Six Hats in Kipsamo

'He who learns, teaches.'
- Ethiopian Proverb

Teachers, both UK and Kenyan, are the underpinning to Elimu's work. This is none more so the case than during our school trips when they have a chance, ideally (it doesn't always work that way), to watch each other teach and certainly, to exchange practices and ideas.

Kenyan teachers - and students - are used to a didactic approach to teaching which they carry out in what can be an isolated and isolating profession with little support and few opportunities to engage with other teachers, never mind professional development days. All the things UK teachers have.

And yet, our Kenyan schools have more to offer than they know, in terms of developing a whole school approach to literacy, teaching without resources, and for the teachers I have brought to Kenya, calling into question the emphasis we have in the UK.

To bring these elements together and explore them more fully, a teacher conference takes place during each of our school trips, with Kipsamo as the official host school.

This year, a handful of teachers from Kipsamo, Greenfields, The Priory and Bishop Justus sat down in an empty classroom, introduced themselves and, in their small teams, worked through a series of questions as part of a wider Six Hats-style question entitled:

'How can we address the problem of low parental input in children's lives and education?'

The title was chosen by Elimu Rep. Sally Sang, who is also Kipsamo's newly appointed deputy head and on this day was standing in for the head, Julius Kerich. We wanted a topic that would resonate with all schools and teachers.

The 'six hats', for the uninitiated, are six metaphorical thinking hats (though we do also use real ones) developed by the writer and philosopher Edward de Bono. The thinker can put on or take off a hat to indicate the type of thinking being used:

- Facts and information (White) - list 5 facts/problems you have experienced in relation to this question

- Feelings and emotions (Red) - what are your feelings about the issue and how it affects your teaching/students?

- Judgement and negativity (Black) - what are some of the reasons why parents do not support schools and/or their children's education? What in your experience are the consequences of this? Should schools take over the role of parents?

- Optimism and positivity (Yellow) - how could parents be encouraged to support and participate?

- New ideas and creativity (Green) - how could the problem be addressed within your school? What could be done higher up in government, in wider society and also more locally to help?

- Balance and overview (Blue) - on balance, how might the problem of low parental input be addressed and could UK/African schools share ideas with one another?

When done in a group, everybody wears the same hat at the same time to encourage parallel thinking and to approach a problem together from different angles.

Six Hats discussion

The discussions among each of the groups and in the feedback at the end went on for quite some time, which was nice to see.

Group 1

There is a tendancy in Kenya to think of UK teachers as experts in everything. One of the reasons we focused on a shared issue was so that we could break down that barrier and open things up a little more, particularly for newer teachers. By the end all of them were talking, offering opinions, ideas and counterpoints. What they discovered ultimately though was how much they do have in common.

This won't be the last time we use the Six Hats model. Indeed, since being introduced to it by Charles Darwin's Alison Roberts last year, Kipsamo has adapted it for its own specific needs.

In Kenya, students are ranked at every turn: locally, nationally and in school. There is a highly competitive environment in schools which tends to preclude team work and collaboration. Sally explained that Kipsamo has been using the Six Hats model to overcome this. The school has been placing low performing students in 'Six Hat groups' and devising questions for them which encourage them to analyse their own strengths and weaknesses and to help and support each other. Their responses are then fedback to the rest of the school with the aim of developing a more inclusive ethos and approach so that all the students know that they are in it together, and can all improve and progress.

Sally Linton and Sally Sang

We did not know last year that this would be the outcome of the school's first Six Hat lesson, or the impact it would have.

Kipsamo has enjoyed learning about different styles of teaching and techniques. It has taken the most relevant things, be it the Six Hats model, studying poetry for meaning or improving literacy rates with a set of dictionaries and thesaurases, and applied them to where in the school they are most beneficial. It demonstrates the power and potential of schools coming together and of education in all its forms. It is what Elimu expects from all the schools we work with. We are looking forward to supporting the partnerships between them and to seeing how they unfold.

With this in mind, and other things, too, one of my first jobs upon returning two weeks ago was to meet with the headteachers of our three UK schools: Nick Ware of The Priory, who arranged the meeting fresh from Kenya (although I think 'fresh' is probably stretching it and not the word he would use to describe his first - or second - week back!), Kathy Griffiths at Bishop Justus and Sunil Chotai at Charles Darwin. The meeting was held in Bishop Justus, Kathy's PA Stephanie having laid on a lovely surprise breakfast of fresh fruit, pains au chocolat and coffee for us all.

We talked about the success of the recent trip, the challenges it has thrown up, how to combine the trips with Elimu's development work (Stalion nursery school) so that one supports the other, and a proposed UK-Kenya headteacher conference in Tanzania next year. This would be an important step forward and a way of including each of the heads. Somewhere neutral would mean that none has to play host, risk being swayed by a school's resources, worry about casting their school in the best light or find themselves distracted by the daily realities of running one. The idea is to move away from these things and keep to the bare essentials, as we do for the students' orientation.

It is a tall order to ask headteachers in the UK to go beyond a supporting role and find time to come to Africa. It was enough that Nick came on this last trip. But he sees the importance of it, what could be gained, what it would mean, and what it could do for the work we are trying to do.

So we will see what we can work out, all the heads and I, how a conference in Tanzania could be funded, and try and put my recent research in Arusha, home of the Maasai, to good use!

Jo