The Functions Of Gender And The Teacher In Saudi Arabia’s Early Childhood Education

Early childhood education was introduced to Saudi Arabia in 1975, but as grade one of primary school was not a requirement for enrollment, it has not been regarded as a component of the country’s basic education system (Allehyani, 2016). However, all children are now expected to attend and finish at least a full year of early childhood education before enrolling in primary school under a new education policy known as Khaled Al-Faisal, which was implemented by King Khaled Al-Faisal in 2013-2014. (Saudi Gazette, 2014,). Saudi research findings that the literacy levels of first grade students who had not attended early childhood were lower than those of children who had finished a full year in early childhood schools provided support for this new requirement of the equivalent of 1 year of compulsory early childhood education (Allehyani, 2016).

Early childhood education in Saudi Arabia is split into two levels:

Children in this age range attend nursery level, which is optional. In general, staff members who care for children in this age range do not possess early childhood Bachelor degrees. The nursery level, which focuses on “care,” may be seen as an extension of the family setting and offers play and care activities for young children (Alzaydi, 2010).

Children at the early childhood education level range in age from three to six. It is broken down into three phases:

Children in KG 1 are three years old.

For youngsters in KG2 who are four years old.

Children between the ages of five and six are in KG3. All of the abilities needed for primary school, including emerging reading and numeracy skills, are expected of children at the early childhood education level. Before starting primary school, all kids must finish at least KG3 (ages 5 to 6). (Alzaydi, 2010).

Early childhood educators anticipate children to develop a range of academic, cognitive, behavioral, and social abilities (Kashkary & Robinson, 2006). Children in Saudi Arabia are educated using a Self-Learning Curriculum (SLC), which is a required national early childhood curriculum for all early childhood schools (see Table 2 in Appendix 1 for additional information about SLC’s content). Since each school or kindergarten has its own curriculum, there was no specific curriculum or rules for early childhood schools prior to the establishment of this centralized national early childhood curriculum (BinAli, 2014).

In Saudi Arabia, religion has a profound impact on all aspects of education. This is true of the structure of the centralized early childhood education curriculum. The SLC incorporates activities including studying Arabic, math and scientific education, Islamic religious and moral activities, the development of children’s creative talents, health and social education, and physical education, drawing on Islamic and cultural themes. The SLC focuses on each individual kid, taking into account both their self-development and preferred learning styles (BinAli, 2014). All children are given age-appropriate organized activities, including numeracy and literacy exercises, under this national curriculum. The SLC has specific objectives for kids, including: adaptability, play, freedom, human connection, respect and understanding of a child’s identity and culture, Islamic values, knowledge and skills, and positive relationships with families. This national early childhood curriculum is intended for pre-service educators as well as individuals who are presently working with young children (Allehyani, 2016).

The Self-Learning Curriculum (SLC) in Saudi Arabia is the foundation for how classroom settings are organized into several learning areas (Allehyani, 2016). Each region indicates a task using a certain talent. In addition to include literacy and numeracy exercises, the learning activities should balance the children’s demands in terms of their physical, social, emotional, intellectual, and linguistic needs (Allehyani, 2016). In Saudi Arabia, early childhood education begins at 7.30 a.m. It lasts for one hour, with eight sessions making up the learning process. Breakfast, a Quran recitation session, circle time, outdoor free play time, morning tea time, indoor free play time, and the final teacher meeting are all on the daily schedule (see Table 3 in Appendix 2).

The Saudi government has responded to Prince Khaled Al-call Faisal’s for universal early childhood education by increasing the number of early childhood settings in Saudi Arabia, realizing in recent years the value of early childhood education for enhancing children’s learning later in primary school (Allehyani, 2016). Prince Mohammad bin Salman asserted:

“We’ll keep making investments in education and training to ensure that our children are prepared for the jobs of the future. Wherever they may reside, we want Saudi children to get a more superior, all-encompassing education. We will make significant investments, especially in the improvement of early childhood education, our national curriculum, and the preparation of teachers and educational leaders (KSA Vision 2030, 2016, p. 36).

Prince Mohammad bin Salman, the deputy crown prince of Saudi Arabia, made this statement to introduce the Vision 2030 development strategy (KSA Vision 2030, 2016). In order to dramatically improve Saudi children’s moral character from an early age, Prince Mohammad stressed in April 2016 that Vision 2030 “is the first step on our road toward a better, brighter future for our nation and our inhabitants” (KSA Vision 2030, 2016). Economic, social, and educational objectives are part of the Saudi Vision 2030 plan, with a particular emphasis on ECE-related topics like developing ECE curricula, improving teacher preparation and development programs, fostering creativity and innovation in the classroom, and enhancing students’ values and skills.

With a goal of 1,591 schools nationwide by 2019, the number of early childhood classes has grown at a pace of 300 schools every year since 2014. Due to this fast expansion, there is a greater need for early childhood educators (Saudi Gazette, 2014). In the meanwhile, there are now more universities offering bachelor’s degree programs in early childhood education than ever before in Saudi Arabia’s various regions. Early childhood educators are the only professionals qualified to educate both male and female children in Saudi Arabia, and they are completely female.

Saudi Arabia’s Gender Education Policy

Gender segregation is a long-standing sociocultural and theological Islamic practice in Saudi Arabia. In addition to schools, colleges, charity organizations, hospitals, restaurants, and government offices, women and girls also have their own private and public areas (Meijer, 2010). While there is still a sociocultural norm of gender segregation in education, educators and policymakers have continued to push for greater gender equality in Saudi Arabia. Women are increasingly working in a variety of fields, including education, medical, social work, law, administration, banking, accounting, IT, media, and broadcasting, as well as in private companies like women’s hairdressing, tailoring, and commerce (Alebaikan, 2010). To fulfill the ever-changing needs, Vision 2030 has proposed a variety of national development initiatives. Recruitment, training, and professional development of both male and female teachers are important areas sought for improvement. Children under the age of six are deemed genderless since they are not categorized as learners according to their genders, despite the cultural norm of gender segregation in Saudi Arabia. Before they reach the developmental stage of puberty, both male and female youngsters in this age range (birth to six years old) are considered as children and young learners.

Saudi Arabia’s Early Childhood Teacher Education Program:

The cultural practice of only female teachers being allowed to teach in Saudi Arabia’s early childhood settings has brought attention to the issue of a shortage of qualified early childhood teachers as a result of the national expansion and provision of ECE to all children under the new education policy. Early children of Bachelor-degree holders and instructors without such degrees who are still in the classroom are often seen together in Saudi early childhood settings nowadays. However, since the first ECE Bachelor’s degree program was created in 1986, the history of early childhood teacher preparation programs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been rather brief (Alsaleh, 2019; Alyami, 2014). Only 56% of preschool instructors have bachelor’s degrees, and 76% of those who do not have a degree in early childhood education, according to the most recent figures from the Ministry of Education website. The Ministry of Education has concentrated on creating early childhood teacher preparation programs in order to solve the scarcity of trained early childhood educators. In order to equip future teachers with a four-year Bachelor of Education degree in early childhood education, many universities have been built since 1986 in 18 various places around Saudi Arabia (Hamdan, 2015).

In general, Saudi Arabia’s early childhood teacher education degree programs are uniform. In Saudi Arabia, all preservice early childhood educators must complete the same four-year bachelor’s degree program (see the study plan in Appendix 3), and they must also complete a 10-week practicum during their last semester of study. The practicum program is structured with a continuum of learning exercises that are done in order, starting with 10 days of classroom observation and concluding with 40 days of teaching experience in kindergarten classes.

A practicum handbook that clearly outlines the university’s expectations for how the practicum should go serves as a guide for pre-service teachers and the supervisor’s instructors at the institution (University of Hail, 2018). The guidebook specifies when and how long student teachers should begin teaching, as well as how university supervisors should evaluate student teachers’ performances and other information on how the practicum should be run. During this time, the university supervisors must visit student instructors 8 times for evaluations (once a week for 8 weeks). The university supervisor evaluates and rates the performance of a teacher education student during these visits, and then compiles two evaluation reports for the student teacher: a midterm report and a final report (for further details please see appendix 4). The practicum performance of a pre-service teacher might be graded as “pass” or “fail”. If the practicum is graded as failing, further fieldwork will be required before the pre-service teacher may get their degree. In Saudi Arabia, collaborating instructors are not required to formally assess pre-service teachers during the practicum term [footnoteRef:1]. [1: Pre-service teachers who obtained a “fail” grade for their practicum are failing the course and must do it the following year using the same practicum operating procedures.]

During the 10-week practicum program, pre-service teachers are also required to take part in the professional activities of the school. For instance, student instructors are obliged to assist in planning for school outings and kid’s graduation celebrations. For a student teacher, integrating into a new community while developing new teaching techniques and personal abilities may be a very difficult task. The preservice teacher may eventually benefit from this process and be able to become a successful and assured teacher in the future. However, this is an essential step for becoming a member of a community.