26) plus surveys with parents (n = 97) and teachers ( n = 121). Statistically significant differences were found in the perceptions of responsibility for transition between early childhood and primary school teachers with respect to their role in providing support to families during transition. The informing of children facilitates their transitions into a new environment.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which affects all areas of life, has also affected children in need of education and care. It is of great importance to develop policies that take into account the best interests of children in this process. In this review article, the policies developed for early childhood education and care during the pandemic period in five countries (Australia, Croatia, Hungary, Spain, and Turkey), how they are implemented, the problems that arose, and the solutions produced are discussed. As a result, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that we need to focus on eliminating the educational inequalities, set policies for the welfare of children on foundations that are more realistic, rebuild teacher training, and improve the welfare of families. Priorizating the best interests of the child in the policies to be developed and building the social ecology on justice will ease overcoming the crises that will be faced.

Social sustainability is linked to finding new ways of living together and strengthening social capital and participation, as well as to social justice and equity in societies, and it is becoming increasingly important for diverse multicultural societies. In this article, we trace understandings of social sustainability as established in Early Childhood Education (ECE) policy documents by following the chains of meaning connected to sense of belonging, local place and cultural diversity and through ECE collaboration with children’s parents/caregivers. Critical discourse analysis has been applied to trace the chains of meaning attached to these concepts in ECE steering documents in Australia, Croatia, Denmark, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden and the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). Such analysis shows different ways in which the ECE polices indirectly work with social sustainability, as well as create critical distance from the sets of meanings established in each country (by proving a chain of meaning established in the policy documents of another country). In conclusion, we do not advocate in favour of any of the chains of meaning but argue for continual reflection and reflexivity, and we see research to be a particularly significant arena in which to unfreeze the taken for granted and sustainable notion.

Based on the belief that professional competences can partially be developed through professional training a cycle of ten educational workshops was designed. Combining theoretical knowledge, quality practice examples and discussions, the workshops strived to improve professional teacher competences. The assumed outcome was determined by difference between initial and summative participants’ self-evaluation results. Reliability of the “Teacher self-evaluation questionnaire” was determined through application of Cronbach`s Alpha coefficient and is high regarding all scales (0.919 ≤ λ ≤ 0.950). The sample is adequate and includes participants from both workshops cycles – global, held in United Kingdom and local, held in Croatia. The results of the empirical non-experimental research indicate that upon completion, in the second subsample, in which the workshops lasted for ten weeks, there was a statistically significant (p0.01) difference regarding teachers’ self-evaluation of knowledge (t=−3.566) and skills (t=−3.316) for cooperation with parents compared to initial results. Neither sample exhibits a statistically significant difference regarding self-evaluation of attitudes. Teachers estimate that they have developed knowledge and skills necessary for cooperation with parents by the systematic training in a specific period of time which allows for verification and practice of learned skills.

Cooperation between preschool education institutions (kindergartens) and families contributes to the welfare of children, and primarily depends on the attitudes and competences of teachers. The research was conducted in two preschool institutions from different regions of the Republic of Croatia, on two samples similar in structure. The revised version of the Parent Survey of Family and Community instrument (Sheldon & Epstein, 2007) was used. The reliability of the used scale (.76< λ <.88) corresponds to the original. Informing parents of kindergarten children has been recognised as the most common cause of collaboration with educators (M=3.44; SD=0.59), while counselling on parenting has been recognized as the least common one (M=2.85; SD=0.61). Factor saturation of certain scales indicates deeper parental involvement, rather than particles that point to normal activity. There was a statistically significant correlation between participants’ professional work experience and the results of applied scales (.40<r<.55; p<.01), except for the assessment of parents’ contribution to the curriculum structure (r=-.28; p<.05). Significant differences in subsamples were determined on the t-test for the variable Causes of cooperation (t=2.72; p<.01). Research results indicate that existing formal education of teachers is insufficient in relation to their development of professional competences needed for collaboration with parents, which is in accordance with the results of recent global research.Key words: collaboration causes; forms of teacher-parent collaboration.---Suradnja predškolskih odgojno-obrazovnih ustanova (dječjih vrtića) i obitelji doprinosi dobrobiti djece, a primarno ovisi o stavovima i kompetencijama odgajatelja. Istraženo je mišljenje odgajatelja o suradnji s roditeljima u dvije predškolske ustanove iz različitih regija Republike Hrvatske, na dva strukturno slična poduzorka. Koristila se revidirana verzija instrumenta Parent Survey of Family and Community (Sheldon i Epstain, 2007). Pouzdanost primijenjenih skala (.76<λ< .88) korespondira s izvornikom. Informiranje roditelja o djeci u dječjem vrtiću prepoznato je kao najčešći povod za suradnju s odgajateljima (M= 3.44; SD= .59), a najmanje je zastupljeno (M=2.85; SD= .61) savjetovanje o odgoju djece. Faktorska zasićenost pojedinih skala upućuje na značajniju determiniranost indikatorima dublje uključenosti roditelja nego česticama koje upućuju na uobičajene aktivnosti. Utvrđena je statistički značajna korelacija profesionalnog radnog staža sudionica i rezultata na primijenjenim skalama (.40<r< .55; p< .01) osim za procjenu doprinosa roditelja konstrukciji kurikula (r=- .28; p < .05). Statistički značajne razlike t-testa za poduzorke utvrđene su za varijablu Povod za suradnju (t= 2.72; p< .01). Nalazi istraživanja upućuju na to da je postojeće formalno obrazovanje odgajatelja nedostatno za razvoj profesionalnih kompetencija odgajatelja za suradnju s roditeljima, na što upućuju i nalazi recentnih svjetskih istraživanja.Ključne riječi: oblici suradnje odgajatelja i roditelja; povodi za suradnju.