Educational Exit and the Pursuit of a Happy Childhood Among Singaporean Middle-Class Families

Bibliographic Data

ID4262902
AuthorsKristina Göransson (0000-0002-4908-7851, School of Social Work Lund University Lund Sweden, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume24
Issue4
Publication date2024-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGlobal Networks (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1470-2266 • E-ISSN: 1471-0374
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/glob.12498
OpenAlexW4401981179
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited60

On the basis of ethnographic fieldwork in Singapore, the article explores the tension between children's academic success and emotional wellbeing, and the ways in which middle-class parents navigate these conflicting aspirations. It delves into families with young children who pursue alternative lifestyles by moving abroad to a presumably less stressful environment or by homeschooling their children. The study aims to understand how parents who 'opt out' perceive their children's future and the sacrifices they make in pursuing alternative education for their children. Decisions were made to 'protect' the child from the potentially negative effects of a competitive education system, while pursuing an alternative childhood and school-life balance. 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. In this context, alternative educational pursuits are both less established and less well understood, yet they are central to understanding emerging aspirations of wellbeing as well as the reconfiguration of conventional ideals of upward social mobility

Developmental psychology · Middle class · Political science · Sociology · Computer Science · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Psychology · Socioeconomic Development in Asia · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics · Artificial Intelligence

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