The Experiences of Israeli Early Childhood Educators Working With Children of Ethiopian Background

This study offers an in-depth examination of the experiences ofearly childhood educators, focusing on their work with Ethiopian immigrant children andtheir families. We aim to describe and analyze the teachers’ insider views vis-à-vis thechallenges faced by these children and their parents in the Israeli preschool system.Using narrative methodology, the analysis of findings is based upon 20 stories writtenby 10 early childhood educators. It reveals that for these teachers, the chief struggleis their relationship with the parents of their Ethiopian pupils, one characterized bydifficulties, frustrations, and burdens. The engagement with parents of Ethiopianchildren exhibited a range of possibilities: from the expression of patronizing,hierarchical viewpoints, to a search for ad hoc ways of coping with a persistentcultural gap, to the attainment of genuine, successful partnerships. Lack of sufficientknowledge and understanding of the unique cultural attributes of the Ethiopian communityappears to be the basis for the teachers’ view of the parents as lacking faith in themand in the educational system as a whole. In addition, suggestions are made aboutimplications for educational practice and for policies that might assist teachers inameliorating these challenges via the development of, and professional training in,skills which help coping with the problems and dilemmas unique to the multiculturalclassroom