An Appreciative Inquiry approach to developing students

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An Appreciative Inquiry approach to developing
students employability Introducing AI

• Dr John Peters, NTF, FHEA
• Academic Development and Practice, UW
• June 2013

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Plan

• Overview of our Realising potential and
  presenting achievement conference, January 2013
• http//www.worc.ac.uk/adpu/1214.htm
• Brief overview of the four stage process of
  Appreciative Inquiry
• Discovery, Dream, Design Destiny
• Student presentation of their research findings
• Learning from the experience

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What is AI?

• 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

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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?
• What is it about our University that helps
  students realise their potential and present
  their achievement?

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The AI process
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Discovery Phase students research what gives
life to student achievement at Worcester
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The AI project process
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Dream Phase

• Do you recognise your University?
• Do you have similar stories?
• Whats your response?
• What are your aspirations?
• What should be the ideal for helping students
  realise potential and present their achievement?
• Picturing a future drawing a vision

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Dream phase activity

• In groups produce a poster of your vision of the
  perfect, life- giving University for helping
  students realise their potential

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Design Phase

• Co-constructing
• What might 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?

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Design Phase activity

• In groups consider
• What would the driving ethos be of our
  envisioned University if it was constantly
  focused on helping students realise their
  potential and present their achievements?
• What would the values and organising principles
  of this imagined University be?

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Destiny Phase

• Not the action plan!
• Positive protest
• Realising the dream
• An appreciative organisation
• An inspired movement not a packaged product

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Destiny phase activity

• So what can we do?
• What is your first next step to help make this
  happen?
• A note to yourself..

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Conference outcomes

• http//www.worc.ac.uk/adpu/1214.htm
• Incredibly elucidating and engaging speakers and
  content
• Excellent student engagement input vital
  (brilliant lunch!). Very uplifting
• Great input from students!
• Inspirational

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References

• Chapman, V. (2010) Appreciative Inquiry as
  evaluation enhancing and developing academic
  practice in Sunders, M. Trowler, P. Bamber, V.
  Reconceptualising Evaluative Practices in Higher
  Education,  Open University Press
• Cooperrider, D. Whitney, D. (2005) Appreciative
  Inquiry a positive revolution in change, San
  Francisco.
• Cousin, G. (2009) Appreciative Inquiry in
  Researching learning in HE, Routledge.
• Kadi-Hanifi, K., Dagman, O., Peters, J., Snell,
  E., Tutton, C. and Wilson, T., Engaging students
  and staff with educational development through
  Appreciative Inquiry Innovations in Education
  and Teaching International, Forthcoming.
• Ludema, J. Cooperrider, D Barrett, F. (2001)
  Appreciative Inquiry the power of the
  unconditional positive in Reason, P. Bradbury,
  H. Handbook of Action Research
• Seale, J. (2010) Doing student voice work in
  higher education an exploration of the value of
  participatory methods, British Educational
  Research Journal, 366, 995-1015
• Symonds, E. (2010) Evaluating an e-Portfolio
  implementation with early adopters using
  Appreciative Inquiry Journal of Learning
  Development in Higher Education, Special Edition
  Researching and Evaluating PDPand e-Portfolio
  Practice
• The AI commons
  http//ai.cwru.edu