By Mathias Pedersen, AAU Communication and Public Affairs

This question is at the heart of a new research project led by Associate Professor Jin Hui Li from the Department of Culture and Learning at Aalborg University. The project has received a grant of DKK 7,189,399 from the Independent Research Fund Denmark.

The project, titled Thriving through transitions, will over the next five years shed light on how children in vulnerable positions experience and navigate transitions from preschool to school and further into the middle grades.

The project is led by Jin Hui Li in collaboration with Docent Lene S. K. Schmidt from University College Absalon. Additionally, Hatice Secilmis Filikci is affiliated as a postdoc from Aalborg University, and Associate Professor Rikke Brown from Absalon is participating as a senior researcher.

“We aim to better understand how social and class-based inequalities shape children's vulnerability and sense of belonging during key transitions from preschool to primary school in a Danish context, and what it takes for them to thrive in their everyday lives.” says Jin Hui Li, Associate Professor at the Department of Culture and Learning, Aalborg University.

“As a central part of the project, we focus on children’s experiences and opportunities as they move from kindergarten to school and later into middle school, and on the local practices that can promote just and equitable transitions.” says Lene S. K. Schmidt, docent at University College Absalon.

A particular focus of the project is to examine social inequalities through the lens of children's transitions. Special attention will be given to the "grey zones" of vulnerability – children who fall outside diagnostic and institutional categories but still face challenges during transitions that affect their wellbeing.