Enhancing skills for inclusion: using appreciative inquiry to improve classroom dynamics

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What is the process of Growing Talent for Inclusion?

Existing talents, such as ‘being helpful’, were identified collectively by the pupils and teacher. These talents were then nurtured and grown through the 4-D Cycle of Appreciative Inquiry. The four stages were:

Discovery: appreciating and valuing the best of ‘what is’;
Dream: envisaging ‘what might be’;
Design: co-constructing the future; and
Destiny: innovating ‘what will be’.

In the “discovery” phase, a class teacher identifies a problem, and then through a process of affirmative questioning identified positive behaviours in the class. These skills and attributes were then reported back to the class. Pupils were also invited to identify the behaviours that contributed to social inclusion within their class. For example, in one project pupils identified the talents of speaking kindly, forgiving and caring for others. Pupils also completed a Social Inclusion Survey, which asked which students they preferred to work with, those they felt ‘OK’ about working with, and those they would prefer not to work with.

In the “dream” phase, the teacher visualised the way they wanted the class to behave. Optimism was important; one of the principles of Appreciative Inquiry is that envisaging a future can help that future to occur. The researchers likened this to the situation in medical research, where participants who are given a placebo still experience a positive effect because it is what they expect. The pupils were also involved in creating a whole class vision. The class envisaged what would happen in the ideal classroom, such as working together more often, listening to each other and being more thoughtful towards others. Results from the four projects have indicated increased capacity in the talents identified as pertinent to improved working relationships.

In the “design” phase, the teacher explained the problem, described the preferred alternative, and explained the advantages of this for the class. In this project, this is the stage at which the researchers were introduced to the class. The researchers encouraged the pupils to describe what would be happening if the teacher’s dream was being realised, and invited the pupils to meet with them individually. The pupils were invited to work together on developing their talents, and a programme and timeframe for joint working was agreed.

In the fourth phase, “destiny”, the class began to work towards realising the vision. The talents they had identified were explored through a number of multi-sensory sessions, typically eight sessions over a period of six to eight months. The sessions involved fun activities, but no writing, and positive rewards such as a celebratory cake at the end. An example of one of the activities was ‘Make a monster’, in which students were allocated specific elements of a group task, made body parts, and then came together to create a group monster. Similar tasks occurring later in the programme involve negotiating to obtain all the necessary materials.

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction What is the basis of the Growing Talent for Inclusion project? What is the process of Growing Talent for Inclusion? What is Appreciative Inquiry? What were the researchers’ findings? How was the research carried out? What are the implications of this research? Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To find out more about collated digests click here Get Word Reader Enhancing skills for inclusion: using appreciative inquiry to improve classroom dynamics This digest found in Inclusion Behaviour Send to a friend Word doc 60KB Printer friendly Collate for later What is the process of Growing Talent for Inclusion? Existing talents, such as ‘being helpful’, were identified collectively by the pupils and teacher. These talents were then nurtured and grown through the 4-D Cycle of Appreciative Inquiry. The four stages were: Discovery: appreciating and valuing the best of ‘what is’; Dream: envisaging ‘what might be’; Design: co-constructing the future; and Destiny: innovating ‘what will be’. In the “discovery” phase, a class teacher identifies a problem, and then through a process of affirmative questioning identified positive behaviours in the class. These skills and attributes were then reported back to the class. Pupils were also invited to identify the behaviours that contributed to social inclusion within their class. For example, in one project pupils identified the talents of speaking kindly, forgiving and caring for others. Pupils also completed a Social Inclusion Survey, which asked which students they preferred to work with, those they felt ‘OK’ about working with, and those they would prefer not to work with. In the “dream” phase, the teacher visualised the way they wanted the class to behave. Optimism was important; one of the principles of Appreciative Inquiry is that envisaging a future can help that future to occur. The researchers likened this to the situation in medical research, where participants who are given a placebo still experience a positive effect because it is what they expect. The pupils were also involved in creating a whole class vision. The class envisaged what would happen in the ideal classroom, such as working together more often, listening to each other and being more thoughtful towards others. Results from the four projects have indicated increased capacity in the talents identified as pertinent to improved working relationships. In the “design” phase, the teacher explained the problem, described the preferred alternative, and explained the advantages of this for the class. In this project, this is the stage at which the researchers were introduced to the class. The researchers encouraged the pupils to describe what would be happening if the teacher’s dream was being realised, and invited the pupils to meet with them individually. The pupils were invited to work together on developing their talents, and a programme and timeframe for joint working was agreed. In the fourth phase, “destiny”, the class began to work towards realising the vision. The talents they had identified were explored through a number of multi-sensory sessions, typically eight sessions over a period of six to eight months. The sessions involved fun activities, but no writing, and positive rewards such as a celebratory cake at the end. An example of one of the activities was ‘Make a monster’, in which students were allocated specific elements of a group task, made body parts, and then came together to create a group monster. Similar tasks occurring later in the programme involve negotiating to obtain all the necessary materials.