Changing the way we educate our youth and our educators: Different approaches to hone the school of thought in nursery education.
Based on Edward De Bono’s Coloured Hats
“You cannot dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper”. (Bono,1992)
Edward De Bono said this famous quote which means that you should not limit yourself to thinking harder in the same direction but changing the direction in which you think by coming up with alternative methods through intensive critical and lateral thinking. This essay will talk about how to change the way we educate our youth through unconventional methods of educating the youth of pre-school age (3–5 years old).
When teachers mention ‘critical thinking’, we are talking about the active and conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and the gathering of information based on experiences and/or observations. (Anon,2019) and this also helps to weigh the pros and cons of our decisions which prevent decision-making paralysis.
However, the philosophy of lateral thought is the deliberate, systematic way of thinking that results in innovative line of thought of a repetitive manner which allows us to break free from our current thinking habits (Bono,2016). Preschool teachers can encourage lateral thinking by giving brainteasers and puzzles for the children as puzzles challenge children through strategy and intellect and it also hones analytical skills in children and the teachers can also participate in the activity as well. Teachers can also engage in lateral thinking by coming up with unconventional methods to impart fundamental concepts to children and figuring out how to handle unenthusiastic students.
Teachers can apply critical thinking in the classroom by using the basic skills that are being taught in the classroom and always starting the lesson off with a question with non-binary replies: yes, and no but questions that encourage students to apply what the teachers teach through ‘active learning’ which involves participation as well as emotional engagement. According to Meyers (1986), she mentions that when teachers transition their teaching style from passive to active, the material that is being taught by the teacher will have a bigger impact.
Preschool teachers can encourage the understanding and awareness of a child’s thought process called ‘metacognition’ which does not involve a lot of financial risks either and apply it into cognitive thinking. Nursery teachers can use metacognition when it comes to planning and developing all classroom activities, carrying out plans as well as examining how well the activity went. Through metacognitive thinking in the classroom, it is teaching children to be independent thinkers as well as bringing about a positive impact in their education and a child’s thinking as the children can be able to unleash their full potential. Metacognitive strategies also ensure the achievement of the goal (Livingston,2003)
Preschool teachers can encourage children to engage the left side and right side of the brain by playing board games such as chess, jigsaw puzzles and checkers which both have visual elements and strategic thinking (Brenton,2019). Besides that, nursery teachers can also encourage the children to play musical instruments which involves the left side of the brain through coming up with new sounds and through the right side of the brain with learning notes and keys as well.
Edward de Bono with Dr Micheal Hewitt-Gleeson and Eric Bienstock developed the coloured hats thinking in 1983. Kindergarten teachers can use the coloured hats to integrate these principles into the curriculum. Kindergarten teachers can teach kindergarten children how to apply these skills to their everyday lives.
Kindergarten teachers can integrate the white hat thinking, which involves the gathering of data as teachers can use the white hat thinking when it comes to finding the appropriate facts to present to children and coming up with a curriculum and a proper lesson plan as well as figuring out how to impart the subject matter in a way that is simple and concise as well as is as truthful. Children can also apply the white hat techniques when it comes to retaining the information that is being taught by the teachers. Teachers can make learning more fun so that the children can store information by incorporating real-world scenarios into problems like using food to teach children on problem-solving or karate to teach punctuation. By teaching these fundamental concepts in an interactive method, children can grasp these concepts through active engagement of the task at hand compared to absorbing information through words and charts. Teachers can also encourage students to ask questions and always attempt to answer them no matter how complicated or how impossible the question is and teachers have to be patient and calm when children ask such questions. \
Not only that but the red hat which involves intuition and emotions by making sure that teachers can also be thoughtful when interacting with students. When coming up with a curriculum, teachers can use empathy to teach sensitive topics from young such as LGBTQIA+ education and education on equality in terms of gender and race. Teachers can integrate emotional intelligence in the classroom ( Mayer and Salovey,1997) and allow students to express emotions in the way they know best, which is through a colour chart that uses words to describe the child’s feelings like blue for sorrow and red for rage.
Various studies show that engagement in empathy and the expression of feelings usually lead to lower bullying cases as well as cases of discrimination and bigotry in later life. We can also teach children from young to practice inclusion and teachers have to talk about the importance of inclusion in society. Not only that, but kindergarteners can also put on the red hat when it comes to problems that their classmates are facing as well as encouraging students to practise empathy and to discourage bullying. Teachers can also encourage students to cry in the classroom as well and to not shut down the student’s feelings. We can also encourage feelings to be shared amongst one another and do not treat the teacher as a teacher but more like an acquaintance and a trusted confidant
The green hat of thinking involves creative innovation which teachers can use to come up with creative , practical methods which incorporate several learning styles such as audio, visual and kinaesthetic styles to impart knowledge unto children and to improvise when lessons do not go according to plan. Kindergarteners can also use the green hat of thinking to explore the world around them as well as use it for subjects such as art as painting and drawing can be an excellent medium to express a child’s creativity. By encouraging students to discover their learning styles from a young age, teachers can then integrate these learning styles into the curriculum for example, in Science class. Teachers can encourage students to use kinaesthetic skills in Science to ‘connect’ with the natural world and ask questions about nature. Students can engage in creativity in art by encouraging students to not colour within the lines of colouring pages and to paint whatever they wish instead of putting a limit on art. When teachers are using the green hat of thinking, teachers must not use the black hat at all because logical judgement hinders any for of creative thinking amongst children, particularly children of nursery school age because of the harsh ,logical judgements teachers place on creativity.
According to De Bono (1992), judges in many countries wear a black robe when in court, so it is appropriate to associate judgement with the black hat of thinking as it is the hat used for logical judgment by checking the validity of facts that are being taught to the students and preschool teachers can use the black hat to assess situations that are being faced by their students as well as among themselves as well as use critical thinking to solve these problems (Kivunja,2015) and make judgements on what is being taught or whatever is incorporated in the classroom The children can use the black hat to think and pass judgment about their actions, which teaches students to differentiate right from wrong at as well as this can teach students that not everything always goes according to plan, which is like life.
Its opposite is the yellow-coloured hat of thinking as the colour yellow solving symbolizes sunshine and hope, which bring about optimistic approaches to thinking. Preschool teachers and students can use this coloured hat when it comes to solving problems be it in the classroom or beyond, students can illuminate their understanding and view other perspectives, through rose-coloured glasses.
Preschool teachers always use the blue hat of thinking and this can be associated with blue skies as we can look down from the skies and see what is happening below. From the start of the lesson to the finish, the blue hat allows children to apply what is being taught throughout the lesson (Kivunja,2015) as the blue hat defines the problem and the purpose of thinking to solve the problem throughout by observing what is going on and organising (De Bono,1992). This can be applied to teachers who are facing dilemmas in their work-life and by using the blue hat of thinking to think critically about how to solve problems.
These methods do not involve out-of-reach methods but with these practical techniques, the student’s preschool education experience will be the proper foundation for one’s entire education journey and this will foster enjoyment in learning in children as well as with these holistic education techniques, they can become more efficient workers in the future.
This essay was for a foundation year module; Principles of Education which was convened by Dr Micheal Hall. For references, please ask me.
