Reflection on week 2 Activity: de Bono’s six thinking hats

Reflection on week 2 Activity: de Bono’s six thinking hats

In week’s 2 wiki activity the scaffold used was the de Bono’s six thinking hats to input suggestions on the topic which was discussed (the use of mobile phones in classrooms).  The de Bono’s six thinking hats encourage lateral thinking. The six hats with different colours encourage thinking in different ways. Each hat defines a certain type of thinking. By using the de Bono’s six thinking hats I was encouraged to think laterally. My brain was challenged in six different ways. From analysing the six different hats I realised that if I was given the task on my own (without any peer and teacher involvement) I would have only focused on the yellow hat (which outlined the positives, value and benefit) and the black hat (which outlines the disadvantages, difficulties and dangers). The de Bono’s six thinking hats gave me the opportunity to consider other issues such as emotions amongst other issues as represented by the other hat colours (red, green, white and blue). I came out with different ideas that polarise the perception of a problem or situation. I was able to analyse ideas from different angles and the parallel thinking encouraged me to explore all the options and go beyond the obvious. For significant learning there is need to revisit ideas, pond them, try them out, play with them and use them. The de Bono’s six hats of thinking encouraged multiple representations of reality and avoids oversimplification of ideas. The de Bono’s six hats of thinking demonstrates the Cognitive learning theory. Cognitivism involves the brain and mental processing. The cognitive learning theory approach has taught me to be a good thinker.

The wiki activity allowed sharing of knowledge and views with my peers. The type of learning theory that was demonstrated by using the wiki space is social constructivism. Social constructivism is learning that occurs from a social context and through observation and modelling. Learning is founded upon social interactions within a learning community. In terms of social context my peers also highlighted their views on the discussion topic and individual concerns were all said out. As part of the group I felt that I was being integrated into a knowledge community. There was collaborative construction of knowledge through social interaction. I also noted that by using the de Bono’s six hats of thinking in the wiki space, a permanent text based record of ideas was created for future analysis and reading. The limitation I found out by using the wiki space as a group is that at times it was influential as there is a tendency to read and focus on other people’s views.  This limits the thinking capacity. However if wiki space are used in a classroom setup they can influence social learning and encourage participation from all the students.

 Reference

Gregory S, Masters Y (2012). Real thinking with virtual hats: A role playing activity for preservice teachers in second life. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 28 (3) pp 420-440

 

Peterson A, (2006). Dr Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats and Numeracy. Journal of Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, 11 (3), p 11-15

http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ793931