5 ( Learning English outside the classroom)

Thinking Hats

“Thinking Hats” is a technique that helps students practice  solving problems in a different perspective. Students are encouraged to think in ways that differ from traditional ideas or their own familiar styles, Presented  by Edward De Bono (1976) , this idea shows that people tend to think when trying to solve a problem with their own traditional , thus predictable methods . De Bono believes that in order to be a good thinker, a new habit of thinking should be initiated. There are basically six “Thinking Hats”. Each hat represents a different idea. Questions that come with the idea represented by each hat are as follows.

White Hat – Information Seeking “What do we know about this already?  ” “What do we need to know”  “What questions do we need to ask?“Red Hat – Emotional response “How do I feel about this right now?” Emotions-intuition – feeling – hunches. There is no need to justify feelings. Yellow Hat- Positive Response “The good things about this.” Positive-goood-benefits. “why and how this can be done?” Black Hat- Negative Response
 “ The bad things about this.”Negative-Weaknesses-caution-wrong.“Why not possible or practical?” Green Hat- creative response New ideas- different things-alternatives-variations. “Are there some different ideas/alternative things we can do?” Innovation ways we can approach this. Blue Hat- Metacognition “What are we here for?”  What is the end goal? Is our thinking about this matter clear and complete?

Thinking Hats has been widely used in different practices. There are a number of teachers using this idea to create awareness for the students to look at problems in another dimension or perspective.

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