Irati Sagardia: “Students are the protagonists of educational transitions and they have the right to be heard and taken into account”
Irati Sagardia: “Students are the protagonists of educational transitions and they have the right to be heard and taken into account”
Irati Sagardia: “Students are the protagonists of educational transitions and they have the right to be heard and taken into account”
The dissertation entitled “Transforming educational transition processes through stakeholder experiences,” defended by Irati Sagardia on the Eskoriatza campus in April, earned a rating of Outstanding “cum laude” with the International designation. We spoke with the author about her research.
On April 11, Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences researcher Irati Sagardia (Donostia, 1994) defended her doctoral dissertation, Transforming educational transition processes through stakeholder experiences. The event was held on the Eskoriatza campus. We spoke with the author about her research, which earned a rating of Outstanding “cum laude”.
What is the main topic of your doctoral dissertation?
My dissertation sought to understand and transform the educational transitions that occur in a school or institute. It was written from an inclusive perspective and based on that specific context, the experiences and voices of the main protagonists (children, young people, families and teachers) were consistently taken into account.
In your research, you focused on vertical educational transitions during the period of compulsory education. Why did you decide to investigate this subject? What was your starting point?
The dissertation analyzes the vertical parallels in compulsory education: the passage from Early Childhood Education to Primary Education, from Primary Education to Compulsory Secondary Education, as well as changes between the cycles of Primary Education. On the one hand, schools have been expressing concern about these steps to the research group for some time. On the other hand, these steps have also been identified as processes to be preserved in policy and in the scientific literature, due to their complexity and often because they’re a potential barrier. Educational transitions are experiences that all students go through, without exception. We understand these changes as opportunities for learning and development, but for this to be the case, it’s essential to take good care of the contexts. Without that care, many children, young people and families experience these steps with great anxiety and that can have consequences for their academic, social and emotional future. This is why the dissertation places the experiences of the protagonists at the center. We wanted to carry out the research with them and for them in order to generate opportunities for improvement in these contexts.
You report the results obtained during the process in three different studies. What are those three lines? Why this distribution?
The research was divided into three articles that clearly show the dynamic and cyclical nature of the participatory action research (PAR) method. This distribution allows the results obtained in each of the phases and the actions derived from those phases to be presented in a differentiated but complementary way. The first includes the diagnosis of the educational transition processes, as well as a compilation of the experiences of teachers and families. The second documents the first PAR cycle. It explains the creation and work of the group driving the process, as well as the design of the ElkarZaintza (MutualCare) action plan, its socialization, first implementation, and subsequent evaluation. And the third presents the second PAR cycle. In the evaluation of the first cycle, lines for improvement were identified, then adjustments were made to the plan, it was reimplemented, and the entire process was evaluated.
You collected the perceptions of students, families and teachers. What do the protagonists relate?
It’s difficult for me to summarize what I’ve taken in over three years. However, mainly, changes in stage create nervousness and uncertainty. There are a lot of changes and in the face of this, secure relationships are essential: in the case of the smaller children, their main reference is their teacher, while with age, friends become key. The objective of families is for their children to be viewed well and for this, it’s very important that they receive prior and clear information based on their needs. This way, families are calmer and are willing to help their children. The teaching staff, for their part, insist on the need for stable spaces for coordination and for exchanging information. When there are no such spaces, these transitions are left up to each teacher individually, which leads to great differences. As a result of the research process, the school has developed the ElkarZaintza (MutualCare) plan, and now transitions are worked on more systematically. That is, they take place as part of a specific action to facilitate the transitions of children, families and teachers.
What are the main conclusions of your work? What contribution does your research make?
Among the main conclusions is the importance of listening to and taking into account the voices of children. I would like to emphasize that they are the protagonists of these processes and that their experiences can show us ways to improve our practice. Also, they have the right to be heard and taken into account. The experiences of children, families and teachers have broadened the framework for understanding educational transitions. They’re not just changes in stage or specific actions, but are part of a broader process. This has allowed us to look beyond the usual vertical steps (grade repetitions, reception plans, changes in teaching staff due to substitutions, etc.). It also highlights the fact that transitions are not simply a school issue, but processes that require joint management with the community.
This work involved the creation and systematization of the ElkarZaintza (MutualCare) plan, as well as the definition of new lines of work for the future, taking into account the needs of all the protagonists and working in collaboration with them. In addition, we found few studies that analyze the transitions between primary cycles, so this work has also taken some steps to fill that gap.
How did you find the process of writing your dissertation?
The process was very enriching. I enjoyed it a lot and learned a lot. Like all processes, it had its ups and downs, but I’ve retained everything I received and I’m very grateful. As a professional, I had the opportunity to delve into various aspects of the research and really take a close look at a topic that’s of great interest to me. In addition, the fact that the process is related to a real context has opened up new dimensions for me and the collaboration with the school’s agents was very meaningful for me. Placing the voices of the children, teachers and families at the center of the research allowed me to learn from their experiences, and the contributions, views and ways of doing things of the members of the group driving the process have greatly enriched my understanding. Also, the dissertation is part of a project done by a research group. For me, the knowledge, trust and support of that team were key, especially in redirecting the “downs” I mentioned earlier so they would become “ups.”
