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Teach your child how to think

Edward de Bono presented by Shima kameli

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Why we need new thinking about thinkingCorrecting some of the generally held misconceptions about

thinking:� Information and thinking� Intelligence and thinking � Reactive and proactive thinking� Critical thinking� Creative thinking� Lateral thinking

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Information and thinking:

thinking is no substitute for information but information may be a substitute for thinking.

When knowledge is complete there is no need for thinking.For creativity, design, enterprise and doing anything new, we need thinking.

Information is not enough. We do need thinking as well. We need thinking in order to even better use of information.

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Intelligence and thinking :The belief that intelligence and thinking are the same has led to

two unfortunate conclusion in education:

I. That nothing needs to be done for students with a high intelligence .

II. That nothing can be done for students without a high intelligence.

thinking is the operation skill with which intelligence acts upon experience.

intelligence trap

Many highly intelligent people often take up a view on a subject and then use their intelligence to defend that view. Since they can defend the view they never see any need to explore the subject or listen to alternative views.

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situation seeing judging

situation seeing exploring judging

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Does thinking have to be difficult?We don’t have to give people the tasks which are too

difficult for them to do, to develop their thinking.

Tasks that are almost impossible destroy confidence. that is why so many people are turned off thinking. there is no joy of performing if you can not perform.

The belief that if you can do very difficult things then you can also do all things that are less difficult is not supported by human experience.

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Reactive and proactive thinkingReactive thinking: in school it is very practical to put work-

sheets, textbooks and blackboard text in front of students. The students are then asked to ‘react’ to what is before them. For these practical reasons almost all the thinking taught in school is reactive. (Here is something-what do you think of it?)

Pro-active thinking: real life involves a great deal of ‘pro-active’ thinking. This means going out and doing things. (All the information is not given- you have to find it.)

It is not the fault of education that pro-active thinking is not so easy to handle as the reactive thinking. But it is the fault of education to suppose that reactive thinking is sufficient.

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Critical thinking:Traditional thinking puts all the emphasis on critical thinking,

argument, analysis and logic. These are very important but are only a part of thinking and are not sufficient.

Many schools believe that is sufficient to teach critical thinking. They do this because it fits in with the usual emphasis on reactive thinking and also the traditional view of thinking.

In addition to critical thinking we need thinking that is constructive and creative.

Criticism is very much easier than creation.

Critical thinking is a process of thinking.

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Creative thinkingTraditionally we have been concerned mainly with reactive

thinking(reacting to what is put before you). But there is a whole other side of thinking(pro-active) involves getting out and doing things happen. It requires thinking that is constructive, creative and generative.

2 reasons why we have neglected creative thinking:

I. We have considered creative thinking to be a mystical gift.

II. We think that every valuable creative idea must always be logical in hindsight

If we want to be more creative then we have to develop some specific thinking techniques. These techniques form part of lateral thinking.

Creative thinking is product of thinking, which produce original ideas

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Lateral thinking

You cannot dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole dipper.

Lateral thinking is a skill for changing concepts and perceptions.

Critical thinking is primarily concerned with judging the true value of statements and seeking errors. Lateral thinking is more concerned with the movement value of statements and ideas. A person would use lateral thinking when she/ he wants to move from one known idea to creating new ideas

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Attitudes towards the skill of thinkingAttitudes affect our whole approach to thinking.

� Bad attitudes:

i. Thinking is not important. Gut feeling is all that matters.

ii. Thinking is boring and confusing and never gets anywhere.

iii. I find all problems too difficult.

iv. Thinking is only for academics and intellectuals.

v. I find thinking very easy. You just look at something and make up your mind about it.

vi. I find that I am always right. I have no trouble defending my ideas.

vii. The main purpose of thinking is to prove that those who disagree with you are wrong.

viii. There is one right answer and anyone who can not see it must be stupid.

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� Good attitudes:

i. Everyone has to think- everyone can think.

ii. Thinking is a skill that can be developed.

iii. I am a thinker.

iv. I can get better and better at thinking.

v. Things that appear complicated at first can often be made more simple.

vi. Take one step at a time.

vii. Separate your ego from your thinking. Look at your thinking objectively.

viii. The purpose of thinking is not to be right all the time.

ix. Listening and learning is a key part of thinking.

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Attitudes about the nature of thinkingi. Thinking should be constructive, not negative.

ii. Explore a subject instead of arguing about it.

iii. The other party in an argument usually has something useful and constructive to say, if you make the effort to pick this out. People with differing points of view are usually right according to their own special perception.

iv. Do not be afraid to try out ideas.

v. At any point of thinking there may be alternatives that you have not yet thought of.

vi. Avoid dogmatism even when you do feel that you are right.

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The six thinking hatsDoing a lot of different things at the same time is always difficult

and confusing. In our thinking we often try to do too much at the same time.( It is no wonder that we sometimes get confused.)

The six thinking hats is a method for doing one sort of thinking at a time.

The six-hats method is really an attention -directing tool, because it directs our attention towards certain aspects and towards a certain type of thinking.(red hat feeling)

The example for six thinking hats operation is full- color printing on paper.

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Why hats?Hats often define a role we are playing at the moment.

Hats can easily be put on and taken off. A hat is not permanently attached to you.

The hats are not categories. Instead of labeling people and putting them into boxes the hats are there to encourage people to use all types of thinking.

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White-hat thinkingThe white hat means neutral information. It is not a matter of

argument or making suggestions. White-hat thinking focuses directly on the available information.

• What information do we have and what information is missing?

Red- hat thinkingThe red hat is for emotions, feelings, hunches, and intuition.• I don’t like this idea.....I have this hunch that he is going to be a great tennis player...

Information and feeling:There are times when the white hat and the red hat can get quite close.

When we are looking forward into the future we can never be certain, so we are guessing or extrapolating.

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In a way the red hat is the opposite of the white hat. The white hat seeks to put down the objective facts and is not interested in what anyone feels about them- facts are facts. the red hat is not interested in the facts but only in people’s feelings.

Feelings are a very important part of thinking. Feelings come into thinking all the time. We seek to be objective but are rarely objective. In the end all choices or decisions are based on feelings.

Feelings are valuable so long as we label them as feelings. The red hat provides a clear label.

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Black-hat thinkingThe black hat is certainly the most used off all the hats. In some

ways it is also the most valuable of the hats. It prevents us from making mistakes and doing silly things.

The black hat is concerned with truth and reality. It is the hat of critical thinking.

• Is it true? Will it work? What are the dangers and problems?

Yellow-hat thinkingWith yellow hat we are concerned with benefits. The yellow hat is looking forward into the future, and also looking

backwards into the past. If we do this, then these benefits will arise….. This thing happened, there were some good effects…..

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notesThe black hat is used for judgment, assessment and criticism. It prevents mistakes and errors and lead to the improvement of ideas.

Both the black hat and the yellow hat are forms of judgment.

Both hats have to be entirely logical. With both hats there have to be strong reasons for what you say.

If there are no reasons you should be using the red hat, because a statement without reasons is a feeling or intuition.

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Green-hat thinkingThe green hat is the active hat. It is the hat for creative thinking.

It is concerned with proposals and suggestions.

Green hat covers both uses of the word ‘creative’ .

i. Bringing something about or making something happen. This is similar to constructive thinking.

ii. New ideas, new alternatives, new solutions, new inventions. The emphasis is on ‘newness’.

• What can be done? • What other possible explanations might there be?

The white hat lays out the information. The red hat allows feelings to be put forward. The black and yellow hats deal with logical assessment. So it falls to the green hat to be the action hat under which ideas are put forward.

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Blue hat thinkingWith blue-hat thinking you are thinking about thinking.

The blue hat is the overview. It is the process control. with all the other hats we think about the subject matter, but with the blue hat we think about our thinking.

• What has happened?• What is happening?• What should happen next?

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The green hat and the blue hat are opposites in the sense that the green hat is full of energy and the freedom of thinking in any direction whereas the blue hat is concerned with the control and direction of the thinking process.

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Even a single thinking habit or tool taken from this comprehensive book may strongly affect the future of your child. Teach your child how to think. Do not wait for school to do it.