Using Appreciative Inquiry to motivate staff enhancement

of their inclusive practice in learning and teaching

Research Seminar Series 2009:

Access and Success for AllJuly 6th 2009

Will Bowen-Jones, Principal Lecturer, ISESDr Val Chapman [NTF], Director, Centre for Inclusive Learning SupportDr John Peters [NTF], Assistant Director, Academic Development and Practice Unit Emma Pollard, Student, ISES

2

As a result of engaging with this session you should be able to…

• Describe and critique the research activities undertaken by students in an academic Institute

• Assess the impact of the Appreciative Inquiry approach on professional practice

• Discuss the issues and opportunities arising from the project

• Reflect and decide if the approach would be of use in their own practice

Post-it activity

• On your each of your three post-its, please write an adjective that describes inclusive practice in your professional setting (3 adjectives in total)

• PLEASE NOTE!!! You may only use positive words

Please write your answers to the following:

1. When have you felt most engaged, truly committed and enthusiastic about inclusivity?

2. What do you think your colleagues at your university do really, really well in relation to inclusive practice?

3. Given limitless resources (blue skies thinking), what would you like to see them doing even better?

5

Project’s key features as defined in the HEA bid (Sept 2007- Sept

08)

• Development of innovative staff development package

• Supplementary resources to support academics

• Further development of the SCIPS web based resource (www.scips.worc.ac.uk)

• Embedding in institutional policy and practice• Piloted with the Institute of Sport and Exercise

Science at the University of Worcester (UW)

6

Key research question

How can we engage the interest andcommitment of staff to further developtheir inclusive practice in learning andteaching?

Selection of an Appreciative Inquiry approach

Appreciative Inquiry• Based on David Cooperider’s doctoral work at Case

Western Reserve University (1999) • Eschews former Organization Development (OD) deficit

models • Espouses a positive approach to change that builds a

vision for the future based upon what already works well within an existing system

• Self-empowering philosophy• ‘4-D’ process (Discover, Dream, Design and Destiny)• Focus on collaborative working of all stakeholders • Engages all stakeholders in systematic participation in a jointly constructed vision of an organization’s future

Appreciative Inquiry• Ap-pre’ci-ate, v., 1. valuing; the act of

recognizing the best in people or the world around us; affirming past and present strengths, successes, and potentials; to perceive those things that give life (health, vitality, excellence) to living systems 2. to increase in value, e.g. the economy has appreciated in value. Synonyms: valuing, prizing, esteeming, and honouring.

• In-quire’ (kwir), v., 1. the act of exploration and discovery. 2. To ask questions; to be open to seeing new potentials and possibilities. Synonyms:

discovery, search, and systematic exploration, study.

What is it?

• A reaction against problem-focused action research

• Shifts focus to strengths and positives, to the ‘positive core’ of a situation or organisation

• Focus on social construction & collective strengths

• ‘A cooperative, coevolutionary search for the best in people, their organizations, and the world around them.’

– [Cooperrider & Whitney 2005]

The Key Question in AI

• The ‘unconditional positive question’• The systematic discovery of what gives

“life” to a living system when it is most alive, most effective, and most constructively capable in economic, ecological, and human terms.

• What gives life here?

The 4-D cycle

• Discovery Phase– Sharing the positives

• Dream Phase– Sharing a vision

• Design Phase– Sharing what should be

• Destiny Phase– Sharing a commitment to change

1. Discovery Phase

• What gives life here?• Making explicit and appreciating the best

of what is• What most enthuses you about …?• Tell the story about a situation when you

have felt most alive, engaged, valued, etc. • Mobilising the community and sharing

findings through ‘propositional statements’

Propositional statements

• I feel life in my work on inclusivity when:

2. Dream Phase

• Envisioning what might be• So what is at our heart?• What should be the ideal?• What have we always wanted to

be?• What is the world calling us to

become?• Picturing a future: drawing a vision

3. Design Phase• Co-constructing• What should we be?• Possibility propositions and new

organising principles• What would this organisation be like

if it were designed to maximise the positive core and accelerate the achievement of our dream?

4. Destiny Phase

• Not the action plan!• ‘An inspired movement not a

packaged product’• ‘Positive protest’• Realising the dream• An appreciative organisation

Can we use this?

• For change management• As an evaluation process• As an annual cycle• Constant renewal • As a marketing device! • Still issues about

References• Cooperrider, D & Whitney, D 2005

Appreciative Inquiry: a positive revolution in change, San Francisco

• Ludema, J. Whitney, D. Mohr, B. & Griffin, T. 2003 The Appreciative Inquiry Summit, San Fancisco

• Ludema, J. Cooperrider, D & Barrett, F. 2001 ‘Appreciative Inquiry: the power of the unconditional positive’ in Reason, P. & Bradbury, H. Handbook of Action Research

http://ai.cwru.edu

19

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) process

AIworkshop

(students) Students’

Post-it activity

Student’sinterviews

(VI)

Focus group interview

Generation ofadjectives

Briefing on inclusion

and AI

Generation ofpropositional statements

Focus group interviewquestions

Inaugural ISESstaff/student

research summit

Studentpresentation

Staff response

Prioritisationmeeting

Further planning

& embedding

Inclusion survey

DREAMDESIGNDESTINY

DISCOVERY

START

Pre-workshop activity

StaffDevelop-

ment

Roll out model to additional

departments

20

Discovery phase (Jan/Feb 08)

• Selection of student researchers• Pre-workshop activity • AI workshop• Data collection by student researchers

– Post it exercise– Disabled student interview– Focus group interview (conducted by student member of

project team)– Answers to reflective questions (pre-workshop activity)

• Development of propositional statements

21

Dream phase (Mar 08)

• Inaugural Institute of Sport and Exercise Science (ISES) staff/student research summit

• Student researchers’ presentation • Audience:

– Vice Chancellor– Guest speaker – Chief Executive, British

Paralympic Association– ISES staff– Departmental Learning and Teaching (L&T)

representatives

22

Post-it data from student lectures

• Adjectives (n=265):

– Enjoyable – Interesting– Challenging– Fun

23

Student researchers’ experiences of learning

• Personal accounts• Inclusive practices• Challenges successfully overcome• Engagement of staff

24

Propositional statement 1

•All students make a positive contribution to the learning of their peers.

25

Propositional statement 2

•Students value the School’s strong sense of community and being made to feel part of it.

26

Propositional statement 3

•Students love it when staff support and celebrate their achievements.

27

Propositional statement 4

•Staff inspire students through being role models.

28

Propositional statement 5

•Students really enjoy learning through doing.

29

Propositional statement 6

• The Institute of Sport and Exercise Science (ISES) offers students a ‘ticket to their future’; it gives them the opportunity to ‘do things for themselves’, ‘become more independent’, to ‘reinvent themselves’ and ‘be their own person’. It offers a ‘liberating’ and transformative experience.

30

Design phase (Apr 08)

• Prioritisation meeting with ISES team to determine:– Individual priorities– Draft priorities for referral to departmental

Learning and Teaching Committee

• Staff survey – ISES staff confidence ratings in inclusive practice (via survey monkey, 78% response rate)– Analysed to determine staff development

priorities

31

Destiny phase (Ongoing)

• Supplemental resources – SCIPS (Strategies for Creating Inclusive

Programmes of Study) www.scips.worc.ac.uk (used 24/7, page ranked by Google 5/10)

• Implementation of innovative staff development package

• Embedding inclusive policy and practice in existing departmental structures and systems e.g. peer observation

32

Departmental priorities agreed at May ISES

meeting • Share innovative practice; champion good

practice; act as advocates for recruitment of disabled ISES staff and students;

• Use peer observation to focus on inclusion;• Ensure effective screening to identify

disabled/dyslexic students/issues;• Monitor retention & achievement in order to

identify issues;

33

Departmental priorities agreed at May ISES

meeting• Identify support strategies for part

time/mature/ overseas/’living at a distance’ students;

• Integrate inclusive practice throughout all modules rather than just focus in Sport and Disability module (inclusion strategy);

• Adopt a more coherent approach to inclusion across the whole school.

34

Goal…

Within the next two years,the ISES team will have

aninternational reputation

asleaders in the field ofinclusive practice in sportand exercise science.

35

Individual Inclusivity Profile - aspects covered:

Admission/inductionCourse content and

designCourse deliveryTeaching stylesAssessment/ examinations Feedback to students Physical environment

Technology/ e-learning Learning resources/ course materials Course Monitoring Staff development Academic Support Work placement

36

Individual Inclusivity Profile (example)

78% response rate (H: High; M: Medium)

Admission/inductionVC

When I am involved in admissions, I know what to do in the eventof someone disclosing a disability. [e.g. Who to contact; How tomaintain appropriate levels of confidentiality; What adjustmentsto the process might be necessary.]

H/M

Course content and designVC

I fully understand what a competence standard means asdescribed by the Disability Discrimination Act

H

Our course team can translate learning outcomes into nondiscriminatory competence standards.

H/M

37

Course deliveryVC

I am familiar with disability etiquette. H/M

Teaching styles

ISES

Where possible, I allow students to have choices in terms of themode of assessment

H

Physical environment

DDS paper

Our department/subject area has low level photocopiers thatwheelchair users can reach.

H

I know what to do in event of a fire if I have disabled students in myclass.

H/M

38

Opportunities (value added)

• Provides evidence of UW’s commitment to provide ‘excellent, inclusive education’ as stipulated in its Mission Statement

• Review and revision of Open Day practice • Research informed teaching• Students as researchers• Raised external profile, e.g. ‘360 degree’

conference presentation

Opportunities (value added)

• ‘Step by Step Guide to AI’ (for staff and students)

• AI as an approach to identifying and sharing good practice at UW

• AI Guide distributed to other HEIs in UK and South Africa

• Appointment of a dedicated researcher• AI now being adopted by researchers

40

Issues

• Student involvement proved labour intensive for project staff

• Pressurised timescale• Ethics and responsibilities• Associated costs• Alternative formats for disabled student

researchers• Roll out

Developing propositional statements

1. From the given data sets, identify key words or phrases

2. Transcribe onto post-its and categorise into themes

3. Draft 3 propositional statements about staff development – these should be a distillation that captures the spirit of the responses

Examples

• All students make a positive contribution to the learning of their peers.

• Students value the Institute’s strong sense of community and being made to feel part of it.