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Play with a purpose: Intensive parenting, educational desires and shifting notions of childhood and learning in twenty-first century Singapore

Göransson, Kristina LU (2023) In Childhood 30(1).
Abstract
This article examines how Singaporean parents negotiate complex expectations in relation to current reforms aimed at raising creative and problem-solving children. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, the article explores how ideas of brain-claiming, resilience, and natural exposure shape parenting practices around young children’s learning. The findings suggest that parents’ sentiments of uncertainty and guilt in relation to their children’s future are entwined with and fueled by a deep-rooted narrative of national survival, reproduced in the form of 21st century skills.
Abstract (Swedish)
This article examines how Singaporean parents negotiate complex expectations in relation to current reforms aimed at raising creative and problem-solving children. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, the article explores how ideas of brain-claiming, resilience, and natural exposure shape parenting practices around young children’s learning. The findings suggest that parents’ sentiments of uncertainty and guilt in relation to their children’s future are entwined with and fueled by a deep-rooted narrative of national survival, reproduced in the form of 21st century skills.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Parenting, educational work, education policy, childhood, ethnography, Singapore
in
Childhood
volume
30
issue
1
pages
17 pages
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:85141772174
ISSN
0907-5682
DOI
10.1177/09075682221138460
project
Parenting strategies around children's education in urban China, South Korea and Singapore: A comparative ethnographic study
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8039d43e-3d88-44f3-9bdb-81d9c8ba2f29
date added to LUP
2022-11-23 13:05:45
date last changed
2023-05-13 04:04:53
@article{8039d43e-3d88-44f3-9bdb-81d9c8ba2f29,
  abstract     = {{This article examines how Singaporean parents negotiate complex expectations in relation to current reforms aimed at raising creative and problem-solving children. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, the article explores how ideas of brain-claiming, resilience, and natural exposure shape parenting practices around young children’s learning. The findings suggest that parents’ sentiments of uncertainty and guilt in relation to their children’s future are entwined with and fueled by a deep-rooted narrative of national survival, reproduced in the form of 21st century skills.}},
  author       = {{Göransson, Kristina}},
  issn         = {{0907-5682}},
  keywords     = {{Parenting, educational work, education policy, childhood, ethnography, Singapore}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Childhood}},
  title        = {{Play with a purpose: Intensive parenting, educational desires and shifting notions of childhood and learning in twenty-first century Singapore}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/09075682221138460}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/09075682221138460}},
  volume       = {{30}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}