ARAB EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF PARENT-KINDERGARTEN TEACHER PARTNERSHIPS AND CHILDREN’S DEVELOPMENT AND BEHAVIOR IN ISRAEL

Ola Abu Raiya

Abstract


This study examined how Arab early childhood education students in Israel perceived parent-kindergarten teacher partnerships and their potential contribution to children’s behavioral self-regulation, psychological confidence, emotional security, and broader development. The study was conducted to address the limited culturally situated knowledge about how future Arab kindergarten teachers understand family-educator cooperation and to strengthen the inclusion of partnership competencies in teacher preparation. Using a qualitative interpretive design, semi-structured interviews were conducted in Arabic with 30 Arab female students recruited through purposive and snowball sampling from the Galilee, the Triangle, and the Negev, and the data were examined through reflexive thematic analysis. Five themes emerged: reciprocal and trust-based partnership, home-kindergarten consistency, children’s psychological confidence and emotional security, broader developmental contributions, and cultural, institutional, geographic, and interpersonal facilitators and barriers. The findings indicated that participants viewed trust, coordinated expectations, cultural and linguistic recognition, and accessible communication as central to effective partnerships. The study concluded that such partnerships may support children’s behavioral, emotional, social, cultural, and educational experiences, although the findings represent students’ perceptions rather than measured causal effects. It recommends integrating family-partnership training, culturally responsive practices, flexible meeting arrangements, and ethical digital communication into early childhood education programs. Theoretically, the study integrates ecological, overlapping-spheres, and sociocultural perspectives through the proposed Triadic Synergy of Trust model; practically, it provides guidance for teacher educators, kindergarten administrators, and future educators seeking to establish inclusive and context-sensitive family-kindergarten relationships.

Keywords


parent-kindergarten teacher partnership, early childhood education, arab society in Israel, parental involvement, behavioral self-regulation, psychological confidence, emotional security, cultural responsiveness, family-school relationships, qualitative r

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v13i7.6911

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