Child-Rearing Practices in a Selected Sample of Parents with Children in Childcare in Singapore

Ebbeck, Marjory; Gokhale, Neelima

doi:10.2304/ciec.2004.5.2.6

Cited by 31 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The emphasis is clearly on the pursuit and attainment of educational qualifications. Employment of private tutors, even during the early years, as seen from Ebbeck & Gokhale's (2004) study, reflects both a significant capacity to pay for, and the importance attached to, education. As Rodan claims, '[t]here is probably no other place in the world where formal qualifications represent as much economic or social capital ' (1996, p. 24).…”

Section: The New Preschool Curriculum Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is especially so in Singapore, where education is very much dependent on a market-led economy, and parents' educational aspirations have a major influence on the type of preschool programme their children receive (Sharpe, 2000;Sharpe & Gan, 2000;Fan-Eng & Sharpe, 2000). In Singapore, it is not unusual for parents to prepare their children for the academic rigours of the primary school system, and provide them with some form of early education to give them a head start (Sharpe, 2000;Ebbeck & Gokhale, 2004). Tan-Niam, for instance, argues that in Singapore, 'parents favour preschools with an emphasis on academic skills', as reflected in the highly structured curriculum (Tan-Niam, 2000, p. 140), and this is mainly because parents perceive it to be essential to prepare their children for entry into the school system.…”

Section: The New Preschool Curriculum Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Steering Debate and Initiating Dialogue: A Review of the Singapore Preschool Curriculum

Ling-Yin

2006

Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood

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This article presents a discussion of the new kindergarten framework in Singapore. The recent launch of the framework indicates a step forward in the field of early years, with a clear recognition of the importance of the early childhood experience. However, it also raises pertinent issues about the social, cultural, and political maxims that surround the curriculum. Looking closely at the preschool context in Singapore, this article considers the conflicting paradigms that underpin the curriculum: the idealised aspirations of policy makers and early years professionals in creating a childcentred, interactional curriculum; the ideology of a Chinese, Confucian culture which extols scholastic achievements and the pursuit of academic, moral and cultural attainments; parental expectations; and the demands of a meritocratic, economically driven society which perceives education as a commodity to be obtained for financial success and social mobility. In seeking to initiate dialogue and steer debate, this article therefore forces readers to consider some of the tensions and conflicts that underpin the new kindergarten curriculum, and questions the ways in which the curriculum can be conceptualised by practitioners amidst these competing maxims.

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Section: The New Preschool Curriculum Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The New Preschool Curriculum Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Steering Debate and Initiating Dialogue: A Review of the Singapore Preschool Curriculum

Ling-Yin

2006

Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood

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“…Their concerns is to see children have a clear understanding of boundaries and misbehavior and their consequences if consistent behavior and correcting strategies are not enforced by domestic helpers versus by parents. Ebbeck and Gokhale (2004) found that 87% of risk behavior group were boys from homes where the mother was absent during childhood, compared to only 13% for the comparison group. In addition, 81% of mothers of boys in the study group reported little contact with their children during childhood, compared to 19% of mothers in the comparison group.…”

Section: Mother-absencementioning

confidence: 93%

“…To some extent, there are likely to seek for the children's cooperation rather than playing a role in teaching or disciplining them (Ip et al, 2008). In the study conducted in Singapore, Ebbeck and Gokhale (2004) found that majority of the parents surveyed do not expect the house helper as being one of the disciplining, despite the amount spent with children compared to the parents in caring the children. Their concerns is to see children have a clear understanding of boundaries and misbehavior and their consequences if consistent behavior and correcting strategies are not enforced by domestic helpers versus by parents.…”

Section: Mother-absencementioning

confidence: 99%

Drugs Use Among the Youth In Rwanda: A Public Health Concern And Family’ Challenge

Ngamije¹,

PhD²

2016

ijetst

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IntroductionAlthough the prevalence rate of illicit drugs among the youths in Rwanda is colorless compare to the statistics in the region, conditions are present exposing children and adolescents to drugs abuse. A token review of Rwandan newspapers and media as well as scientific paper reveals that alcohol and illicit drugs abuse among the youths is of major concern in rural and urban areas (Kanyoni, Gishoma, & Ndahindwa, 2015). Although drugs use among the youths is not new in Rwandan families and use in ceremony, the recent abuse of illicit drugs particularly cannabis among the teenager and adolescents population has become a major public policy issue and a serious public health problem. The purpose of this section is to review the relevant literature, describe the existing knowledge regarding alcohol and drugs abuse among children and youth in the Rwandan context, and evaluate the plausibility of popular assumptions regarding the correlates of drugs outcomes in Rwandan children and youth in family settings. This study assesses the relationship between ecological processes of youth outcomes in Rwanda and is organized in the following manner: The first sub-section address epidemiology of alcohol and other drugs in Rwanda; the next section addresses the incidence of drugs abuse and its impacts on individual, family and society; followed by another that focuses on the overall conceptual framework and its effectiveness in assessing adolescent outcomes in the Rwandan context. Pursuant to that, the individual, family, and community attributes of drugs outcomes are addressed, as well as two levels of the ecological environment: the proximal (near) environment and the distal (far) environment. In the proximal context, the issue of parental involvement is addressed as two separate issues: father absence and mother absence. This is due to direct or indirect effect of the 1994 genocide that left many orphans and widows, and recently with family stressors and poverty, the issue of mother absence has featured prominently in the discussions surrounding children and adolescents risk behaviors in Rwanda. Lastly section article discusses implications for policy decision making.

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“…Moreover, as the relationship between play and learning is not always apparent, parents and even preschool educators are not fully convinced on the educational value of a play-based approach to learning. In an interview survey of 40 Singaporean parents, Ebbeck and Gokhale (2004) found that many parents sent their children for private tuition in their final preschool year as they were not confident that a curriculum adopting an informal, interactive format of teaching and learning would adequately prepare their children for formal schooling.…”

Section: Use Numbers In Daily Experiencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing the quality of kindergarten education in Singapore: policies and strategies in the 21st century

Tan

2017

ICEP

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BackgroundThe value of quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) in establishing a strong foundation for lifelong learning and reaping social and economic benefits is well supported by a wealth of multidisciplinary research. These long-term benefits have prompted many countries throughout the world to prioritize ECEC on their national agenda, putting in focused efforts in their pursuit of quality ECEC in the recent years. Since the turn of the twenty-first century, the Singapore government has invested substantial resources in formulating and executing policies and strategies to raise the quality of preschool education (PSE) in several high-leverage areas (Tan 2007). In 2012, the Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, announced that government efforts to uplift the overall quality of PSE would be amplified by strengthening teacher training and curriculum leadership, establishing government kindergartens to catalyze quality improvements, enhancing affordability for financially disadvantaged families, and improving policy coordination and regulation of the early childhood sector by forming a new agency (MOE 2012a). Furthermore, the first government-funded large-scale longitudinal study of the impact of PSE on children's cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes commenced in 2015 (Goy 2015). Another large-scale nation-wide birth cohort study was also funded to Abstract Almost all children in Singapore complete 1 year of preschool before entering primary school. However, preschool education (PSE) is not compulsory and is provided primarily by the private sector. Taking the national agenda for reforming PSE at the start of the twenty-first century as the point of departure, this paper describes and discusses the policies and strategies that have been introduced and implemented for preschool quality enhancement in the past 15 years. Three major waves of preschool policy reviews were undertaken in 2000, 2008, and 2012 attesting to the seriousness the government attaches to improving PSE for encouraging a strong start for every child. The key recommendations of these reviews were related to uplifting teacher, center, and program quality, and enhancing the affordability and accessibility of PSE. Opportunities and challenges associated with implementing recommendations for quality enhancement are discussed and suggestions to further enhance PSE in Singapore are explored.

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Child-Rearing Practices in a Selected Sample of Parents with Children in Childcare in Singapore

Cited by 31 publications

References 18 publications

Steering Debate and Initiating Dialogue: A Review of the Singapore Preschool Curriculum

Steering Debate and Initiating Dialogue: A Review of the Singapore Preschool Curriculum

Drugs Use Among the Youth In Rwanda: A Public Health Concern And Family’ Challenge

Enhancing the quality of kindergarten education in Singapore: policies and strategies in the 21st century

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