”Stability and change in prosocial and antisocial behavior across the transition to school: Teacher and peer perspectives”.

The purpose of this study is to examine whether the transition from kindergarten to school has any influence on the social behaviour of children. The overall objective is to examine whether children's social behaviour at daycare centres indicates what the the transition to school will be like. The study examines stability and changes in children's social behaviour and whether changes in social behaviour are dependent on gender; i.e. whether girls and boys react the same to starting school.

The study shows that there is significant agreement among children, child carers and teachers about the children whose behaviour is antisocial. On the other hand, however, children, child carers and teachers do not significantly agree when it comes to children whose behaviour is prosocial. Assessments by child carers and teachers of prosocial behaviour of pre-school children were virtually identical to the assessment they made later of the same children after they had started school. Pedagogues and teachers significantly assess more girls than boys to be prosocial. According to the children, girls are significantly better at comforting and being helpful than boys; both in kindergarten and at school. The children who remained at daycare centres were found to be more helpful than those children who started school. Therefore, the results of the study show that the antisocial tendencies of the most aggressive children are already well-established in kindergarten and that the transition to school does not make children more prosocial.

Assessments by children, child carers and teachers of children's social behaviour before and after starting school are compared. A total of 248 pre-school children are divided into two groups: One group consists of 130 children aged 52-69 months, the second group consists of 118 children aged 64-77 months. The children in the second group are about to start school. By comparing these two groups, the study examines whether there are any changes in children's social behaviour caused by the transition to school, or whether changes are caused by the fact that children have become one year older. For example the children are interviewed about which of the other children is their most and least favourite playmate. In this way, the change in children's social behaviour is examined across daycare and school. At one-year intervals, child carers and teachers fill in a questionnaire that examines the development in social behaviour of the same children.

Eivers, A.R., Brendgen, M. og Borge, A.I.H. (2010). ”Stability and change in prosocial and antisocial behavior across the transition to school: Teacher and peer perspectives”. Early Education and Development, 21(6), 843-864.