Teach Secondary - Issue 14.6

SHIFT THE FOCUS Leaders will often prioritise fixing negatives – but for more meaningful school improvement, we should also examine what’s working well, suggest Professor Geoff Baker and Craig Lomas ... O ver the last century, teaching has moved from being a profession in which colleagues had huge levels of autonomy and little accountability, to one characterised by continuous measurement and judgement. The ‘secret garden’ of teaching, as it was once known, is nowmore akin to a panopticon. Many studies note that a culture of performativity has meant that teachers feel under constant surveillance, in a way that inhibits creativity and innovation, narrows the curriculum and leads to a myopic focus on superficial metrics over learning. During the 1980s, in response to similar approaches dominating organisations in different domains, academics focused on leadership in the United States established the ‘appreciative inquiry framework’, which sought to identify and build on strengths, rather than focus on negatives. In the years since, this leadership paradigmhas increasingly found a place in school improvement, as an approach that’s empowering, ethical and sustainable. What is appreciative inquiry? At a time when leaders are often under intense scrutiny, discussions around school improvement can quickly become deficit-focused, highlighting those areas that are lacking, rather than celebrating what’s working well. Appreciative inquiry offers an alternative approach to change that is collaborative, centred on identifying the ‘positive core’ of a school and enhancing its impact. It’s an approach that seeks to explore past successes and existing strengths in order to create a vision for the future. Appreciative inquiry is underpinned by the belief that organisations grow in the direction of what they study and talk about. If schools spend all their energy focusing only on problems, they can risk becoming disheartened or reactive, in turn creating a culture of blame as leaders search for answers with increasing frustration. However, when teachers and leaders engage in dialogue about what is working and why, it can foster a culture of hope, creativity and collective responsibility. This isn’t a ‘soft’ or ‘naive’ approach; it’s a rigorous and structured framework for enabling change that harnesses the power of positive thinking, shared experiences and collaborative visioning. It avoids the dangers inherent within a change process drivenmainly by coercion or manipulation, instead focusing on those elements that can be observed when a school community is at its best. It can inspire meaningful, sustainable improvement that builds on the strengths of all involved. Professional affirmation There are many advantages to adopting appreciative inquiry as a model for school improvement. One key benefit is how it can facilitate the building of trust and ownership among staff. Traditional, top-down models of change can often lead to resistance or apathy. A fundamental tenet of appreciative inquiry is that all voices are valued – from teachers and support staff, through to students and parents. It acknowledges that those closest to the work often have the most valuable insights into precisely what works and why. For instance, providing opportunities for collaboration and observing practice outside of a classroom or faculty may lead to more frequent conversations and the sharing of good practice, both of which can often be overlooked in typical school structures. The benefits of this collaborative process go beyond purely pedagogical benefits, to providing practical and emotional support for teachers, reducing stress and providing affirmation as professionals. Appreciative inquiry closely aligns with what we know about effective professional development. It encourages reflective “Those closest to theworkoften have themost valuable insights intowhatworks andwhy” 58 teachwire.net/secondary