Tarbiyah as a contested notion in early childhood teacher education

This study examines how tarbiyah —an Arabic concept denoting moral upbringing, value transmission, and care—is constructed and negotiated within an early childhood teacher-preparation programme in Saudi Arabia. Grounded in critical discourse analysis, the study draws on qualitative data generated through two focus groups with 14 student teachers and three interviews with faculty members. The analysis attends to how discourses of tarbiyah circulate within institutional contexts, intersect with teachers’ roles and shape the boundaries of professional responsibility in relation to family authority. The analysis suggests that tarbiyah does not operate as a stable pedagogical category but as a discursive formation that could shape how Saudi early childhood educators imagine their professional roles and the normative expectations attached to them.