Parental Selection of Preschool Programming in Saudi Arabia: A Qualitative Study
A global initiative has emerged in recent years to highlight early childhood education and care as a foundation for later learning and development. The goal of this study was to investigate the choices that Saudi Arabian parents made for their children’s preschool education. In a qualitative, explor...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Behavioral Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/12/10/370 |
| _version_ | 1797475262614470656 |
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| author | Mohaned G. Abed Maha M. Nahshal Todd K. Shackelford |
| author_facet | Mohaned G. Abed Maha M. Nahshal Todd K. Shackelford |
| author_sort | Mohaned G. Abed |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A global initiative has emerged in recent years to highlight early childhood education and care as a foundation for later learning and development. The goal of this study was to investigate the choices that Saudi Arabian parents made for their children’s preschool education. In a qualitative, exploratory study, we investigated parental selection of preschool programming in Saudi Arabia. Guided by a phenomenological approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 Saudi Arabian women that had preschool-aged children. Although some research has examined the constraints and factors affecting parental selection of preschool programming, it remains unclear when these constraints and factors are considered by parents during the decision-making process, and how the decisions are made. The interviews revealed that parents consider not only educational reputation in the selection of preschool programming, but also instructional use of Arabic and English, religious foundation, teaching quality, classroom preparation, program scheduling, tuition costs, and physical security of the preschool environment. The results suggest that improving information collection is essential for empowering parents to make wise decisions, with the child’s happiness and academic growth having a significant impact on those decisions. The discussion addresses the importance of identifying the factors that affect parental selection of preschool programming, so that educational professionals may better meet the needs and expectations of parents in Saudi Arabia. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:41:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-36a1786a3bc44a2485ce4e09cc894321 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-328X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:41:40Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Behavioral Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-36a1786a3bc44a2485ce4e09cc8943212023-11-23T22:56:04ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2022-09-01121037010.3390/bs12100370Parental Selection of Preschool Programming in Saudi Arabia: A Qualitative StudyMohaned G. Abed0Maha M. Nahshal1Todd K. Shackelford2Department of Special Education, Faculty of Educational Graduate Studies, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Sociology and Social Work, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309, USAA global initiative has emerged in recent years to highlight early childhood education and care as a foundation for later learning and development. The goal of this study was to investigate the choices that Saudi Arabian parents made for their children’s preschool education. In a qualitative, exploratory study, we investigated parental selection of preschool programming in Saudi Arabia. Guided by a phenomenological approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 Saudi Arabian women that had preschool-aged children. Although some research has examined the constraints and factors affecting parental selection of preschool programming, it remains unclear when these constraints and factors are considered by parents during the decision-making process, and how the decisions are made. The interviews revealed that parents consider not only educational reputation in the selection of preschool programming, but also instructional use of Arabic and English, religious foundation, teaching quality, classroom preparation, program scheduling, tuition costs, and physical security of the preschool environment. The results suggest that improving information collection is essential for empowering parents to make wise decisions, with the child’s happiness and academic growth having a significant impact on those decisions. The discussion addresses the importance of identifying the factors that affect parental selection of preschool programming, so that educational professionals may better meet the needs and expectations of parents in Saudi Arabia.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/12/10/370parental selectionpreschoolsemi-structured interviewsSaudi Arabia |
| spellingShingle | Mohaned G. Abed Maha M. Nahshal Todd K. Shackelford Parental Selection of Preschool Programming in Saudi Arabia: A Qualitative Study Behavioral Sciences parental selection preschool semi-structured interviews Saudi Arabia |
| title | Parental Selection of Preschool Programming in Saudi Arabia: A Qualitative Study |
| title_full | Parental Selection of Preschool Programming in Saudi Arabia: A Qualitative Study |
| title_fullStr | Parental Selection of Preschool Programming in Saudi Arabia: A Qualitative Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Parental Selection of Preschool Programming in Saudi Arabia: A Qualitative Study |
| title_short | Parental Selection of Preschool Programming in Saudi Arabia: A Qualitative Study |
| title_sort | parental selection of preschool programming in saudi arabia a qualitative study |
| topic | parental selection preschool semi-structured interviews Saudi Arabia |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/12/10/370 |
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