Opting out: Educational mobility and the pursuit of a happy childhood among Singaporean families
(2024) European Association of Social Anthropologists Biennial Conference- Abstract
- This paper explores the dilemmas of upward social mobility from the perspective of opting out of conventional middle-class aspirations in search of better lives. East Asian education systems are globally renowned for their high academic standards and for producing students who score at the top on international assessment tests and rankings. It is well established in previous research that (middle-class) parents invest substantial resources into their children’s education, in the hope of expanding their children's opportunities, prospects, and choices for the future. However, parent’s educational desire for academic excellence as a route to better lives is not as straightforward as it may seem. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in... (More)
- This paper explores the dilemmas of upward social mobility from the perspective of opting out of conventional middle-class aspirations in search of better lives. East Asian education systems are globally renowned for their high academic standards and for producing students who score at the top on international assessment tests and rankings. It is well established in previous research that (middle-class) parents invest substantial resources into their children’s education, in the hope of expanding their children's opportunities, prospects, and choices for the future. However, parent’s educational desire for academic excellence as a route to better lives is not as straightforward as it may seem. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Singapore, this paper explores the tensions and contradictions associated with the idea about upward social mobility through the lens of parents who decide to opt out of the formal education system to ‘protect’ the child from the potentially negative effects of a competitive and stressful environment. By highlighting opting-out-responses this paper addresses the ambiguous relation between aspirations for upward social mobility on the one hand, and better lives on the other. How do parents’ who opt out of mainstream education construe and negotiate ideas about better lives in relation to conventional aspirations of 'moving up'? What sacrifices are made and how are parents accounting for their decision to pursue an alternative education for their children? (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- This paper explores the dilemmas of upward social mobility from the perspective of opting out of conventional middle-class aspirations in search of better lives. East Asian education systems are globally renowned for their high academic standards and for producing students who score at the top on international assessment tests and rankings. It is well established in previous research that (middle-class) parents invest substantial resources into their children’s education, in the hope of expanding their children's opportunities, prospects, and choices for the future. However, parent’s educational desire for academic excellence as a route to better lives is not as straightforward as it may seem. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in... (More)
- This paper explores the dilemmas of upward social mobility from the perspective of opting out of conventional middle-class aspirations in search of better lives. East Asian education systems are globally renowned for their high academic standards and for producing students who score at the top on international assessment tests and rankings. It is well established in previous research that (middle-class) parents invest substantial resources into their children’s education, in the hope of expanding their children's opportunities, prospects, and choices for the future. However, parent’s educational desire for academic excellence as a route to better lives is not as straightforward as it may seem. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Singapore, this paper explores the tensions and contradictions associated with the idea about upward social mobility through the lens of parents who decide to opt out of the formal education system to ‘protect’ the child from the potentially negative effects of a competitive and stressful environment. By highlighting opting-out-responses this paper addresses the ambiguous relation between aspirations for upward social mobility on the one hand, and better lives on the other. How do parents’ who opt out of mainstream education construe and negotiate ideas about better lives in relation to conventional aspirations of 'moving up'? What sacrifices are made and how are parents accounting for their decision to pursue an alternative education for their children? (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/3d319e7b-d664-4fb5-9a1c-938f9073f4ca
- author
- Göransson, Kristina LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024-07-18
- type
- Contribution to conference
- publication status
- published
- subject
- conference name
- European Association of Social Anthropologists Biennial Conference
- conference location
- Barcelona, Spain
- conference dates
- 2024-07-18 - 2024-07-26
- project
- Parenting strategies around children's education in urban China, South Korea and Singapore: A comparative ethnographic study
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 3d319e7b-d664-4fb5-9a1c-938f9073f4ca
- alternative location
- https://easaonline.org/conferences/easa2024/programme
- date added to LUP
- 2024-08-27 10:41:39
- date last changed
- 2024-10-01 11:27:10
@misc{3d319e7b-d664-4fb5-9a1c-938f9073f4ca,
abstract = {{This paper explores the dilemmas of upward social mobility from the perspective of opting out of conventional middle-class aspirations in search of better lives. East Asian education systems are globally renowned for their high academic standards and for producing students who score at the top on international assessment tests and rankings. It is well established in previous research that (middle-class) parents invest substantial resources into their children’s education, in the hope of expanding their children's opportunities, prospects, and choices for the future. However, parent’s educational desire for academic excellence as a route to better lives is not as straightforward as it may seem. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Singapore, this paper explores the tensions and contradictions associated with the idea about upward social mobility through the lens of parents who decide to opt out of the formal education system to ‘protect’ the child from the potentially negative effects of a competitive and stressful environment. By highlighting opting-out-responses this paper addresses the ambiguous relation between aspirations for upward social mobility on the one hand, and better lives on the other. How do parents’ who opt out of mainstream education construe and negotiate ideas about better lives in relation to conventional aspirations of 'moving up'? What sacrifices are made and how are parents accounting for their decision to pursue an alternative education for their children?}},
author = {{Göransson, Kristina}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{07}},
title = {{Opting out: Educational mobility and the pursuit of a happy childhood among Singaporean families}},
url = {{https://easaonline.org/conferences/easa2024/programme}},
year = {{2024}},
}