dysTalk De Bonos Thinking Hats - Talks - dysTalk

About the speaker: Kim is Director of Learning and Teaching at Caterham School, the first Independent School in the UK to be awarded Edward De Bono Thinking School status. Kim is a de Bono Master Trainer in Education, one of only three in the country.

Further information about this Talk

Read more about Caterham school here.

Key Points Covered in This Talk:

• What are De Bono's Thinking Hats?: Western thinking is based around argument (it all comes from the big Greek three): Traditionally if we want to discuss an issue or explore a problem then we tend to argue it out. We will have our own standpoints and quite often we will think of something that might support another persons thinking but we might not mention it. de Bono developed a powerful system called the six thinking hats which involves separating out thinking into six discrete segments. Instead of trying to process information, be creative and think of positives and negatives all at the same time, everybody thinks in the same way at the same time. The hats therefore ensure that you consider a problem from all perspectives / angles.
  - Red Hat: This is the emotional hat. Therefore when you "put on" the red hat you think in an emotional way and say how you feel about a problem. If you are interviewing a candidate for a job you could say that you just didn't like the look of the person. You do not have to justify why. The beauty about the red hat is that once you have worn it you get emotions out of the way. This is useful as emotions can cloud our thinking and get in the way of good clear thinking.
  - White Hat: This is the information hat. Like a blank piece of paper you try and get as many facts, data, statistics, expert opinion etc. on what is being discussed. E.g. if you are buying a new car, how much will it cost?, what's the mileage?, what would the insurance be?
  - Yellow and Black Hats: These two hats are used to evaluate what you have found out under the information hat. Yellow is for logical positives and the black hat is the counterbalance. The black hat is about caution - considering why something might be a problem. This makes it easy to switch your thinking.
  - Green Hat: This is the creative "think outside the box hat". With the green hat alternative possibilities should be considered.
  - Blue Hat: The decision making hat. Often people think of this as blue sky or the overview of the whole process. You use this hat at the end. It might be a conclusion or suggested next steps.
• How do the hats work in the classroom? You can use the six hats system without actually having physical hats involved but in a classroom environment it is a bonus to actually have the hats. To be able to take off one hat and replace it with another underlines the fact to children that they are switching their thinking and switching the focus of their thinking. You do not always have to use all the hats in lessons. You may in certain lessons decide to only use one hat. If you are discussing a particularly complicated, emotional issue such as abortion you may use twelve hats of which 6 or 7 will be red and you put the red hat between every single hat.
• Using the six hats for homework: Things like essays, longer pieces of writing, projects and coursework can seem quite daunting. The six hats gives you structure and an obvious way of making a start and getting the pen moving with confidence that you know where you are going and how you are going to get to the end.