Author Information
Amit Rottman, The Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, IsraelYoad Eliaz, The Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, Israel
Lior Gendelman, The Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, Israel
Abstract
Early Childhood Education (ECE) is critical for children's cognitive, emotional, and social development. In Israel, however, several indicators of ECE quality continue to rank among the lowest across OECD countries. Daycare centers operate under structural crisis conditions, marked by resource constraints, staff shortages, high workforce turnover, unstable regulation, low wages, and insufficient professional training. While previous research has documented these conditions primarily through quantitative indicators, this study offers a qualitative account of how the ECE crisis is experienced in the everyday work of daycare staff. Given the central role of high-quality ECE in narrowing socioeconomic gaps, the study compared daycare centers in two socioeconomically distinct localities: a disadvantaged, peripheral city and a middle-class kibbutz. Data collection combined semi-structured interviews, focus groups, participant observation, document analysis, and follow-up meetings across both settings. Findings reveal that the structural crisis characterizing Israeli ECE manifests in both settings, but in markedly different forms. In the disadvantaged urban setting, the crisis was experienced in an intensified, acute manner, compounding pre-existing social vulnerability. In the more affluent kibbutz, the same underlying complexities emerged under more privileged, “first-class” conditions, mitigated by strong local leadership, greater organizational flexibility, and closer coordination among professional supports. Overall, the comparison suggests that socioeconomic advantage does not eliminate the ECE crisis but reshapes its intensity and lived experience. This conclusion underscores the need to address national-level funding, supervision, and guidance, alongside local organizational and managerial practices.
Paper Information
Conference: ECE2026Stream: Educational policy
Published: Wednesday, September 23, 2026
This paper is part of the ECE2026 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Rottman A., Eliaz Y., & Gendelman L. (2026) The Early Childhood Education Crisis Across Socioeconomic Contexts: A Comparative Qualitative Study From Israel ISSN: 2188-1162 The European Conference on Education 2026: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 359-371) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-1162.2026.27
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-1162.2026.27
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