The MOE 21CC framework brings together values, social-emotional competencies and emerging competencies that support students in school and beyond. Adaptive thinking is part of its Critical, Adaptive and Inventive Thinking domain. For secondary teachers, a useful starting point is to give students a problem, evidence to examine and a reason to revise their first idea.
This guide explains the framework and suggests ways to practise adaptive thinking through design thinking. The classroom activities are suggested teaching examples, not MOE-prescribed lessons or reports of completed school projects.
WHO RUNS THIS PROGRAMME
C-Academy runs EDIT Design Thinking® workshops and programmes for Singapore secondary schools, aligned to MOE’s 21st Century Competencies, ALP and VIA.
How the MOE 21CC framework is organised
MOE’s 21st Century Competencies framework places core values at its centre: respect, responsibility, resilience, integrity, care and harmony. It also identifies five social-emotional competencies: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Responsible Decision-Making, Social Awareness and Relationship Management.
The three Emerging 21st Century Competencies domains are:
- Critical, Adaptive and Inventive Thinking
- Communication, Collaboration and Information Skills
- Civic, Global and Cross-Cultural Literacy
These are different parts of one framework. Keep the layers distinct when planning learning. A design thinking activity can provide relevant practice, but the activity alone does not demonstrate that a student has developed every competency.
What adaptive thinking can look like in class
For classroom practice, look for a student’s ability to reconsider an approach when new information changes the problem. A team might start by proposing more library seating, then discover that noise and unclear zoning matter more to users than the number of seats.
Ask students to explain what they first believed, what they learnt and what they changed. Revising an idea for a clear reason provides more useful evidence of their thinking than simply producing a different final design.
A suggested activity on improving a shared school space
Invite students to investigate a shared space, such as a reading corner. Agree which users they can speak to and what they may observe. Ask each group to identify one difficulty supported by observation or feedback.
Students then sketch several responses and choose one to test. A paper layout, sign or storyboard can be enough. After a short feedback session, introduce a realistic constraint, such as keeping an existing walkway clear. Each group revises its proposal and explains its decision.
Keep the task manageable. The purpose of this exercise is to make students’ decisions visible. It does not require a renovation or permission to change the physical space.
Using EDIT Design Thinking to guide the process
C-Academy uses EDIT Design Thinking®: Empathise, Define, Ideate and Test. In a classroom task, teachers can use these stages to organise questions and student work:
- Empathise: What do the people affected experience, and how do we know?
- Define: Which specific need will we address, and which assumptions still need checking?
- Ideate: What different approaches could meet that need?
- Test: What can we make or try, what feedback do we receive, and what should change?
Prototypes make an idea testable. Students can create a simple model, mock-up or role-play before testing it, then return to an earlier stage when the evidence suggests a different direction.
Helping students move beyond their first idea
When a group becomes attached to its first solution, ask it to compare alternatives against the same user need. Give students time to generate ideas individually before discussing them together, so that the first speaker does not determine the whole group’s direction.
If feedback is vague, ask for a specific observation: what was confusing, difficult or useful? If students change everything at once, ask them to select one change and explain what they expect it to improve. These prompts help teachers see the reasoning behind a decision.
Collecting evidence of adaptive thinking
Keep the first proposal, the feedback and the revision together. Ask each student to write a short explanation of the most important change and the evidence behind it. A teacher can then review both the team’s work and the individual’s reasoning.
Use consistent criteria across tasks and record the support students needed. A polished prototype or a positive enjoyment survey should not stand in for evidence of adaptive thinking. For sample objectives and assessment criteria, see our guide to design thinking learning outcomes.
Planning the next step for your students
Choose one learning focus, one manageable problem and one opportunity for revision before expanding the activity. If the task involves community contribution, our VIA project planning guide explains how to connect understanding a need with action and reflection.
C-Academy offers design thinking programmes for schools and educators using EDIT Design Thinking®. Discuss your students’ learning goals with C-Academy to explore a programme suited to your school’s context and timetable.
