A systematic review: Parental perspective on school readiness during the pre- and post-transition periods

• 56 articles on parental perceptions of school readiness were systematically reviewed. • The social theme included self-regulation, maturity and relationships. • The academic theme included skills, learning attitudes and academic progress. • The physical theme included self-care, physical maturation and chronological age. • The collaboration theme included family and educational system responsibilities. Parental perspectives on school readiness reflect diverse changing and sustained beliefs as children move from home life or early childhood education (ECE) to school. This review analysed parental perspectives in pre- and post-transition periods captured within the qualitative and quantitative literature over the past two decades. This paper presents a systematic review of 71 studies that drew conclusions about parental perspectives on the school readiness of children who were about to or had just started formal schooling. Employing reflexive thematic analysis, the studies were categorised into four main themes across the two time points: socio-emotional development, academic development, physical development, and collaborative school readiness. The findings suggest that parents frequently emphasised socio-emotional and academic development over physical development and collaborative school readiness at both time points. The review offers important insights about parents’ concerns before their child’s transition to school and their experiences once they begin.