Parental Selection of Preschool Programming in Saudi Arabia: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

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.