DE BONO'S SIX THINKING HATS

Edward de Bono highlights different types of thinking by comparing each with wearing a hat of a particular color. His hope is that by doing so he will enable children (and adults) to realize that they have choices about the kind of thinking they use for any task, whether it be a discussion, making a decision or solving a problem. He also wishes to encourage us to avoid becoming 'stuck' in one kind of thinking and thereby not taking into account a range of possibilities or points of view.

His 'six thinking hats', and the type of thinking they represent, are:

• red hat - emotions; how you feel about an idea;

• yellow hat - positives; what is good about an idea;

• black hat - negative; critical analysis; what is bad about an idea;

• green hat - creativity; how the idea may be changed;

• white hat - facts; more information is needed;

• blue hat - thinking about thinking; what kind of thinking do we need now.

The idea is that when a particular hat is being used only the person wearing (or holding) it may speak and only the type of thinking the hat represents may be used.

When used in classrooms, this strategy is often introduced to children one hat at a time, perhaps in the order above, and paper or cardboard cut-outs of the six hats are made Parents may find that having children use the red hat helps them to express their feelings - as may also be true for the parents themselves - while using all six hats may be a helpful way to teach children to be better problem solvers in general.For further details of this strategy and its possible uses see:De Bono, E. (1992) Six Thinking Hats for Schools. Melbourne: Hawker Brownlow Education