واقع رياض الأطفال الفلسطينية كما تراه مديرات ومعلمات الرياض في محافظات شمال الضفة الغربية

This research aimed at analyzing the status and conditions of kindergartens in the northem districts of the West Bank (Jenin, Tulkarm,Qalqilya, Nablus and Salfit). The covered domains include curriculum, teaching methods, and management. The analysis covered tl1e content of curriculum, its organization, goals, and the needed experience. As for teaching, the analysis covered the different methods used, the responsibilities of teachers, and the equipment used. Analysis of management covered the problem faced by kindergartens and parent participation in activities and problem solving. In addition, the study inspected the status of all the above domains from the view of the principals and teachers of the kindergartners. The study analyzed the effects of various variables like tl1e district, the locality (city, village, camp),year of establishment, experience, marital status, and educational levels of teachers. The population of the study includes all kir1dergartens registered at the Ministry of Education in the northern districts of the West Bank. The number of members of the population is (234) kindergartners (in 1997), with (234) principals and (582) teachers. A representative sample of 20% of the population was chosen randomly and distributed over the localities (city, village, camp) according to their actual shares of the kindergartners population in each district. Thus, the study covered (162) teachers and (48) principals. A questionnaire was designed to include (97) questions covering seven domains including curriculum organization, teaching methods, administrative and academic responsibilities of teachers, technical facilities used in teaching educational activities, parent participation and problems. Cross validation of questionnaire was approved by 5 experts in education and kindergarents. Cronbach Alpha correlation coefficient for each domain was about (0.74-0.87) which indicates stability. T-Test at the (0.05) level was applied to the seventh hypothesis and no significant differences were found between the responses of principals and those of teachers regarding job positions. The results of single analysis of variance of the responses to the first through the sixth hypotheses show that no significant differences exist at (α=0.05) regarding some domains between principals and teachers;however,significant differences (α = 0.05) were found regarding some other domains as presented in details in the fourth chapter of the study. Based on the analysis of responses, the researcher’s recommendations include: - The Palestinian Ministry of Education should assume monitoring responsibilities over all kindergartners regarding curriculum, training of teachers, equipment and facilities required, central activities, and annual plants. - A comprehensive study should be conducted covering a representative sample of kindergartens in all districts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in order to. check differences at the district levels.