HP New Asian Learning Experience Study – Parental Mindsets
HP released a New Asian Learning Experience (NALE) Study that explores how the personalities of Asian millennial parents define learning and their parental mindsets in planning their children’s learning journey.
The key survey findings indicated that their children’s happiness when they grow up was most important to 73% of the Singapore parents. Local parents (59%) also worry their children won’t have the skills for future roles. This worry is surpassed by their worry about the rising cost of living (72%).
These parents acknowledge that the academic classes their children are currently taking may not be applicable in their future. Similarly, many traditional jobs may also not exist by the time their kids graduate from school.
They feel that it is more important to equip them with skills that will prepare them for opportunities of the future workplace. 78% of the parents surveyed value experiential learning over rote learning and memorization.
They feel that exams place unhealthy pressure on kids and exam scores are the worst indicator of whether their kids are learning. 84% would rather expose their kids to new ideas. They also feel that problem solving skills are a better indicator of learning.
Interestingly, while 88% of the parents feel that tuition is the worst way to prepare kids for the future, over 50% spend extra income on tuition for their kids. Many would consider sending their children to school abroad or move homes to a better school district for their kids.
Perceptions of Learning by Parental Mindsets
Today’s millennial parents know that education will and must evolve. The HP New Asian Learning Experience Study shows that Singapore parents’ definition of learning reflects the requirements of the future workplace. Hence, from the study, HP has deduced the following categories of parental mindsets and what each mindset means.
The Concerned Mindset:
Feel anxious about the presence of digital devices in their child’s education. They worry their children aren’t being exposed to different types of technology but they also worry about the impact of digital devices on their children’s learning and social skills.
They value traditional education methods more than any other mindset – they believe children get distracted easily when reading e-devices and that children learn more through print
The Realist Mindset:
Open-minded pragmatic parents want to expose their children to the world but they also want them to develop skills that will help them excel in real life. They express some concerns about e-learning but view digital devices favorable because it can expose their children to other cultures and ideas.
The Typical Mindset:
Parents with this kind of mindset is the most balanced and average across all personality dimensions. These parents are reasonable in their expectations and are careful to consider their children’s learning aptitude and fortitude.
The Overachiever Mindset:
Traditionally known as ‘Tiger Parents’, parents with the overachiever mindset demand the most of their children. However, they also put in the most effort. And being classic overachievers, they believe that there are benefits to both print and digital medium. As such, they will utilize digital devices to expose their children to other cultures and ideas. AND, continue to use traditional medium (printed form) for practice and physical learning to foster social interaction.
The Detached Mindset:
This is the most introverted out of all the mindsets. Parents with this mindset value experiential learning for its real-world application and the opportunity to develop creative and critical thinking. In addition to bonding, they like helping their children learn so as to help them children develop interpersonal and social skills – perhaps skills they themselves lack or have struggled to develop.
The HP survey engaged 3,177 respondents across India, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines aged between 25 and 42 with at least one child. The survey was conducted from November to December 2018. The above results are based on respondents in Singapore only.
