Design Education Summit 2025 Unveils New Tools to Bring Future-Ready Skills to Every Classroom

The biennial summit officially launched Glitch, a design-based learning tool to be available across all 337 schools under the Ministry of Education, alongside a companion guide for teachers.

Singapore, 6 November 2025 – Over 500 educators, students, and industry leaders gathered today at The Star Performing Arts Centre for the Design Education Summit 2025, Singapore’s thought-leadership event for advancing design in education. Organised by the DesignSingapore Council (Dsg) under its Learning by Design initiative, the Summit marks its fourth edition with the theme “The Wonder Lab: Bringing Design Mindsets to Life”.

Curated by Dsg’s Learning by Design team led by Tamsin Greulich-Smith, Director of Design Practice, this year’s edition is an experiential platform for attendees that explores how design can redefine teaching and learning. By reframing possibilities and diverse perspectives through storytelling, props, and games, the Summit inspires new approaches for educators. Central to this is the introduction of five design mindsets – Empathy, Courage, Curiosity, Tenacity, and Optimism – inviting educators and changemakers to discover what learners need to thrive amid change, and how design can turn uncertainty into creative solutions.

“We were determined to bring a new way of learning to this year’s Design Education Summit, which is why we envisaged it as The Wonder Lab – an environment that encourages experimentation, innovative ways of seeing and doing, and connection through hands-on experiences. The unique, immersive flow of the Summit allowed attendees to enjoy learning with spontaneity while gaining practical and actionable insights,” said Tamsin Greulich-Smith, Director of Design Practice, DesignSingapore Council.

Teaching and learning in the age of uncertain futures

Through keynotes, workshops and dialogues, the Summit covered topics ranging from harnessing Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a catalyst for creativity, to nurturing curiosity and play in classrooms, and designing learning environments that foster sustainability, inclusion and care.

In addition, the Learning by Design curatorial team worked closely with Dr Jeffrey Koh, Associate Professor at Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and Head of the Design Factory@SIT, to augment the line-up.

“This year’s Summit is about creating space for curiosity to lead the way. We want participants to experience learning as designers do – by discovering problems worth solving, defining them with empathy and clarity, and communicating them in ways that inspire shared understanding and action. In an age where AI can generate answers instantly, the real value lies in discerning which questions matter, framing challenges meaningfully, and articulating ideas that move others. Design-based education is uniquely positioned to nurture the mindsets of courage, curiosity, empathy, optimism, and tenacity; it helps learners embrace uncertainty, think critically and creatively, and engage collaboratively with complexity. In doing so, it transforms students into lifelong learners who see design as a way to keep learning, imagining, and growing.”

To bring design mindsets into every classroom, the Summit introduced two new tools that foster creativity and innovation – Glitch and the Design Mindsets Playbook.

Educational games and a holistic guide

Glitch is a web-based app that empowers students to shape their own learning through design. Learners tackle interactive, self-directed “quests” grounded in real-world problems – driving self-discovery, exploration and reflection. Each quest builds creative confidence, empathy and adaptability, while nurturing values and social-emotional skills.

Co-created with 115 students and educators from schools including Jurong Pioneer Junior College, Holy Innocents’ High School and Waterway Primary School ahead of its nationwide rollout, Glitch complements MOE’s efforts in developing students’ 21st Century Competencies (21CC). Educators and schools can also use Glitch to gain insights into areas where students may need additional support, and provide targeted guidance throughout their learning journeys.

Complementing Glitch, the Design Mindsets Playbook is a comprehensive resource for schools and educators to embed design-based learning across classrooms and school cultures. Grounded in user research and local practice, it offers adaptable strategies, reflection prompts and examples of effective practices – from designing flexible learning spaces to fostering cultures that value experimentation and reflection.

The Playbook also outlines how schools can create the right conditions for design mindsets to take root through professional development, cross-disciplinary learning, and strong ecosystem support. Together, these approaches help educators nurture curiosity, empathy, and resilience in students, while building a culture that celebrates creativity and continuous learning.

“Both of these tools offer valuable resources that complement MOE’s efforts to develop our students’ 21st Century Competencies. The interactive quest-based approach of the Glitch application and the practical strategies in the Design Mindsets Playbook provide educators and students with engaging pathways to develop design thinking mindsets and collaborative problem-solving skills, that are essential for preparing learners for the future,” says 21st Century Competencies Office, Ministry of Education.

Glitch will be available on MOE’s national online learning platform, the Student Learning Space (SLS), from January 2026. The Playbook can be downloaded from Dsg’s Learning by Design portal.

Challenge Y: Student showcase at the Summit

Capping off the event, the Summit showcased the finalists of Challenge Y, a national youth design challenge organised in partnership with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF). The showcase presented 20 prototypes and solutions developed by over 90 students across primary to pre-university levels responding to the theme of building happier, healthier relationships. Projects ranged from platforms that curate bonding activities and board games that strengthen intergenerational relationships, to shoes designed as canvases for self-expression, helping youths share their stories and connect with others – offering a window into how students are already applying design mindsets into real world issues and situations that affect them.

“We are delighted that educators, parents, students and public organisations such as Ministry of Social and Family Development alike are adopting design-led approaches in tackling complexity and shaping a more desirable future. The Challenge Y initiative supported by MSF exemplifies how design inspires agency and optimism in our next generation – this is the essence of how Singapore continues to be a Nation by Design, where citizens, institutions, and communities come together to intentionally shape our country’s future through creativity, empathy, and collaboration. We look forward to how the ground-up ideas sparked through Challenge Y will develop into tangible solutions that make a real difference in the lives of children and families,” says Dawn Lim, Executive Director of DesignSingapore Council.

For more information on the Design Education Summit 2025, please visit designeducationsummit.sg. Please see the full press kit here.

• For more information on the curatorial team, please refer to Annex A.
• Bios of speakers can be found in Annex B.
• Write-ups of the finalists of Challenge Y can be found in Annex C.

About the DesignSingapore Council

DesignSingapore Council’s vision is for Singapore to be an innovation-driven economy and a loveable city through design by 2025. As the national agency that promotes design, our mission is to develop the design sector, help Singapore use design for innovation and growth, and make life better in this UNESCO Creative City of Design. Dsg is a subsidiary of the Singapore Economic Development Board.

For more information, please visit designsingapore.org.

About the Design Education Summit

The Design Education Summit is a biennial thought leadership event in Singapore that brings together educators of all levels with innovators, designers, researchers, and digital experts to advance accessibility, inclusivity, and sustainability in and through design.

For more information, please visit designeducationsummit.sg.