Positively Engaging Education Professionals - The power of Appreciative Inquiry to strengthen a learning community's capacity to adapt and innovate and transform learning culture presented by Chris Jansen, Senior Lecturer, University of Canterbury at Education Leaders Forum 2011, Wellington.

1. Engaging Professionals in Positive Change Processes
Appreciative Inquiry in Action
Chris Jansen – University of Canterbury
chris.jansen@canterbury.ac.nz

2. Change

3. Change manager
Driving change
Alignment
Change Processes
Change proposals
„Consultation‟
Cynicism
Social engineering
Assumptions; ie: “If you allow people freedom to innovate – discipline
will take a beating” – Gary Hamel, “The future of Management”

4. Positive Change Processes?

8. Positive Psychology
„what we focus on becomes our reality‟
Heliotropic Hypothesis
“social systems evolve towards the most positive images they hold of
themselves, toward what gives them life and energy, in much the same way
that plants grow in the direction of the sun”. (Cooperrider, 2000).
What do we tend to focus on?
•vision
•planning
•detail
•problem
•drama

9. Applications of Positive Psychology
• Solution focused therapy / narrative therapy
• Placebo effect / positive thinking
• Positive expectations on educational achievement
• Positive deviancy
• Positive leadership – leveraging strengths
• Appreciative Inquiry

10. Appreciative Inquiry (AI)
Appreciative Inquiry focuses on supporting people getting together to tell
stories of positive development in their work that they can build on.
(Reed, 2004)
AI as an orientation to the positive rather than just a series of techniques
•Focus on the positive
•Inclusivity – shared ownership, voice, decision making
Appreciative Inquiry is an exploratory
process for positive change. It
identifies the best of what is
happening in the present moment to
pursue what is possible in the future.
(Harkness, 2004)

11. Otautahi NGO Leadership Project – LYNGO
Appreciative Inquiry in Community Development
•Project Lyttelton
•Heathcote Village Project

12. Appreciative Inquiry Processes
1)
2) Dream
Discovery
1) Initiate 2) Inquire
4) Delivery
3) Design
4) Innovate 3) Imagine
When you ask people appreciative questions, you touch something very important
to them. They don‟t give politically correct answers, they give heartfelt answers
because we ask soulful questions. (Sue Hammond)

13. AI as a positive change process
Characterised by both;
• participative processes ”Surfing the Edge of Chaos‟”
• collaborate solution finding
Benefits:
• Engagement, ownership leading to…
…enthusiasm/energy and commitment
• Better solutions – innovation
The Pronoun Test “I” or “We”
“My” or “Our”
“We” or “They”
Daniel Pink – “A whole new mind”
“There's only one thing better than ownership – authorship!
Simon Breakspear , “Talent Magnets”

14. Step 1) Discover
Think back over your experience as a educational leader and recall a
situation when you were fully engaged, creative and passionately
involved in an opportunity or project;
• Describe the story to you partner
• How did it come about?
• Who else was involved?
• What was your role?
• Why did you find it so engaging?
On a post it record your name and
up to 3 words that describe the focus
of the project

15. Step 2) Dream
Collectively draw out the key themes from the peer interviews in step 1
• Listen to each list of projects
• Consider key themes emerging
• Build up collective mind map of
clusters of similar foci
These clusters will be used later in the
day as possibility groups in Steps 3 and 4.

16. Step 3) Design
Self select into possibility groups
Brief initial introductions
Collective dialogue to explore;
• What energises us?
• What do we have in common?
• What opportunities are there for us
to further these conversations?

17. Step 4) Deliver
• If we were to carry this conversation on
beyond ELF 2011 what could that look like?
• What would we like to achieve?
• What could we do collectively that we
couldn‟t do individually?
Prepare a 2 min sound byte to
share at closure of ELF 2011

18. What is success?
To laugh often and much
To win the respect of intelligent people
And the affection of children
To earn the appreciation of honest critics
And endue the betrayal of false friends
To appreciate beauty
To find the best in others
To leave the world a bit better
Whether by a healthy child, a garden patch
Or a redeemed social condition
To know even one life has breathed easier
Because you have lived
This is to have succeeded
RALPH WALDO EMERSON