Transition from School to University

Transition from School to University

• The transition from high school is affected by a student's educational and socio-economic background.
• Challenges presented by the higher education institution, as well as support offered, also plays a role in students transitioning from high school to university.
• Tinto's model explains student's experiences of transitioning to university, providing a framework to understand first-year students' expectations and experiences.
• Students move through separation, transition, and incorporation phases to adjust to university.
• Each phase identifies factors related to students dropping out of university.
• The #FeesMustFall movement highlighted that universities need to be more responsive to the realities of their students, noting universities aren't always inclusive.

Separation Phase

• Separation involves a decline in past interactions and changes in student behavior.
• First-year students need to dissociate from past experiences and transition to university norms.
• Students need to make mental and physical breaks from their previous learning experiences.
• The dominant norms and patterns of many universities have not always met the social and academic needs of first-year students.
• This includes developing new friendships as well as changing behaviours.
• Furthermore, the separation phase involves learning new bodies of knowledge, and employing new ways of thinking.
• Students who adjust to the new environment will have a sense of belonging.
• Some students experience social alienation and personal challenges during this phase.
• Universities must ensure transformative support structures and orientation programmes are in place to avoid the separation phase being traumatic for first-year students.
• Social challenges such as backgrounds and income can affect the integration into university spaces.
• Students experience "incongruence" when they feel that they do not belong to the social or academic sectors of the university.
• Not being able to form meaningful relationships impacts students that experience "isolation".
• Limited access to information could lead to withdrawing from tertiary studies.
• Low income and lack of funding leads to dropout, affecting feelings of inclusion and exclusion.
• This can also lead to lacking safe accommodation and food security.
• Enrolling in large universities can result in a greater risk of isolation, because of the wide physical spaces, complex administrative structure, and diversity of the student body.
• Isolation can be compounded by adaptability and familiarity to university culture.
• Not belonging can contribute to disequilibrium and reluctance to communicate with lecturers.
• Students will seek academic support from peer networks instead.

Transition Phase

• Students are torn between the past (high school) and the present (university).
• Students must acquire knowledge to adhere to the norms, values, and beliefs of the university.
• This stage will vary in length for each student, given diverse lived experiences and social capital.
• Universities should ensure that diverse needs are accommodated.
• Students could find it challenging to understand the structural procedures of the university.
• First-year students are more likely to drop out if they are unable to integrate socially, form networks, or manage social freedoms.
• The shift in the transition phase is not always sequenced, so every student's goals and objectives contribute to making the transition successful.
• Students encounter psycho-pedagogic challenges that include inconsistencies between school skills and university course expectations.
• First-year students experience difficulties adjusting to the required academic literacy level.
• The increasing number of students who are academically unprepared for the expectations of higher education is concerning.
• Universities need to have a more transformative agenda.
• Academic literacy is described as the gap between lecturers' expectations and student's ability to deliver expectations.
• School-leavers might not have access to academic discourses and literacy practices.
• Varying expectations can impact any knowledge gaps. -First-year course curricula to incorporate reading and writing skills will allow students to feel more included and less excluded from academic programmes, which decreases marginalisation.

Incorporation Phase

• Adjustment and involvement in the social and academic communities of the university.
• New interaction patterns are established with peers, lecturers, and administrative staff.
• Students might feel more socially and academically involved at university.
• Adaption to the university's dominant culture could be exclusionary and not acknowledge the social identities of all students.
• Universities should ensure that students have options to socialise in sub-groups and feel included at university.
• Universities need to ensure students feel more comfortable and have diverse needs being met.
• It is important to understand students' expectations and experiences in their first few weeks at university.

This covers the transition from high school to university, influenced by educational background and institutional support. Tinto's model explains this transition, with phases of separation, transition, and incorporation. The #FeesMustFall movement highlighted the need for inclusive universities.