“Mothers take PSLE too” : an exploratory study into Singaporean mothers’ experiences with exam preparation

• Main Authors: Woo, Valerie, Goh, Vivien
• Other Authors: Tan Joo Ean
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/76441
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

We sought to explore the opinions and experiences of mothers’ involvement in their children’s PSLE experience, including the overwhelming amount of tuition and extracurricular activities that make up their children’s weekly schedule. By examining these schedules, we identified two types of mothers. ‘High-Involvement’ mothers instilled certain habitus and mannerisms in their children, such as goal- setting and personal guidance, while ‘Low-Involvement’ mothers were generally more relaxed regarding their children’s academic performance. All mothers fully understood the stress and pressure of the education system and a kiasu mindset prompted them to take calculated steps to prepare their children for their future. Our findings revealed that mothers enrolled their children for tuition classes due to a need for outsourcing educational needs, as well as to build a foundation in the four examination subjects. Their social networks also played a key role in sourcing for the best tutors to guide their children. Furthermore, mothers go to great lengths to ensure that their children have the best opportunities available and to gain a competitive edge over their peers through investing in a holistic education. These mothers saw PSLE as an important life event and turning point in their children’s lives and aimed to prepare them to become well-rounded and life-ready individuals, with the ultimate goal of achieving upward social mobility in later life.