Appreciative Inquiry Research Articles

In the Wild: Appreciative Inquiry with the Threshold Choir

While Appreciative Inquiry is often explicitly used in formal organizational settings, this case presentation highlights the effectiveness of its use, ‘on the quiet’, with a local Threshold Choir (a group dedicated to providing compassionate support through song to individuals nearing the end of life). By using AI principles to facilitate a collaborative meeting, the author helped the choir identify strengths, envision a desired future, and create a plan for positive change, demonstrating AI’s versatility and its potential to foster growth and improvement in diverse contexts.

On the Being and Becoming of Appreciative Inquiry and Christian Faith

Appreciating Church suggests that active dialogue between Christian faith and Appreciative Inquiry can address challenges facing longstanding Christian denominations in the UK. It is important to keep working and living appreciatively, drawing creatively from scripture, tradition and experience. This article makes eight key suggestions for embedding Appreciative Inquiry in church life to encourage generativity and spark transformation.

Naturalising Appreciation and Inquiry in the British National Health Service: A Story

This article discusses the author’s introduction to Appreciative Inquiry (AI) and the results from a MSc qualitative study that introduced AI into the British National Health Service (NHS). Three themes are shared, together with a short illustration of what this means to start a broader conversation: 1. It gave people permission to think differently. 2. It gave a new frame of reference. 3. It changed how we felt. The writer reflects on the value of AI within the NHS, with a couple of stories thrown in for good measure.

The Art of Doing

In this article, an Appreciative Inquiry practitioner who has relocated many times and found her way in a variety of cultures shares her thoughts on how Appreciative Inquiry has helped her feel at home in her new hometown.

Appreciative Inquiry in Youth Care in Belgium

This article is the result of an inspiring session with the team members of De Knoop ("the Button") examining how they "do" appreciative work with youngsters.

Flourishing Together in Relationship

We have such immense potential as human beings. We can flourish and shine beyond our imagination. Appreciative Inquiry provides us a way to flourish together by listening deeply inwards and outwards, by allowing our inner voice to guide us and by focusing on what is life giving and we want to see growing. In this article I provide some experiences of flourishing together through small summits with couples and my own experience.

Making Appreciative Inquiry as Natural as Breathing

We can see when we watch a small child exploring life that Appreciative Inquiry works well when we use it naturally. The contributors to this issue share how they have done so, making Appreciative Inquiry part of the fabric of their lives, their work, their organisations. The stories range from the personal through small teams to organisation and societal change. The settings include family, couples, churches, work with the dying, healthcare and what has traditionally been called ‘heavy industry’.

Harnessing Strengths Naturally: Unintentional Appreciative Inquiry in Action

This article explores how an unintentional use of Appreciative Inquiry helped a midwifery student overcome imposter syndrome. By reflecting on her journey and strengths, such as communication and empathy, we reframed her self-doubt into self-assurance. The approach highlights the power of focusing on individual strengths to build confidence and foster growth in healthcare education.

Appreciative Inquiry–Intervention from the Appreciative Paradigm: A New Approach that Looks Beyond Methodology

In this, the fifth of the series of six on the Appreciative Paradigm, the objective is to discover and deepen the identity of Appreciative Inquiry–Intervention as seen from the Appreciative Paradigm. Appreciative Inquiry– Intervention has been proposed as a methodology to achieve systemic changes at a global level.

AI, Visualization and Leadership: A Nexus for Deeper Impact

Visualizing Meaning and Purpose, an innovative experiential course, blends Appreciative Inquiry, visual thinking and leadership. Our unique design, created by a visual practitioner and leadership faculty member, empowered students to apply their learning directly to real-life leadership challenges. We invite you to get a glimpse of the course and its impact, and ask yourself: How might visualization amplify and deepen my impact as an AI practitioner and leader?

What Would Love Do Now? Imagining a Good Death … and Living an Appreciative Life

Written in lockdown, in response to stories of people dying alone in hospital, the poem What Would Love Do Now? expresses what a good death looks like for me, if there is a choice. When I started sharing this poem about a good death, I never imagined how it would grow and ripple into so many forms and inspire so many conversations and resources. For me, it is an example of the power of Appreciative Inquiry – seeking and learning from peak experiences, imagining what might be and bringing possibilities into existence.

Renewing Organizational Culture, One Conversation at a Time

A newly appointed CEO sought to renew her company’s culture to focus on innovation, decentralized decision-making and faster product delivery. Company leadership engaged in a series of dialogues to align culture with strategy by embedding Appreciative Inquiry into well-understood existing group practices. By focusing on strengths and leaning into its highly affiliative and collaborative culture, the company developed actionable strategies and established cultural momentum for embracing change as part of its forward-looking identity.

Happy People: How an Eight-Year-Old Learned About Making Happy Things Happen

This article illustrates the transformative power of Appreciative Inquiry through the story of Josh, an eightyear- old learning to identify daily positives. He discovers that happy people don’t just experience happiness – they actively create it. This insight, which the author terms ‘Appreciative Impulsion’, highlights how focusing on positivity not only changes one’s internal outlook but also manifests in the external world.

Appreciative Inquiry into Implementing Artificial Intelligence for the Development of Language Student Teachers

The current study investigates the perceptions of four student teachers of implementing AI tools for designing ELT lessons into their microteaching sessions. The professional development of student teachers achieved via adapting AI tools has not been widely investigated, since the majority of available studies focus on the students’ learning of language skills with AI tools. This study follows the appreciative inquiry approach that emphasises positive teaching practices, aiming to foster sustainable professional development. The participants of the study were MA student teachers studying the Advanced Teaching Practicum course at a Saudi university over one academic semester. Their experiences of designing ELT lessons for their microteaching sessions were reflected upon in reflective journals and a BlackBoard forum. The qualitative analyses of the journals, the forum and lesson plans revealed that the participants appreciated using AI tools, despite the few challenges that occurred. This study demonstrates the participants’ independent efforts that led them to use AI tools that have not been addressed by ELT researchers. The authors hope that this study will enrich ELT practices, assist AI designers in developing their designs by understanding teachers’ experiences and contribute to a sustainable educational future.

Corporate sustainability communication to promote pro-environmental behaviour: lessons learned from Balinese women in Indonesia

PurposeThis study aims to (1) examine corporate sustainability communication that promotes pro-environmental behaviour and (2) explore women’s experiences and expectations in relation to sustainability communication. Based on the findings, the study proposes a sustainability communication model that can facilitate the needs of both companies and women.Design/methodology/approachA case study was conducted to examine sustainability communication within the support waste management project of one company in Bali, Indonesia. Following the appreciative inquiry method, focus group discussions involving Balinese women and in-depth interviews were conducted to discover the best experiences and most appropriate ways to participate in waste management initiatives.FindingsThe findings show a gap between women’s understanding of sustainability issues and the information provided by the company. The company and women construct their own understandings of sustainability issues, and each has different capacities, needs, interests and values. This study contends sustainability communication as a process for co-creating meaning. It should begin by using the livelihoods and tangible impacts on women groups as the entry point.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed framework suggests communication intervention that acknowledges the importance of community participation and empowerment as well as three levels of impact: for themselves, their environment, and their communities. This study also recommends further studies in different contexts, as this study was conducted in collectivist rural communities.Originality/valueThe proposed framework accentuates the value of communication processes and management as well as sustainability outcomes, and considers women as actors, rather than as objects.

Transitioning identities in professional education: an appreciative enquiry

ABSTRACT Higher education lecturers who have moved into teaching on professional education programmes from careers in professional practice are an under-researched group. Questions related to self-concept combined with wider social and sectoral issues relating to perceptions about the nature and purpose of higher education can affect the development of their new professional identity. Building on previous research into the experiences of new and developing academics, the research reported here sought to gain an understanding of the experiences and dispositions that contribute to shaping professional identity for those who have moved from professional practice into teaching roles in higher education within an education and social work faculty. Utilising an Appreciative Inquiry model, the objective of this research was to better understand participants’ professional perspectives and needs. Findings are organised around three areas: i) the importance of values and goals as catalysts for identity change, ii) the role of social and professional perceptions that impinge on (in)security of identity, and iii) the sense that academic identity development is an iterative and elastic process. These findings suggest the need for future research that engages with exploring how best to promote and nurture productive and satisfying academic careers for those moving between professional and professional education contexts.

Professional nurses' perspectives of an ideal performance management process.

A well-managed performance management process can significantly influence professional nurses' job satisfaction and improve patient outcomes. Conversely, ineffective management of the process can lead to demotivation of the nursing staff. This study aimed to understand professional nurses' perspectives on an ideal performance management process. The study was conducted in a designated hospital in South Africa owned by a private healthcare group. The study population consisted of professional nurses involved in a performance management cycle. A descriptive qualitative research design with an appreciative inquiry approach was employed. Participants were selected through purposive sampling. Five focus groups of five professional nurses each were used to conduct interviews. The interviews lasted between 60 min and 80 min. The number of interviews conducted provided sufficient data for data saturation. The data were analysed using thematic analysis and the 5-D model of appreciative inquiry. Trusting relationships between management and professional nurses play an essential role in ensuring a tailored performance management process. Training of both professional nurses and managers, a sound reward system for high-performing employees, and a fair and transparent process that addresses challenges and promotes opportunities can promote a positive work environment. Professional nurses require support from their managers and top management. Involving professional nurses in the planning and implementation can ensure proper relationships exist and that constraints are appropriately addressed. Implementing the findings can improve the competencies of both managers and professional nurses to maintain a positive performance management process.

Research partnerships as transformational learning experiences

A common partnership between faculty and students in post-secondary education is that of researcher as a primary investigator (PI) and research assistant (RA). In this reflective essay, we examine an unconventional research partnership between Allison, a PI, and Bailey, an RA. Our experiences as PI and RA prompted us to reflect upon our learning partnership. We asked: In what ways might the role of RA be transformative (Mezirow, 1994) in teacher education for both researcher and student when it is approached through partnership? This partnership is unique because of its relational approach, where the PI and the RA collaborated in making decisions about the direction of the RA work. The RA’s perspective offered a different viewpoint on the research focus through which the researcher aimed to gain insights. This approach altered the dynamics of the research partnership, which evolved along the lines of both partners acting as equal contributors and co-learners through the research process. In this paper, we reflect on our consequential learning. Specifically, we focus on the learning that occurred when Bailey self-directed RA work on the topics of radical imagination, restorative justice, and appreciative inquiry, as well as the insights Allison gained through Bailey’s work. We use “I” in our respective sections and “we” and “our” in our collective writing, and we also refer to ourselves in the third person for clarity when needed.

Investigating Leadership: Reflections on the methodological choices used to research how allied health clinicians are enabled to step into health systems leadership roles

This article examines the methodological choices made for a research study into Health Systems Leadership. Reflections on key learnings are provided as a way of offering insight for researchers navigating these decisions for the first time. Embarking on qualitative research to effect change is purposeful but challenging; choosing the most appropriate methodology and methods can often be confounding and stressful for new researchers. This article explores the decision to use Interpretive Descriptive methodology with an Appreciative Inquiry lens and makes visible decision junctures in the development of this research. Literature provides a wealth of expert guidance and excellent insights into research methodology and methods. However, very little expounds on the learnings of those who have gone before and what their insights and learnings may be. Research into allied health clinicians and their journey into health systems leadership roles provides an opportunity to reflect on an applied research journey.

Enabling Emergency Department Staff to Support Domestic Violence Victims of Strangulation

ABSTRACT The study reported here investigated what enables emergency department (ED) staff to support domestic violence victim-survivors of strangulation, which poses potentially life-threatening medical and psychosocial risks. Informed by Appreciative Inquiry, interviews were conducted with twelve staff from eight emergency departments in New South Wales, Australia. Doctors, nurses, and social workers with experience in supporting victim-survivors of domestic violence-related strangulation were interviewed. De-identified transcripts were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Themes identified from the data were the importance of recognising strangulation injuries, that understanding experiences of violence improves ED staff’s responses to victim-survivors of strangulation, the value of social work in multidisciplinary response, and that informal support sustains staff in this work. These themes highlight the need for emergency department staff education in identifying and responding to domestic violence and strangulation, which enables informed responses, positive patient engagement, and effective multidisciplinary care. IMPLICATIONS Multidisciplinary care for health and safety assessments are essential for domestic violence victim-survivors of strangulation presenting to emergency departments. 24-hour access to social workers in emergency departments facilitates safety planning and may mitigate the risks of escalating violence. Strangulation and domestic violence education is essential for emergency department staff. There is an evident need for increased social work roles in EDs, especially in rural hospitals, to support victim-survivors and to apply a social work approach to train ED staff to respond appropriately. Formalising supportive structures through enhancing social work and domestic violence education in emergency departments whilst encouraging informal support networks for staff may enhance safety for victims-survivors and maximise staff emotional wellbeing.