Introduction: Lifelong Learning “On the Road to Find Out”: How Theory Informs Practice and How Practice Informs Theory
 

by Steven N. Pyser and Marjorie Schiller

The issue highlights possibilities for individual and educational transformative positive change through lifelong learning and lifelong education.

Now read on.....! (Free download in Acrobat format)

This article uses lessons from very young children as the framework for AI based conclusions. These grounded theories come from Marge Schiller’s observations and reflections as a new Grandmother.

Part 1: Theory

Building a Sustained Capacity for Connection

by Steven N. Pyser

The global knowledge economy is transforming the demands of the labor market throughout the world. A new model of education and training, of lifelong learning supported by Appreciative Inquiry will assist citizens of the world to adapt, thrive and survive through four ‘pillars’ of education: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be. This article provides guidance for AI practitioners to approach and serve the global marketplace with appreciative methods for implementing and supporting sustainable life learning and lifelong education programs.

Part 1: Theory

Transformative Appreciative Inquiry

by Loretta L. Donovan. and Susan R. Meyer

Appreciative Inquiry, as a catalyst for organizational change, begins with the individual, expanding to the group as a direct outcome of individual and collective transformative learning. To result in new behaviors at the organizational level, this change must be embedded in the memory and perspective of individuals and the whole. Deep change at the organizational level is as intertwined with transformation at the individual level as the strands of genetic material. Transformative Learning theory intertwines with Appreciative Inquiry to foster deep change and creates a spiral structure that is supported by constructionist ideas of organizational learning.

Part 1: Theory

 Integrating Life and Learning

by John Peters and Cheri Torres

The authors describe a graduate program that successfully blends formal theory and the practical theories of practitioners engaged in learning collaboratively with their colleagues and clients. Thriving in a mainstream academic institution, this nontraditional program offers an alternative mode of access to university resources that engages an unconventional teaching/learning process. Our paper provides a synopsis of the structure and process of the program as well as examples of its influence on our practices.

Part 2.1: Practice in Universities

AI and Faculty Development


by Steven N. Pyser and Joseph Y. Ugras

Meeting the educational needs of adult learners calls for applied creativity, learning strategies and delivery of course materials needed by them to succeed in a rapidly changing world. “Facilitation and Dialogue Tools and Techniques for Effective Adult Learning” was a strength-based workshop for supporting professors and optimizing learning environments. It brought out the best in people and encouraged breakthrough educational strategies for classroom facilitation through co-construction of a positive future for action by faculty and staff at LaSalle University ‘s College of Professional and Continuing Studies.

Part 2.1: Practice in Universities

Learning for Distributive Leadership


by C. Jack Orr

West Chester University has designed a Leadership Development Workshop to facilitate collegial learning that equips leaders to create bold ideas for the novel challenges of the 21st century. It is centered on positive story telling and includes a visionary speech from the University’s President and participants discussing their leadership best, creating bold images of the future and collaborating to design change.

Part 2.1: Practice in Universities

Transformative Leadership Development for College Undergraduates

  
by Carol Watson
The focus of the Rider University’s Leadership Development Program (LDP) was on the whole student - mind, body, and spirit. Built on the belief that leadership can be learned, its intent was to foster in students a commitment to making societal changes for the common good. This was to be accomplished by developing the university into an institution that embodied transformative leadership. The AI framework provided a powerful approach to organizational change and renewal. Within two years nearly 150 students were in the program and several dozen faculty and staff were actively involved in teaching, training, self-development, and organizational renewal.

Part 2.2: Practice in K-12

Imagine Student Success

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by Sue Anderson and Mo McKenna

Toronto District School Board engages the voices of students to create a vision of their preferred educational future and create action plans to achieve it.

“Imagine being part of a secondary school where every student feels successful; where positive student-teacher relationships flourish; where flexible timetables respond to the many and varied needs of our students; where students and trustees enjoy an ongoing dialogue on the things that matter to them most; where teachers consistently create the learning environments in which students are successful; and the student voice is built into everything we do...” Melanie Parrack, Executive Superintendent, Student Success, Toronto District School Board

Using AI in the School Context

by Glyn Willoughby

This article describes how, building on the original experience of ‘Imagine Heathside’, AI has become embedded in the strategic planning and review procedures within the school. Students have been taking a lead role in undertaking the research and feeding back to staff, parents and governors at community meetings. For the past two years, and following on from the first AI project, our school has been involved in a government funded project titled ‘Building Community Bridges’.

Part 2.3: Practice in K-12 in Ohio

Flourishing Canton Conference
Bears Fruit!

by Joyce Lemke

Can a rust belt community flourish in the early 21st century? A committed group of intergenerational citizens of Canton, Ohio are convinced that it can! Using the Positive Change Core Leap of Learning approach, a community came together in June 2006 to create bold strategies that will contribute to the flourishing of Canton. Energized youth and adult leaders are reaching out to the broader community to develop a youth center “for teens by teens”, a Hometown Canton scholarship program to reduce “brain drain”, and a Youth City Council to advise the Canton City Council on matters impacting all Canton citizens.

Appreciating Trust: Unleashing a Culture of Learning
 

by Megan Tschannen-Moran and
Bob Tschannen-Moran

At their best, schools function as professional learning communities, but a lack of trust often undermines this collective aspiration. Without trust, energy is diverted away from the learning task as people watch their backs or plot revenge. To rebuild trust, attention must be paid to many factors. Appreciative Inquiry (AI) works with those factors by getting people to focus on their best experiences, core values and heartfelt wishes. By following the trail of AI through one school system and community in northwest Ohio, this article explores how appreciating trust in organizations unleashes a culture of learning.

Part 2.4: Kinaesthetic Practice

AQ/KQ and Lifelong Learning

by Sue James and Chris Bennett

Drawing on Appreciative Inquiry and Tai Chi, Sue James and Chris Bennett have developed a concept they call AQ-KQ - Appreciative and Kinaesthetic Intelligence. In this article, Sue and Chris explain the background of AQ-KQ, outline the synergies they have found between AI and Tai Chi, and discuss how this approach has assisted lifelong learning both for themselves and the clients with whom they work.