Abstract: Teaching students to be mathematical problem-solvers is a clearly stated aim of mathematics education in Singapore. It is NOT unique to the Singapore education documents of virtually all countries. It is an aim with which few people would disagree. If you talk to parents, teachers, politicians or business people they say they want people who are able to think and solve problems. For example, the Singapore Minister of Education, Mr. Lee Yock Suan, recently talked about the importance of thinking skills as a goal of education, and the ability to solve problems involves a high level of thinking.

However, agreeing with the aim and implementing a problem-solving approach in the classroom are very different. As Hodgson (1995) states, “We cannot simply transfer our perception and problem-solving expertise to students..”(p.18). We need to develop relational thinking (Skemp, 1976).