BIS Mumbai
BOSCO INFORMATION SERVICE # 3481
DON BOSCO TEACHERS PUT ON THEIR THINKING CAPS
By: BIS Correspondent
NORTHERN ARABIAN VICARIATE, April 08, 2013: On Saturday, 06 April, Don Bosco School in Kuwait 
conducted a training session on "Decision Making and Project Planning" for all its teachers. Fr. Franco Pereira and Fr. Blany Pinto jointly conducted the training programme based on the "Six Thinking Hats" Technique of a renowned psychologist Edward de Bono.
One hundred and six teachers were present for the programme. They were divided into two groups and were tasked with planning a school event each – Expressions 2014 (an inter-school competition) and Carnival 2014.
Once done, they were then introduced to the Six Thinking Hats approach for project planning and decision making. Six Thinking Hats is an extremely powerful tool that encourages the planner to look at decisions from a number of important perspectives. It requires one to move outside one's habitual thinking style and helps one to get a more rounded view of a situation.
Many successful people think from a very rational, positive viewpoint. This is part of the reason that they are successful. Often, though, they may fail to look at a problem from an emotional, intuitive, creative or critical viewpoint. This can mean that they underestimate resistance to plans, fail to make creative leaps and do not make essential contingency plans.
Similarly, pessimists may be excessively defensive, and more emotional people may fail to look at decisions calmly and rationally.
If one looks at an event or a difficulty with the 'Six Thinking Hats' technique, then one will solve it using all the approaches. One's decisions and plans will mix ambition, skill in execution, public sensitivity, creativity and good contingency planning.
Having learned the Six Thinking Hat approach the teachers were then given thirty minutes and encouraged to apply the technique and plan the two events - Expression 2014 and Carnival 2014. Later, both groups were then asked to present their plan to the entire assembly.
The presentation which followed attested to the fact that there was a sea change in the manner of planning. There was a vast difference in the plan preceding the talk on the six thinking hats and the plan which was presented following the talks. The resource persons emphasized that the technique of 'Six thinking Hats' should not be confined solely to planning an event. Rather, one needs to address events and difficulties wearing the six thinking caps.