Kokkidou, M. (2017).From kindergarten to early adulthood – Findings from a longitudinal study: What factors most influence student academic trajectory?Thessaloniki: Greek Society for Music Education

Kokkidou, M. (2017). From kindergarten to early childhood. Findings from a longitudinal study. Thessaloniki: Greek Society for Music Education.

From kindergarten to early adulthood – Findings from a longitudinal study: What factors most influence student academic trajectory?

Author: May Kokkidou (MEd, PhD, post-PhD)

ISBN:  978-960-89847-8-3

Kokkidou, M. (2017). From kindergarten to early childhood. Findings from a longitudinal study. Thessaloniki: Greek Society for Music Education.

Abstract:

What is the aim of school? Is it the whole child development? Is it to help children become independent learners? Is it to facilitate children to find their own path and achieve their own potential; to realize who they are and who they can become? Is it to help students transfer what they have learned in school to everyday settings (home, community and workplace)? Is it to serve culturally diverse students with varied abilities and motivations for learning? Why do some children fare better academically than others? Can we identify the factors, both inside and outside the school environment, which influence a student’s either academic failure or success? 

To address the above and other relevant questions I designed and conducted a 15years’ intensive case study research (from September 1998 to June 2013). The participants were a group of seven kindergarten children. The qualitative design employed participants’ observation, informal discussions with the participants across all school years, and in depth interview with their parents. The present work documents the interdependent influences of multiple endogenous and exogenous factors on participants’ life trajectories, such as personal characteristics, home environment, school environment, and preschool life experiences. 

In this work, I report on the results and discuss the findings of this study. The results indicate that there is a variety of factors which operate symbiotically and determine one’s school progress. One of the most significant findings is that children as young as 5 years old reveal traits that influence later academic progress. Children’s individual characteristics and prior experiences are dominant factors that influence mostly their academic gains. The results suggest that we need much more knowledge than is presently available with respect to the role of individual characteristics in one student’s academic achievement and life progress. Major efforts must be undertaken in order to find causal relations between early attainment /capacities and later achievement.

The ideological and philosophical concept which underlies this work is that posing questions is more crucial than seeking easy answers.

May Kokkidou was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. She is a music education specialist and educational researcher. She has published numerous papers and articles in international and national journals and conference proceedings. She is author of three books and of the monograph “European Music Curricula: Philosophical Orientations, Trends, and Comparative Validation”, and co-author of four book on Aesthetic Education. She teaches as adjunct lecturer in the Post-Graduate Programs “Semiotics and Communication” (University of Western Macedonia), and “Music Pedagogy” (European University Cyprus). May Kokkidou served as president of the Greek Society for Music Education (2007-2012). Her recent work focuses on the areas of cultural studies, music curricula studies, semiotics of music, and the multi-modal music perception.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/May_Kokkidou

https://independent.academia.edu/MayKokkidou

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