Preparing Students for the Twenty-First Century: A Snapshot of Singapore’s Approach

Educating for twenty-first century competencies and future-ready learners: research perspectives from Singapore

“…In response to rapid technological and cultural globalization, increasing competitiveness in the global economy, and world-wide volatility arising from increasing instances of terrorism and xenophobia, the Ministry of Education undertook a major curriculum review in 1997 to rethink its goals and directions for the future (Poon et al, 2017). This led to the inception of Thinking Schools, Learning Nation (TSLN) in the same year.…”

“…TSLN was a pivotal policy shift towards 21CC education that aimed to prepare Singapore's students for the future. It represented a clear articulation that the future sustainability and economic growth of Singapore depended on the ability of its people to learn (Goh & Gopinathan, 2008: cited in Tan, Koh et al, 2017, and consequently, that the transformation of pedagogy and practice in schools and classrooms was needed to broaden learning experiences and better address students' diverse learning needs (Poon et al, 2017). While there had been several curricular programmes introduced prior to 1997 that focused on enhancing students' thinking skills (Deng, Gopinathan, & Lee, 2013: cited in Tan, Koh et al, 2017, the 1997 launch of TSLN is widely recognized as a defining moment that formalized Singapore's systemic efforts in educating for 21CC that concentrated resources on teachers, infrastructure, and technology, with the aim of developing in students the necessary knowledge and competencies to respond to challenges ahead.…”

“…In this way, TSLN firmly cemented Singapore's move into educating for 21CC (Poon et al, 2017). The policy focused on enabling students to develop creative and critical thinking skills, and its strategies included the explicit teaching of creative and critical thinking skills, reduction of curriculum content, revision of assessment modes, and greater emphasis on process instead of outcomes in learning and teaching .…”

“…constitutes a pivotal policy shift towards twenty-first century education aimed at preparing singapore's young for the future by equipping them with a deep ability to learn. focused on enabling students to develop creative and critical thinking skills, by concentrating resources on teachers, infrastructure and technology, reduction of curriculum content, revision of assessment modes and greater emphasis on the process of learning, rather than mere attainment of high academic grades Poon et al, 2017).…”

“…A pivotal 21cc policy thrust that formally articulated (i) a revised set of four desired student outcomes (confident Person, self-directed learner, Active contributor, concerned citizen) in 2009,and (ii) a "total curriculum" framework for 21cc and student outcomes in 2010 (figure 1). Broadening the earlier focus on thinking skills, this framework expanded the scope of 21cc to include values, emotions, interpersonal skills and emerging forms of 21cc (Poon et al, 2017). intended for infusion into each school's total curriculum, i.e., the entire learning experiences of a child in the school spanning the academic and non-academic areas.…”