Нұрсейітқызы Ә., Абдыхалыкова А.М.

Евразийский Национальный Университет, Казахстан

DEVELOPING THE STUDENTS’ CRITICAL THINKING BY THE SIX HATS TECHNIQUE

The 21st century requires a person in all areas of competence, the ability to practically use their theoretical knowledge, their intellectual potential. Our President emphasizes that education is one of the priorities of Kazakhstan. He notes that the country that is not able to develop knowledge in the XXI century is doomed to failure. Therefore, the teachers must change their outlook, attitude towards the results of its activities.

To be successful in the information space, children and young people should be involved in more effective forms of active, constructive learning, the understanding and the attainment of independence. In this regard, the teachers face a number of challenges to achieve effective learning. Teachers should:

Be able to provide personalized feedback to students.

Good to know how learning takes place, to have an idea about the level of motivation of individual students about their experienced emotions and their lives outside of school.

Possess strong skills in the field of information technologies and methods of their use as an effective tool for teaching.

Improve their professional skills by participating in coaching and mentoring as part of their school, and within the network of communities.

Kazakhstan’s schools widely using this technique as a strategy during the lessons, organizing different workshops, exhibitions to introduce for students. In Miras International School of Astana, Kazakhstan this technique was presented in 2015 on February and succeeds.

In response to the widespread interests of developing children’s thinking and learning skills, specific interventions have been found constructive in improving

children’s thinking and intelligence. Thus, in 1985, De Bono introduced the Six Thinking Hats, a parallel thinking process which allow thinkers to simplify thinking by dealing with points consecutively and carry out “a switch in thinking”. Through the application of the Six Thinking Hats, it is set to aid the creative state of mind and to stimulate learners to think and control [1;1]

Sarsani defines Six Thinking Hats as six modes of thinking and are directions to think rather than labels for thinking. That is, the hats are used proactively rather than reactively.

The Six Thinking Hats, de Bono’s Hats system, is a thinking tool for group discussion and individual thinking combined with the idea of parallel thinking. It provides a means for groups to think together more effectively and a means to plan thinking process in a detailed and cohesive way. The operational definition of Six Thinking Hats is a teaching technique that comprises six colored hats that represent ways of thinking which are used to develop EFL college students’ performance in composition writing [2:489].

The Six Thinking Hats is actual powerful tool of 21st century that help teachers of any grade to motivate students to use critical thinking and problem solving skills, during the lessons. Teachers can use The Six Hats to their students by focusing on a specific thinking skill. Students affiliate the six hats with basic questions that will direct or redirect their thinking developing in a richer learning experience. By actively drilling the Six Hats to every lesson, teachers help students explore their own potential by taking an active role in their learning and enhance their creative thinking.

Manktelow believes that the Six Thinking Hats technique is an important and a powerful technique used to look at decisions from a number of important aspects which forces one to move outside his habitual thinking style .It helps students to react in difficult situations. The concreteness of the Hats helps them to identify their reactions to the situations, analyze them, and create real life changes. Conflict resolution and a more positive school climate result from student problem solving with the Six Thinking Hats.

The Six Thinking Hats technique provides a common language that works in different cultures. It promotes collaborative thinking, sharpens focus, facilitates communication, reduces conflict, enables thorough evaluations, improves exploration, fosters creativity and innovation, saves time, and boosts productivity [2:486].

De Bono states that the Six Thinking Hats technique is supposed to promote quality of thinking and communication for students, teachers, and educational leaders. He also believes that many successful people think from a very rational, positive viewpoint. People may fail to look at a problem from an emotional, intuitive, creative or negative viewpoint. This can mean that they underestimate public resistance to plans, fail to make creative leaps, and do not make essential contingency plans [2:486].

By this technique participants can consider the different points of view together at the same time, rather than arguing about them. The technique also keeps group from deciding on one right answer or the rightness of one point of view without considering the many facts of the issue.

The Six Thinking Hats technique can be applied to most topics, problems or activities. Students do not always have to use all the hats, and they do not have to do them in any particular order.

Consequently, the researcher herself believes that students should learn content while solving realistic problems. Learning in order to know should not be separated from learning in order to do. Thus, there is a need to design writing activities that are supported by instruction and modeling that include a collaborative, problem-solving and role playing elements, and that require both reflection and articulation of that reflection [2:487].

The Structural Dimension of the Six Thinking Hats

The six hats, according to Sarsani, represents six modes of thinking and directions to think rather than labels for thinking. That is, the hats are used proactively rather than reactively. Obviously, the benefit of de Bono’s technique is that the individual or group will cover all the bases, or at least approach problems from various perspectives. De Bono does suggest that groups might agree on an agenda and a particular sequence of hats. In addition, the technique is a good way for fostering creativity to several forms of mind [2:492].

In this technique we will come across six different hats (imaginary hats, not actual ones that can be physically worn). Each hat symbolizes something unique and that is how it has derived its color. Think about a clean slate – an open mind where all facts can be written as they are. Its neutral and it won’t try to make a decision at all. It’s just facts as they are. This is the function of the white hat. Globally, the color red symbolizes feelings – same is the function of the red hat. It symbolizes the feelings of the participants / thinkers without being obliged to provide any reasoning or logic. Think about a Judge wearing a black cloak that would come down heavily on someone on the wrong side of the law. The black hat is for caution and looks out for traps / pitfalls. A very important hat indeed! The sunshine shows perpetual hope and optimism – this is the very significance of the yellow hat. Man is always in search of greener pastures in life – personally and professionally. Green always symbolizes growth. It gives birth to new ideas and creativity. Creativity in thinking is what we are looking at in this process. This is the work of the green hat. We all need an overview and some amount of control. This is the work of the blue hat, obviously the color of the sky. This is to organize the thinking process and making it more effective [3:816].

Advantages

1. The colors and hats provide a visual image that is easy to learn, remember and use.

2. Thinking is visible, focused, in depth, and at higher levels of critical and creative thinking.

3. The strategy is can be used on a simple, concrete level or abstract, sophisticated level.

4. Listening, speaking, reading and writing improve with a strategy for focus.

5. Interdisciplinary connections integrate the curriculum.

6. Problem solving, decision making, leadership and independence are developed.

7. Students ask quality questions.

8. Student led discussions and projects are focused and in depth.

9. Self-evaluation is systematic.

10. Students develop confidence.

Cooperative groups and teamwork are effective and organized.

Disadvantages

1. The Six Hats is one approach to teaching thinking, and teachers should be cautious of excluding others [4:3].

2. For the effective application of the method teachers must develop the imagination.

3. There is a big psychological burden for instruction:

· The hats may be used one after another in a sequence. They should not be used at the same time.

· Any hat may be used as often as you like. Students can use a hat during one part of the assignment and then move onto another hat, but still come back to their original hat, and other used hats, later on.

· Blue hats are often used before reading/assignment and after a reading/assignment.

· If this is your first time using the strategy you will want to model it using the entire class before moving into smaller groups.

· Remember to use a variety of texts with the strategy.

· Allow for time and practice so that students develop ownership of each type of "thinking" [5:2].

Procedure

· Determine a topic that would offer the opportunity for students to apply multiple perspectives. Consider using a reading to go along with the topic.

· As the teacher, activate prior knowledge on the topic with the class. You may want to start with blue hat within the large group to go over what might already be known about the topic.

· Take time to model the strategy if this is the first time students are using it or if they need more support. Modeling is very important; model what kind of thinking is involved with each hat first and provide guided support as students apply what they learned.

· Pass out the six hat strategy sheet. While completing the reading assignment students should consider each hat’s focus and write down notes, thoughts, and opinions they derived from the reading.

· In small groups have students listen to the thoughts each one has on the topic, each taking turns “wearing” the different hats. Each person should only wear a hat for approximately one minute dependent on group size and during that time they should discuss their findings. Remember, hats should

be worn one at a time, but can be taken on and off as needed if something

needs to be reviewed or reconsidered.

As each participant gives their input on the topic, the facilitator of the group

should take notes on a six hat handout.

When everyone has given input, the group can come up with further

questions to challenge and explore the ideas they’ve presented to each other.

The blue hat should be revisited and a summary created.

Students should then come together as a class to discuss the topic and

findings [5:3].

To conclude, the metaphor of a hat doesn’t need to be used. The power in this technique lies with getting all ideas and perspectives out on the table with everyone thinking and collaborating in a parallel and productive way. The effectiveness of the Six Thinking Hats is evident as learners gain higher-order thinking skills, as thinking becomes more focused, comprehensive and constructive. Since the development of “how to think” requires an active process, despite time wasted and though the Six Thinking Hats usage are more teacher-led in the early years, the development of thinking skills should be embedded into the curriculum, to promote specific skills application and strategies for all learners to confront learning in a continuous development and meaning-making skills. Additionally, the Six Thinking hats may be integrated with other reflective teaching strategies, for instance, for KWL chart, hot seating, concept wheel and other graphic organizers.

References

1. Dr Saroja Dhanapal, Khoo Tabitha Wern Ling. Six Thinking Hats: A

study to understand the reasons and extent of their application in the English

Language classroom. Journal of English Language and Literature. Canada,

2014

2. Khansa Hassan Hussein Al Bahadli. The Impact of the Six Thinking Hats as a Teaching Technique on EFL College Students’ Performance in Composition Writing.

3. Mitez Sheth. Six Thinking Hats. Asian Journal of Management Research. 2012

4. Franny F. McAleer. Develop Critical and Creative Thinking Skills: Put on Six Thinking Hats.

5. https://www.ocps.net/cs/services/cs/currareas/read/ir/bestpractices/sz/sixthinkinghats_mar2009.pdf