Families come in many forms: attitudes and practices of Israeli kindergarten teachers towards diverse families

Abstract

ABSTRACT The phenomenon of diverse families has expanded in recent years. Although it has important implications in the field of education, this issue has been largely overlooked in the research on early education in Israel. The aim of the present study is to examine the attitudes of Israeli kindergarten teachers towards diverse families and the practices they use in this context. For this purpose, we conducted a qualitative study, using in-depth, semi-structured interviews among 20 Jewish-Israeli state kindergarten teachers. The main findings are that, overall, the attitudes of kindergarten teachers towards diverse families are positive, and they use different practices for dealing with family diversity and integrate this issue in their routine educational activities. Despite this, due to various factors, the positive attitudes are not always implemented in practice. These findings highlight the need to guide kindergarten teachers to work with diverse families, preparing them to adapt to the changing society.