Saudi Mothers’ Perspectives and Experiences About Family-School Partnership in Early Childhood: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

In this study, I explored Saudi mothers’ perspectives on family-school partnerships, besides understanding the challenges they had faced. I used the ecological theoretical framework, to understand the complexity of the relationships between family and school and the impact of the environment on children's development. The ecological theory allowed me to simplify these relationships and recognize the effect on the children's development by examining Saudi mothers' perspectives. I selected qualitative research to gain a better thoughtful of the complex phenomena. I conducted semi-structured interviews to gain a deeper understanding of mothers’ perspectives. I applied a thematic analysis by Clark and Braun (2006), and I followed the six-phase process to analyze the data. I explored that Saudi mothers were more involved with their children’s education at home than at school. The study showed that Saudi mothers participated in and supported their children in various ways inside the home. Furthermore, the study revealed that Saudi mothers had expectations and goals, and they wanted their children to acquire them in the early childhood stage. Additionally, Saudi mothers noticed the changes that happened in education after the Saudi Vision 2030. Lastly, the findings revealed the challenges the Saudi mothers faced while building partnerships with schools.