Problem-Solving Curriculum in Singapore
Singapore has implemented a problem-solving curriculum since 1992. In
1997, the Ministry of Education made the call for the teaching of thinking skills in
key subjects. The initiative Thinking Schools, Learning Nation encouraged the
explicit teaching of thinking skills and heuristics. The mathematics curriculum was
revised in 2001 to align it better with this initiative (Ministry of Education Singapore,
2000a).
In 2003, the Ministry of Education introduced another initiative to build upon
the Thinking Schools, Learning Nation initiative. Schools were asked to help pupils
develop good thinking habits or habits of mind under the initiative Innovation &
Enterprise. In the National Day speech in 2004, the Prime Minister of Singapore made
the call for teachers to teach less to allow pupils to learn more. This call underlines
fundamental changes that are required to help pupils acquire a set of competencies
that are valuable in knowledge-based economy. Teachers are encouraged to focus of
fundamental concepts and use the available time to excite pupils in the learning
process and to require them to figure things out.
More than a decade after the implementation of the problem-solving
curriculum, schools have been encouraged to develop strategies to help every pupil
learn competencies that are important for the 21st century. Alternative strategies are
encouraged for pupils who have not done well in schools to also acquire ability to
solve problems. A culture of challenge probably has developed in the Singapore
mathematics classroom. How can all pupils be embraced in this culture of challenge?