De Bono's 6 Thinking Hats

Six thinking Hats is a time-tested, proven, and practical thinking tool. It provides a framework to help people think clearly and thoroughly by directing their thinking attention in one direction at a time (De Bono Schools, 2015)

Below is an example of how to incorporate De Bono's Six Thinking Caps into assessment and classroom activities.

Individual Activity

• Students are presented with an upcycled garment.
• Students are given a hat colour at random.
• Students must use the thought process associated with that colour to assess the garment.
• As a class the answers are discussed and collaborated onto the board.

Group Activity

• Create several stations, at each station identify a topic for discussion e.g. sustainability, Japanese fashion, recycling, upcycling, etc.
• Students are put into groups and rotate around each of the stations discussing as a group and going through each of the Six Thinking Caps writing down their thoughts.
• The teacher has students read out their findings and combine each groups answers.

The Six Thinking Hats is a great practice to incorporate into assessment. When given an assessment task ask students to use the task topic to question, using the Six Thinking Caps has students thinking about the task constructively. Have students draw the Six Hats and write a couple of sentences next to each one using the different thought processes. Another great idea is using the same process at the completion of the assessment to evaluate their final piece.

Example:
Assessment Task - Design a garment with elements of Japanese fashion for a westernised society.

Yellow Hat, What are the good points/benefits?
Japanese fashion is very different and versatile allowing me to design a garment from loads of possibilities.

Black Hat, Will it work/What are the weaknesses?
Japanese fashion is very different to westernised fashion. I don't know a lot about Japanese Fashion.

Red Hat, How do I feel about this right now?
I am feeling intrigued and a little overwhelmed at how I am going to design the garment with Japanese elements.

White Hat, What information do I know and what information is missing?
Japanese fashion can be traditional or modern.
Harajuku is a modern style of Japanese fashion.

Green Hat, What are some possible ways to work it out?
Research Japanese fashion both traditional and modern.

Blue Hat, What do we do next?
Create a mood board and pick out small details to incorporate into a design.




References:

De Bono Schools, 2015. Retrieved from: http://www.debonoforschools.com/asp/six_hats.asp