Are parents to blame? : An exploratory study on parenting in Singapore

Abstract

Should parents be solely responsible for their child’s outcome? This paper addresses this question by examining the parenting experience in Singapore in light of ongoing educational reforms that aim to shift parents’ mindset away from seeing academic achievement as a means to a successful life for their child. This study found that while parents still see academic achievements of their child as necessary for a successful life, their rationalisations are not unjustified. Using the systemic-ecological perspective to understand parents’ conceptualisation of their “ideal” parent and child, and their definitions of success, we see how the larger social dimensions such as the workplace, education system, and ideologies of success in society, all interrelate in affecting the way parents raise their child. This paper hence argues that the State needs to relook into existing structures both within and beyond the education system that continue to reinforce the importance of academic achievement.