Edward DeBono The teaching of thinking By: Catherine Chacon TIE 512

Edward Debono Dr. Debono was born in Malta He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford He holds several degrees from Oxford and Cambridge. a D. Des (Doctor of Design) from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology He has written 62 books that are in 37 languages and has spoken in 58 countries.

The teaching of thinking Edward de Bono is regarded by many as the leading authority in the field of creative thinking, innovation and the direct teaching of thinking as a skill. He is equally renowned for his development of the Six Thinking Hats® technique and the Direct Attention Thinking Tools™ (D.A.T.T.™) framework.

Debono Believes Thinking is a skill that can be taught deliberately. Thinking can be taught directly as a curriculum subject in schools. In the USA and elsewhere around the world an increasing number of schools are putting thinking on to the curriculum as a skill and separate class. Debono says that “Teaching knowledge is not enough. In order to survive and thrive in a complex world every youngster leaving school needs to be equipped with basic thinking skills. Just being good at argument and critical thinking is insufficient”. According to Debono thinking is: “The operational skill with which intelligence acts upon experience”

Edward Debono has developed: DATT framework Six Thinking Hats framework Six action shoes framework Lateral Thinking Parallel Thinking The Debono Code CoRT thinking Lessons - CoRT stands for Cognitive Research Trust. The program was designed for schools and is now widely in use throughout the world.

DATT Framework (Direct Attention Thinking Tools) Tool 1: Consequences and Sequels Look ahead to see the consequences of some action, plan, decision or rule Tool 2: Plus, Minus, Interesting Ensure that all sides of a matter have been considered before a decision or commitment is made Tool 3: Recognise, Analyse, Divide Break a larger concept into smaller, more manageable parts Tool 4: Consider All Factors Explore all factors related to an action, decision or plan Tool 5: Aims, Goals, Objectives Focus directly and deliberately on the intention behind actions

Continued: Tool 6: Alternatives, Possibilities, Deliberately try to find alternatives Tool 7: Other People's Views Choices Look at other people's viewpoints Tool 8: Key Values Involved Ensure that out thinking serves our values Tool 9: First Important Priorities Select the most important ideas, factors, objectives Tool 10: Design, Decisions, Outcome, Channels, Action Direct attention to the outcome of the thinking and action that follows

Six Thinking Hats Framework White Hat: White hat thinkers focus on the data available. Red Hat: Red hat thinkers look at the decision using intuition, gut reaction, and emotion. Black Hat: Black hat thinkers look at things pessimistically, cautiously and defensively. Yellow Hat: Yellow hat thinkers think positively. Green Hat: Green Hat thinkers think with creativity. Blue Hat: Blue Hat thinkers think in a process control way.

Six Action Shoes Framework NAVY FORMAL SHOES Routines and formal procedures (A pilot completing a complex pre-flight check) ORANGE GUMBOOTS Explosions and danger (Reacting to a sudden hostile takeover bid) PINK SLIPPERS Warmth and relaxed comfort (Comforting a colleague who didn’t get the promotion) BROWN BROGUES Sensible and practical (Cutting through red tape and get the new building finished on schedule) GREY TRAINERS Thinking and investigation (Collecting competitive information for launching a new brand of baby food) PURPLE RIDING BOOTS Authority (Issuing orders to your staff to complete an urgent job)

Lateral and Parallel Thinking Lateral thinking is concerned not with playing with the existing pieces but with seeking to change those very pieces. Lateral thinking is concerned with the perception part of thinking. This is where we organize the external world into the pieces we can then 'process'. With 'parallel thinking' both sides or all parties are thinking in parallel in the same direction. There is co-operative and co-ordinated thinking. The direction itself can be changed in order to give a full scan of the situation. But at every moment each thinker is thinking in parallel with all the other thinkers.

Debono Code The "de Bono Code Book" sets out eighteen different codes for complex situations. There are negotiating codes, youth codes, meeting codes, project status codes, travel codes, relationship codes etc. It may be difficult for a youngster to say to his or her parents: "Mum, I am in deep trouble. I need your help and advice. But I do not want the usual sermons, preaching and 'I told you so'. Can we work on this together? Can we discuss it? Can you help me?" Some youngsters might find that awkward to say. How much easier to say: "Mum, I have an 8/1 here.“ There are 257 codes which become an 'inter-language' for international use (among other benefits such as compression for m-commerce).

Debono Video’s http://gsa-ada.org/2009/articles/78/the-de-bono-code There are some video’s on creativity, lateral and parallel thinking, the six hats, critical thinking for children and others.

References http://www.edwarddebono.com http://www.edwdebono.com/ http://www.edwdebono.com/debono/tt.htm http://www.edwdebono.com/debono/gamesi.htm - Thinking Games http://debonoforschools.com/pdfs/80850_CoRT1_Introduction_Section.pdf - CoRT Thinking Lessons http://www.edwdebono.com/debono/workdatt.htm http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_07.htm http://www.croydonsc.vic.edu.au/foundation2/Think/DeBono http://www.edwarddebono.com/concept8.htm