“Citizenship” in Curricula of Saudi Kindergartens “A Comparative Study”

Abstract

This study tried to investigate the occurrence of the four dimensions of citizenship (national affiliation, socio-family affiliation, socio-school affiliation, and media affiliation) among three different curricula (Self-Learning, Montessori, and Bawakeer) which are taught for children enrolled in public and private kindergartens in Riyadh-Saudi Arabia. In other words, this study aims at identifying the impact of these educational curricula on instilling and developing citizenship among children. The study sample was 167 children (63 male and 104 female); 73 children were taught using the Self-Learning curriculum, 43 children were taught using a Bawakeer curriculum, and 51 were taught the Montessori curriculum. Results showed statistically significant differences at (a=0.05) in Self-Learning curriculum group compared to the other two curricula. The study did not reveal gender-based differences in citizenship. In light of the results of the current study, the researcher recommended all kindergartens in Saudi Arabia to adopt Self-Learning curriculum to ensure loyalty of the future generation to their country. On the other hand, she encouraged other researchers to explore the importance of developing loyalty among children through different curricula in use. More over, she suggested conducting longitudinal studies to investigate citizenship development among gender at various age levels in order to provide deeper understanding regarding the effectiveness of kindergartens' different curricula.