Saudi Families-Teachers Partnerships and Attitudes Towards Families' Involvement in Early Childhood Inclusive Education

Abstract

This study describes the families' involvement in their child's learning in inclusive early childhood settings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It aims to examine the family-school partnerships level, and attitudes of those surrounding a child regarding family involvement, including the role of both parents in their child's learning within these environments, as well as the attitudes of teachers and providers. Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological systems theory (1979, 2009) has been employed to support the current study conceptualisation as it provides an analytical lens considering multiple environments and relations (e.g., preschool and family), which have direct influence on children across inclusive early childhood settings. Subsequently, certain factors that could underpin participants’ perspectives on family involvement were examined. These included but were not limited to, age, education level, teaching experience, and number in family. This study is considered the first to focus on three important groups: special and general early childhood teachers, service providers, and parents, including fathers. It is, moreover, the first study to involve fathers as participants in surveys and interviews within the Saudi early childhood context, which is predominantly female dominated. The study analysed surveys from 265 participants to initially explore attitudes towards family involvement. Following this, semi-structured interviews were developed and conducted with 17 participants, to gain a deeper understanding and explanation of the enablers and barriers participants face regarding family involvement in their child's learning. In the quantitative phase of this study, parents had the most positive attitudes towards family involvement. At the same time, the number of children per family emerged as a key element affecting parental involvement. Surprisingly, variables traditionally thought to influence such attitudes, including the age of the parents and their level of education, did not show a meaningful impact on the level of family involvement. Conversely, interviews suggested that a lower educational level among parents may adversely impact their involvement in their children's education. Another key finding is that all participants overwhelmingly focused on the difficulty of involving fathers in Saudi early childhood education, citing traditional and preschool structural reasons. Families are involved in their child's learning differently, depending on the unique attributes and barriers present in various preschools. This thesis emphasises the contributions of family, including fathers, to their children's education. The study provides an original notion of the barriers to fathers' involvement, and suggestions to facilitate this issue in the Saudi context. The findings are expected to aid in the reconsideration of family involvement in inclusive preschool environments.