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Kristina Göransson.

Kristina Göransson

Deputy Head of Department | Director of Doctoral Studies | Senior Lecturer | PhD in Social Anthropology | Associate Professor

Kristina Göransson.

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

Author

  • Kristina Göransson

Summary, in English

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.

Department/s

  • Child, Youth and Family
  • School of Social Work

Publishing year

2023

Language

English

Publication/Series

Childhood

Volume

30

Issue

1

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Topic

  • Social Anthropology

Keywords

  • Parenting, educational work, education policy, childhood, ethnography, Singapore

Status

Published

Project

  • Parenting strategies around children's education in urban China, South Korea and Singapore: A comparative ethnographic study

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0907-5682