Thriving through transitions: Social class and Children in vulnerable positions’ pathways from Kindergarten to Middle School

Thriving Through Transitions explores how class-based inequalities shape children’s vulnerability and belonging during key educational transitions from kindergarten to middle school in Denmark. Using a longitudinal mixed-methods design across two municipalities, the project combines ethnographic fieldwork, a large-scale parent survey, and participatory workshops with pedagogues and teachers . It examines how children’s backgrounds influence their experiences when moving from kindergarten to school and on to middle school, as well as their opportunities to take part in communities.

Transitions are not merely administrative shifts, but socially and emotionally intense periods in which children’s relationships, communities, and self-understandings change. We investigate how children experience and navigate these important transitions and their opportunities to thrive through such changes. The project centers on the lived experiences of children—particularly those in vulnerable positions not covered by formal diagnoses—and explores how more equitable transitions can be fostered.

Drawing on critical childhood studies, disability studies, and lived class theory, the project produces practice-oriented knowledge to reimagine more equitable educational practices. It informs policy and pedagogy aimed at challenging the reproduction of inequality in Nordic welfare systems.

The project is a close collaboration between Aalborg University, University College Absalon, two municipalities, PPR, ECEC daycare institutions, schools, and leisure programs, ensuring strong integration between research and practice.