In education, we have been actively building a strength-based approach to support our students, particularly those with the greatest needs. Yet, educators may be missing an opportunity to apply these same strength-based practices and principles to their schools and districts.
Are you still struggling to find ways to move system change forward to create equitable spaces for all students to learn? Is your development of inclusive practices stuck? Strategies using an Appreciative Inquiry process can help you make the change you are seeking in your district, school, or classroom.
Whether you are an administrator, teacher, or other educational professional, using strength-based questioning strategies such as Appreciative Inquiry will help you identify the effectiveness of your high-leverage practices and build on your needs. Appreciative Inquiry is a well-researched process that helps organizations identify what is working, what needs to be improved, and how to create new solutions.
Appreciative Inquiry, or AI in short, is based on four fundamental ideas: Impactful Questions, Inspiring Images, Many Voices, and Building on Success. AI approaches challenges from the stance that many things are already working, rather than approaching change from a deficit position of what is not working. We have seen this process, particularly in the realm of Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), contribute to organizational cultural change, leading educators to approach challenges from a strength-based perspective. You too can bring this process to your site to drive your system change forward.
Educators (administrators, school psychologists, school counselors, and more) recognize that there are better ways to move students forward with their learning than focusing only on what they can’t do or what their deficits are. In recent years, there has been a concerted move towards using a strength-based approach to support student learning goals. This same concept can be applied to the greater school community via AI.
The process of Appreciative Inquiry can make a difference in YOUR school community and it might be easier than you think. Follow this 4-step process and see what a positive impact it can have.
Identify your perceived area of need. Create about 5 questions each based on the concept of foundations (core beliefs), partnerships (student, family, or community), and common assurances (those items that are guaranteed to be supported such as staffing, curriculum, the physical environment, etc.)
Questions might include:
(Foundations) Describe your (MTSS or other) process. This will give you a sense of where there are consistencies in understanding the process.
(Foundations) What is working well in your (MTSS or other) process? This will help you determine areas of strength.
(Partnerships) How are families engaged with the school community? This will help give a sense of where there are strengths to tap into and what opportunities might exist to deepen the partnership
(Partnerships) How are students engaged with the school community? This will give an idea of whether or not students are included as agents of change in the school community.
(Common Assurances) What does professional learning look like at your school/district? This will give an idea if educator’s learning needs are being met and what type of learning opportunities are well received by staff.
Ask stakeholders (e.g., educators, classified staff, administrators, parents, and students) the questions, encouraging them to share what is working well. This could be done in small groups or via a questionnaire. Small groups work best.
This might be one day of 45 minutes with each group. If this is done at a singular school, for example, teachers could rotate in during their grade level prep periods. Give wait time encouraging everyone a chance to share. Keep answers confidential to invite honesty, aggregating your results to protect the anonymity of the participants.
Review the answers to find common areas of strength. Identify your areas of opportunity and focus on a few that can be easily supported by referring back to your strengths.
Responses should be grouped based on similarities to allow patterns to be seen. This could be done as simply as recording responses on sticky notes and grouping them or using a simple coding system.
Be creative in your solutions. Go back to the “experts” from your focus groups and utilize the collective strength to find new ideas.
Invite your focus group members to recommend solutions to any challenges they see. Your best solutions will often be found there.
The process may need to be repeated until all areas of need are identified and addressed, but it is important to remember that even small changes can make a big difference. All of the needs do not need to be addressed immediately. Start small. Consider these simple options that I have seen other districts implement immediately following this process:
Standardizing a form used in documenting student interventions to be used across the district and that is viewable by all impacted staff.
Giving faculty and staff members the time and opportunity to share solutions to problems. Have a suggestion box (physical or electronic) to allow staff members to share their ideas, giving an anonymous option.
Maintaining a theme across staff meetings to reinforce an important focus for the district. For example, showing in each staff meeting where on the intervention pyramid a select task might fall.
Inviting families and guardians to propose their own solutions for needs seen in the school. This could be through a survey or suggestion box.
In my experience as a teacher, school psychologist, and now a consultant, I have seen even small changes make a difference in the success of students and classrooms. Don’t be afraid to implement a small change, even when it seems like only a big change will solve the problem. Remember, any challenge or problem can be improved by asking the right questions and utilizing the collective strength of the community.
Manya R. Paul, MA, EdS
CLS Educational Consultant
Our experienced consultants can support the needs of your schools and districts through professional development training workshops, coaching sessions, and through ongoing systems support. Check out our Services and Solutions or Contact Us to request a free consultation.
