Journal Article

Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone

Allehyani, Sabha Hakim, Al-Fayez, Shatha Abdullah Mosaad

2025

Overview

Objectives: Early education about death is essential to raise children's level of awareness and acceptance of death. The present study aimed to explore Early Childhood (EC) teachers' perceptions and attitudes to the integration of the concept of death and dying in early years educational settings. Method: This study is based on descriptive design and two scales; a modified death profile scale and teachers' perceptions of teaching children about the concept of death scale were distributed to female EC teachers (n = 617) who were selected randomly from EC schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Results: The results revealed that there is a significant relationship between teachers' qualifications and their attitudes to death education. Although teachers had positive perceptions and adequate knowledge about death, they did not view death education as beneficial for children. Teachers believed the topic should first be addressed at home before being introduced in school. Most teachers were self-educated about the subject of death and dying. Conclusion: These results provide new direction toward supporting children to understand the concept of death, to increase their preparation and learning about real life experience, which promotes their wellbeing.

• Publisher: جامعة الكويت - مجلس النشر العلمي
• Subject: السعودية / الطفولة المبكرة / العملية التعليمية / علم الموت