“Again, It Depends on Numbers and People Coming”: Institution-initiated Transitions in Early Childhood Education and Care

This study examines the constitution of institution-initiated transitions emerging during children’s years in early childhood education and care (ECEC) with a relational approach. The aim is to trace connections between the socio-political context and transitions. The socio-political context is seen as a transition system producing varying transition patterns. Longitudinal interview data with educators about five focus children’s transitions in Finnish ECEC was analysed. The study uses the premises of Walther’s (2006) transition regime model as a heuristic analysis tool. Patterns of relationality (Settersten et al., 2022) are employed to describe mechanisms that constitute transitions. The main findings are that, firstly, children’s transitions are constituted by the interaction between the structural ECEC pathway and local micro-regimes emerging in relation to local freedom to organise ECEC services. Secondly, the rationales for transitions are often managerial. The findings suggest that, to avoid domino transitions where children who are already at the centre must suddenly be moved between groups to make space for newcomers, it is important to reflect on (local) ECEC policies for filling ECEC centres.