When exploring transitions, note that individuals naturally experience and progress through a wide range of transitional events throughout their lives. Most of these transitions are common and experienced by almost all individuals, while others are unique to their lived experiences, abilities and circumstances. As such, understanding what is meant by childhood transitions is essential to support and guide them through these events. 

In its simplest form, a transition refers to a change in an individual’s daily life, such as moving schools, classes, or educational topics. These changes can have positive, negative, and neutral impacts on an individual’s learning and development. The transitions that an individual could experience during childhood can be divided into two types: expected and unexpected. Each type of transition has characteristics that distinguish it from the other. 

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Expected transitions

As the name suggests, expected transitions are known changes an individual will experience and, as such, can plan for. Most people experience and can anticipate these transitions, such as daily changes like moving from one learning task to another, or larger but known changes such as progressing from primary school to secondary school. 

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Unexpected transitions

Unexpected transitions are the opposite of expected transitions and, as such, are unknown changes that an individual will experience. Because they are unknown, they often cannot be planned for, though this depends on the situation. For example, a death in the family is considered an unexpected transition whether it was known in advance or happened suddenly; in both cases, it is unexpected because it cannot be predicted, unlike a transition from primary to secondary. 

Another distributable feature of an unexpected transition is that not all individuals experience it, such as the birth of a new sibling or moving house. However, just because they are unexpected does not mean that they are negative in nature or in their influence and impact on an individual’s learning and development.