TOWARD A PEDAGOGY OF APPRECIATION

The time is ripe for a pedagogy of appreciation. This chapter is a cross pollination of the positive philosophies and visions of educators such as Dewey, Freire, Kolb, and Handy with the vibrant and emerging organizational change ideas and processes of Appreciative Inquiry. This pedagogical stance is values driven and embraces the relevance of personal experience. There is a distinct bias towards success and positive change through supportive relationships and dialogue in the creation of knowledge. This chapter details step-by-step classroom applications that follow the 4-D model (Discover, Dream, Design, Destiny) and extend the experiential learning cycle. For the student, these applications have led to more energized and sustained interactions, an increase in positive attitudes towards other students and the professor, more relevant and personally meaningful concepts, and a fuller and more hopeful view of the future. For the professor, a deeper engagement with the students and their stories leads to a stronger connection with the values, concepts and models of the course. The chapter concludes by identifying some challenges in applying and extending an appreciative approach to educational systems as a whole.