Abstract:
Previous research on transition has focussed on either the effect of social origins or psychological makeup of children as they dealt with the transition or on curriculum or contextual factors that affected their transition (Garton, 1986, Mitman & Packer, 1982, Rienstra, 1987). Australian research of the 1980s placed greatest emphasis on the role of contextual factors such as size of school, number of teachers, student background. This paper presents part of a study which seeks to take into account the views of teachers and students and the classroom and learning environments with particular emphasis on the way in which students make sense of their experiences during this time and the effect of this on their academic performance. This paper will focus on a description of student perceptions of the transition from Year 7 to Year 8.