Starting school in Brunei
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Dr Ros Kitson with some school children in Brunei. |
Language and culture are just two of the barriers you need to overcome when doing research in another country. A Macquarie University early childhood lecturer has examined the experience of children starting school in Brunei and her findings are set to influence a new program to help that transition.
Starting school is a daunting prospect for parents and children alike. Institute of Early Childhood Lecturer Dr Ros Kitson found that children in Brunei were under prepared for the realities of school life.
Kitson spent five years in the mid 1990s teaching at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam. After visiting primary schools in Brunei she recognised there was a great need for programs for children starting school.
"There was a lot of unhappiness amongst the children," says Kitson. "They spoke about being scared, worried, sad and crying. The transition to school was difficult for many children. The first year of school is really crucial and the issues had not been considered so I decided to research the experience of starting school."
Cultural challenges
Kitson had some major challenges to overcome in her research, the first one being nationality.
"The culture of the country is built on a hierarchical structure," explains Kitson. "I was one of a minority group in that society and it gave me an understanding of what life is like for some minority groups in Australia."
Another challenge was the language. In Brunei, English and Bahasa Malay are the languages of education, but five-year-old children starting school speak Bruneian Malay or an Indigenous language. This causes a significant discontinuity for many children.
To collect data, Kitson worked with a university colleague to interview children and their parents. "One of the advantages of having a Malay speaker sharing the interviewing was that people disclosed things they would not have told me as an 'orang putih' (a white woman), relating to traditional and religious beliefs," Kitson explains. "I wanted to know what families did to prepare children for school."
One parent told Kitson that it is customary for some parents to take their child to a bomah (a traditional medicine man) before they start school, so the bomah can give them something to make them brave. They don't talk about it because it is not encouraged by their religion.
Strategies
"At the end of the thesis I was able to make recommendations including emphasising the importance of building stronger relationships with families," says Kitson. "Involving families and the community is a significant aspect of successful transitions."
Kitson also recommended that children become familiar with the school environment before starting school which will help to overcome separation anxiety. "It is also important to plan for continuity between the prior to school and school experiences of children," says Kitson. "Many children haven't attended pre-school and to go from home into a formal learning environment can be confronting and challenging."
Monograph
A monograph based on Kitson's thesis has recently been presented to the Ministry of Education in Brunei. Kitson expects that her suggestions will form part of a new program for starting school.
For further information contact Dr Ros Kitson on: ros.kitson@mq.edu.au
Visit the Institute of Early Childhood Website on: www.aces.mq.edu.au/iec_home.asp