Transitions are constant changes that are part of everyone’s life, be it a newborn baby, toddler, adolescent, and even an adult or aged being. Everyone experiences a transition in one way or the other, though it can be challenging for some because they do not like the idea of being in a position or point in their life then, the next thing they are already at another point. What is Secondary Transition?
Nevertheless, transitions can serve as a stepping stone to something great if they have the support of the parents, teachers, and staff even community support is much accepted.
What do you understand by secondary transition?
As we have discussed above, that transistor is a change that occurs when a newborn baby metamorphoses into a toddler and vice versa, but the transition doesn’t stop there, it is expressed in education as well. Transition is when children or young people left home to attend preschool or childcare for early learning and from there to primary education, from level to level, and from stage to stage.
From primary education, they move to high school or as the British call it secondary school till they move to University/college and finally till they become professionals in their course of study. Transition doesn’t stop there, It occurs in human beings till death, so if you know anyone afraid of transitioning informs him/her to buckle up because it is the only thing that is constant in life.
Secondary transition is the process by which youth or young people with disabilities in the world of high school are prepared for the world of adulthood. This transition usually occurs at the age of 14 or younger if determined appropriate by the Individualised Education Program (IEP) team.
It was recorded that a known number of students that receive education services choose not to pursue education or training beyond high school. When we compare it to the general population, they are not as successful in the workplace as expected and this is why transition planning and the corresponding program are established to close this gap.
What do you understand by transition planning?
Transition planning is a process of setting rules or activities that helps or try to improve students’ stability when they traverse from high school to post-secondary education and also to employment or independent level. This activity is set aside for students to have an easy transition in their phase of life.
The rules or activities can be set aside by parents, teachers, the community, and even some organizations and non-organization agencies. The main reason for the transition planning is to promote independence and interdependence for students when they become adults, therefore transition planning program shouldn’t only be limited to age 14 and above but to everybody.
Transition planning process
Each school has a different method of strategic planning, this planning can be done if both the student, the organization, the schools, and even the community come together to plan the future of their children (I.e how they can move forward in life). The following processes as what they make use of when planning:
- Listening and conversing about ongoing actions
Listening is very essential for the growth of the youth. When you listen to what the students said, and what their dreams are like, it will be easy to converse with them about how they can put their envision dreams into reality. They are special people why not uniquely talk to them by showing them examples and evidence about those that have come through the same thing and become successful in life, by doing this it will ascertain their dreams.
- Defining, clarifying, and reflecting on information shared by parent-children relationships
They have talked to you about their dreams, and then defining that dream for them should be on the next agenda. Defining can be done when you ask them the reason they want to achieve the dream, it doesn’t matter whether it is for a valid reason or not but it is how you define it for them that they will envision it. Clarifying is in alignment with defining and clarifying is like you are validating the dream they envision for them while reflecting is analyzing the steps required for them to make that dream into reality.
- Implementation and encouragement
You have established what they are interested in doing and likewise validating and defining those dreams for them, the next step is helping them take the necessary actions. This can be done by advising and encouraging them to take up a volunteering role in what they are interested in doing, and not just only sit down in the shadow and dream. Another aspect is encouragement, appreciate them whenever they take a small action, it isn’t about the action but about the reaction that springs forth from the action that will make them believe in their competence and thus make them successfully see themselves.
Why is it important for school personnel to help students plan for post-school transitions?
Growing up, we learned that a school is a place where we learn and understand the principles of life academically, but that is not the only thing school can do for us, school helps us in developing our skills both the inbuilt ones and the soft skills that we acquired from our peers. But these can not be acquired if school personnel doesn’t include them in our curriculum. Therefore, school personnel is the ones who can help them discover their skills and now it can be implemented in the outside world in wither for them to be self-dependent.
Conclusion
We are all unique and special in our ways but that uniqueness won’t express itself if we do not undergo transition. Transition tends to be a scary thing for the student if not enlightened properly before they are hijacked from their fairytale and thrown into the real world. That is why the students do not only need the help of the school personnel, they also require the help of parents, guidance, and even the community to make their transition a Calm one.
