Teachers’ views on organizational and pedagogical approaches to early bilingual education: A case study of bilingual kindergartens in Germany and Israel

The article focuses on bilingual kindergartens in Germany and Israel offering education in both host (German or Hebrew) and immigrant (Russian) languages. The main questions are how teachers of bilingual kindergartens understand and explain the organizational and pedagogical principles of the kindergartens and how they negotiate home and host country pedagogical experience. The methodological background of the study is Critical Discourse Analysis. The results reveal differences in the organizational and pedagogical principles that can be attributed to the preschool education policies in Germany and Israel, the status of the Russian language, and the specific characteristics of the kindergartens.

► Bilingual kindergartens in Germany and Israel, host country and immigrant languages.
► The methodological background of the study is Critical Discourse Analysis.
► Differences relating to the teachers’ views on pedagogical principles.
► Organizational differences between the German and Israeli bilingual kindergartens.
► Differences in preschool education policy between Germany and Israel.