Lateral Thinking to Develop Writing Skills
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22333/ijme.2025.10482Keywords:
Georgian Language, Writing Competencies, Lateral Thinking, Six Thinking Hats, Functional Writing, Critical Thinking, Creative Thinking, Pedagogical InnovationAbstract
This article explores the potential of using Edward de Bono's "Six Thinking Hats" concept to develop students' writing, especially functional writing, competencies. Unlike traditional teaching methods, this paper proposes a lateral approach that involves personifying different modes of thinking and integrating them into a practical context. The object of the study is how Bono's hats method contributes to students' clear, logical, and structured expression of thoughts in Georgian, as well as their critical, creative, and analytical thinking.
The methodology involves the personification of de Bono's "Six Thinking Hats" (white – facts; red – emotions; black – criticism; yellow – positivity; green – creativity; blue – management/summarization) using Georgian anthroponyms – Giorgi Tetradze, Mariam Chitava, Murman Shavadze, Elene Kvitelashvili, Nikoloz Balakhashvili, Tamar Glurjidze. This mnemonic model aims to present the concept in an intuitive and memorable format. The article discusses in detail a variety of formats of writing assignments, such as mini-scripts, official letters, presentation scripts, advertising materials, and problem-solving reports, in which the role and sequence of each "hat" is adapted to the specific functional writing goals. Special attention is paid to the impact of changing the order of the hats and multiple alternating repetitions on writing skills, which ensures the dynamism and flexibility of the thinking process.
The main results indicate that lateral approaches significantly improve students': 1) writing flexibility and stylistic adaptation to different genres and purposes; 2) dialogic writing and replica construction skills; 3) effectiveness of argumentation and counterargumentation; 4) integration of creative thinking into writing; 5) ability to analyze a problem from multiple perspectives; 6) lexical and grammatical diversity according to context.
In conclusion, the systematic use of personalized tasks from Bono's "Six Thinking Hats" represents a creative and effective pedagogical tool for Georgian-speaking students to develop not only functional writing skills but also to deepen critical, analytical, and creative thinking, which is invaluable for them in both academic and professional contexts.
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