Appreciative Inquiry Tool 2: Application of Appreciative Inquiry to Support Organisational Change in Schools

Introduction

This tool is the second in a series of three, written by Dr Katy Osborne who is a social scientist with a background in psychology and public health, currently working as a Research Fellow at the Southgate Institute for Health, Society and Equity. 
Appreciative inquiry (AI) is a strengths-based, collaborative approach to organizational change which focuses on understanding the ‘positive core’ of an organization and how this can be strengthened. The process of AI typically begins with the following:
Tell me a story, if you will, of a time when this team/organisation/community has been at its best – when people were proud to be part of it. What happened? What made it possible for this highpoint to occur? What would the system look like if that example of excellence were the norm? (p. 1) 1

AI involves working through a process called the ‘4D’ or ‘5D’ cycle to build upon pre-existing strengths in an organisation in order to bring about change. These steps refer to Define (the most recent step), Discover, Dream, Design and Destiny. Read ‘Appreciative Inquiry Tool 1: An Introduction to Appreciative Inquiry for Schools’ for an introduction to the principles and cycle of AI.

AI has been applied in many different organisational settings and disciplines including in the education sector. The current tool presents examples of how AI has been applied to guide change in schools at different organisational levels. 

Ideas 

Below, examples are presented of how AI has been applied in school settings at the level of: 

  • school districts
  • within individual schools to promote whole school change
  • with particular groups of teachers 
  •  with students within individual schools

Application of AI in School Districts (North America)

In North America, AI has been utilised as a process to guide change and planning across school districts; these are administrative groupings of public schools which are governed by school boards.2
At this level, AI has been used for improving planning processes and professional development. In Canada, AI was used in one school distinct to undertake team building with school staff, run an appreciative leadership course for teachers and administrators, and create individual school plans through a 4D cycle. 3

In the USA when a school district used the 4D cycle process, the following changes and outcomes were identified:

  • a greater appreciation of strengths 
  • a culture that was transformed from being defensive to one that welcomed collaboration, both internally and with external stakeholders 
  • the school district was able to form a clear plan for improved communication and partnerships with stakeholders 
  • participants were supported to take on leadership roles and become more outward looking4

Other research has also shown that AI can assist schools to form partnerships with other institutions and build social capital5. As such, AI has been identified as a valuable tool for developing change in schools in a democratic way and strengthening partnerships between schools, local communities and external stakeholders6.

Application of AI within Individual Schools (Australia)

AI has been used within single schools to foster positive whole-school change. One case study in a South Australian school involved the application of AI in order to implement the school’s strategic goal of fostering student wellbeing7. This case study was undertaken at St Peters College, an independent K-12 boy’s school in Adelaide. In 2011 the school established a specific goal in their strategic plan to build a ‘wellbeing strategy’ for students. AI was chosen as the guiding approach to develop, implement and monitor the wellbeing strategy by the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) under the headmastership of Simon Murray, in consultation with the Council of Governors8. AI was chosen because it is consistent with positive education and positive psychology, and because it was: 

  • Collaborative and whole school
  • Inquiry-based
  • Empowering
  • Appreciative and strengths-based9

The school set up three processes to achieve its goal: development, implementation, and monitoring. AI was integral to each of the three phases. This process involved the school governing body, teachers and other school staff, and students10. The 4D cycle was used to generate ideas about how to achieve the goal, and was also used throughout the process, for example, in staff meetings.  In this case study AI was successfully used to generate positive changes which enabled the school to act on their strategic goal of improving student wellbeing. Fifteen wellbeing initiatives were implemented at the school over a two- and half-year period. These included four ‘bottom up’ initiatives that were not suggested initially by the SLT, including: 

  • the formation of a positive psychology interest group
  • provision of wellbeing activities for staff
  • discussing the student’s wellbeing in parent-teacher meetings as well as a report card 
  • training for staff to support them to use an evidence-based approach11

Initiatives suggested by the SLT included: 

  • developing a formal wellbeing curriculum for students
  • running parent information sessions and training on wellbeing
  • measuring student wellbeing12

Other research has identified some important factors that explain how AI enables positive reform within schools13. AI is viewed as a valuable process because it can counteract a focus on deficits which can be de-motivating for teachers and other school staff. Furthermore, it can reconnect teachers and school administrators with their passion for education and teaching. For students, AI can enhance school pride and enable a recognition of the bonds between students and teachers14.

Using AI to Work with Teachers (USA)

The Australian case study described above was an example of a whole-school application of AI. AI has also been used to work with specific groups of stakeholders within individual schools. One study in the U.S.A utilised AI to work with a group of eighth-grade teachers to engage them to think differently about their pedagogical practices in a school that was deemed to have ‘non-adequate yearly progress (non-AYP)’15. In the U.S.A, under the ‘No Child Left Behind’ Act, all students need to achieve a determined level of academic achievement on annual standardised tests. Schools failing to achieve this level of achievement receive non-AYP status16. This study indicated that AI is a valuable approach to encourage teachers to explore new pedagogical practices, particularly in contexts where they wish to change but feel trapped in a negative cycle of traditional behaviour patterns and an unhelpful organisational culture17. In this instance, through the AI process, the team of eighth- grade teachers were able to recognise and share their appreciation for one another and find new ways to collaborate in their teaching. Furthermore, the focus on what they could do to change (rather than a focus on deficits in the wider school) meant that they were able to undertake training in technology and other professional development activities, and they initiated a series of conversations with school and district administrators about how to bring about changes that they identified using the 4D cycle18.

Using AI to Work with Students

AI has also been used directly with school students. AI is a strengths-based, collaborative approach to bringing about transformation change, and as such, has been viewed as a highly effective way for engaging with students, both in supporting them to learn, and in enabling them to have a voice in creating and developing their own curriculum19.  In a case study in the UK, Lewis examined whether AI could give three classes of primary school children voice in decisions that affected their learning20. The AI process was used to facilitate children’s creation of curriculum activities for writing, and children devised activities which were engaging and meaningful, and contributed to a positive culture of pupil participation21. This suggests that AI is a useful process in learning and teaching, and this is discussed in ‘Appreciative Inquiry Tool 3: Appreciative Inquiry as a Teaching Approach’.

Actions

AI is a flexible process that can be applied to guide change within and across schools in different ways, and with different stakeholders, according to the varying contexts and needs of the school. The examples discussed above in the ‘Ideas’ section demonstrate how AI has been successfully applied in school settings at the school district level and within individual schools. School leaders may use these examples to explore how AI can be applied to develop, implement and monitor positive whole school change towards an inclusive education framework.  

This tool can be used by school staff and other school community members to expand knowledge and understanding of AI and its application in school settings. 

More Information

Case study discussing the application of AI to support positive change and build wellbeing at St Peter’s College, an independent K-12 boy’s school in Adelaide https://internationaljournalofwellbeing.org/index.php/ijow/article/viewFile/328/441 
Free ebook, ‘Six Questions that can Lift Your Leadership, Shape Your Strategy, and Transform Your Organization’, which explores the questions asked throughout an Appreciative Inquiry process https://cvdl.ben.edu/resources-tools/six-questions/
Information about AI and the 4D cycle by the co-founder of AI, David Cooperider https://www.davidcooperrider.com/ai-process/
Six video interviews with senior students discussing their experiences with wellbeing, the way it has impacted their school, and the programs impact on them as individuals https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL57E5EEE637A4807E 
St Peter’s College’s Wellbeing Strategy https://www.stpeters.sa.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Wellbeing_Brochure.pdf 
5-minute video on AI in schools https://youtu.be/cUHtCDqjQkM

Acknowledgement 

This tool was written by Dr Katy Osborne, Consultant and edited by JFA Purple Orange.

References

1 Acosta, A., & Douthwaite, B. (2005). Appreciative inquiry: An approach for learning and change based on our own best practices (ILAC Brief No. 6). Institute for Learning & Change.
2  Calabrese, R., Burkhalter, K., Hester, M., & Friesen, S. (2010). Using appreciative inquiry to create a sustainable rural school district and community. International Journal of Educational Management, 24(3), 250–265. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513541011031592; Filleul, M. (2009). Appreciative inquiry: From positive narrative to systemic change. Education Canada, 49(4), 38–41. Retrieved from ERIC; Social Science Premium Collection. (61809668; EJ868703); Filleul, M., & Rowland, B. (2006). Using Appreciative inquiry in the Vancouver School District: A positive approach to enhance learning. BC Educational Leadership Research.
3  Filleul, M. (2009). Appreciative inquiry: From positive narrative to systemic change. Education Canada, 49(4), 38–41. Retrieved from ERIC; Social Science Premium Collection. (61809668; EJ868703)
4  Calabrese, R., Burkhalter, K., Hester, M., & Friesen, S. (2010). Using appreciative inquiry to create a sustainable rural school district and community. International Journal of Educational Management, 24(3), 250–265. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513541011031592
5 Calabrese, R. L. (2006). Building social capital through the use of an appreciative inquiry theoretical perspective in a school and university partnership. International Journal of Educational Management, 20(3), 173–182. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513540610654146
6  Calabrese, R., Burkhalter, K., Hester, M., & Friesen, S. (2010). Using appreciative inquiry to create a sustainable rural school district and community. International Journal of Educational Management, 24(3), 250–265. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513541011031592; Calabrese, R. L. (2006). Building social capital through the use of an appreciative inquiry theoretical perspective in a school and university partnership. International Journal of Educational Management, 20(3), 173–182. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513540610654146
7 Waters, L., & White, M. (2015). Case study of a school wellbeing initiative: Using appreciative inquiry to support positive change. 
International Journal of Wellbeing, 5(1), 19–32.
8  Bott, D., Escamilia, H., B. Kaufman, S., L. Kern, M., Krekel, C., Schlicht, R., … White, M. (2017). The State of Positive Education; Waters, L., & White, M. (2015). Case study of a school wellbeing initiative: Using appreciative inquiry to support positive change. International Journal of Wellbeing, 5(1), 19–32.
9  Waters, L., & White, M. (2015). Case study of a school wellbeing initiative: Using appreciative inquiry to support positive change. International Journal of Wellbeing, 5(1), 19–32.
10  Ibid. 
11  Ibid. 
12  Ibid. 
13  Ryan, F. J., Soven, M., Smither, J., Sullivan, W. M., & VanBuskirk, W. R. (1999). Appreciative Inquiry: Using Personal Narratives for Initiating School Reform. Clearing House, 72(3), 164–167. Retrieved from ERIC; Social Science Premium Collection. (62489422; EJ577125)
14  Ryan, F. J., Soven, M., Smither, J., Sullivan, W. M., & VanBuskirk, W. R. (1999). Appreciative inquiry: Using personal narratives for initiating school reform. Clearing House, 72(3), 164–167. Retrieved from ERIC; Social Science Premium Collection. (62489422; EJ577125)
15 Calabrese, L. R., & San Martin, T. (2019). The Power of an Appreciative Inquiry 4-D Cycle in a Non-AYP Middle School: Positive Direction for Eighth-Grade Teachers. Retrieved from https://www2.education.uiowa.edu/archives/jrel/Calabrese_0803.htm
16 Ibid
17 Ibid
18 Ibid
19 Bergmark, U., & Kostenius, C. (2018). Appreciative student voice model – reflecting on an appreciative inquiry research method for facilitating student voice processes. Reflective Practice, 19(5), 623–637. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2018.1538954; Lewis, A. M. (2015). Can appreciative inquiry give primary school children voice and influence over their writing lessons? (Professional Doctorate in Educational Psychology, University of Birmingham). Retrieved from https://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/6555/1/Lewis16EdPsychD_Redacted.pdf
20 Lewis, A. M. (2015). Can appreciative inquiry give primary school children voice and influence over their writing lessons? (Professional Doctorate in Educational Psychology, University of Birmingham). Retrieved from https://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/6555/1/Lewis16EdPsychD_Redacted.pdf
21 Ibid

 

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