an appreciative inquiry case study

164 Pages·2008·1.08 MB·English

by  Jackie Glasgow

ANAPPRECIATIVE INQUIRYCASE STUDY:RECOGNIZINGTHEPOSITIVECOREOF
TEACHERSINA LOWSESELEMENTARYSCHOOLTHATMET STANDARDOF
EXCELLENCE
Dissertationby
Jaclynn L.Glasgow
M.Ed., WichitaStateUniversity,2003
M.Ed., WichitaStateUniversity,1978
B.S.,EmporiaStateUniversity,1974
SubmittedtotheCollegeofEducation
andtothefacultyoftheGraduateSchoolof
WichitaStateUniversity
inpartialfulfillmentof
therequirements forthedegreeof
DoctorofEducation
May2008
© Copyright2008byJaclynn L.Glasgow
AllRightsReserved
ANAPPRECIATIVE INQUIRYCASE STUDY:RECOGNIZINGTHEPOSITIVECOREOF
TEACHERSINA LOWSESELEMENTARYSCHOOLTHATMET STANDARDOF
EXCELLENCE
Ihaveexaminedthefinalcopyofthisdissertationforformand content,and recommendthatit
beacceptedinpartialfulfillmentoftherequirementsforthedegreeof DoctorofEducational
Leadership.
_________________________________
Raymond L.Calabrese,CommitteeChair
Wehavereadthisdissertationandrecommendits acceptance:
_________________________________
John Fast,CommitteeMember
_________________________________
Dennis Kear,CommitteeMember
_________________________________
JeanPatterson,CommitteeMember
_________________________________
RandyTurk,CommitteeMember
AcceptedfortheCollegeofEducation
_________________________________
Sharon Iorio,Dean
Acceptedforthe GraduateSchool
_________________________________
Susan K. Kovar,Dean
iii
DEDICATION
ToSteveforsupportingmydream,Jenni,Tyler,andGrantforbelievinginme,myparents,Lyle
andJeanUdall,fortheiraffirmationoffaithanddailyencouragement, myfriendsandcolleagues
whostoodbymethroughoutthis journeyofdiscovery.Inlovingmemoryofmyfatherand
mother-in-law,HomerandJeanGlasgow,whosharedmyvaluesofeducation.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Ihavealways beenconsideredalifelonglearnerpushingmyselftoexcelandfurther my
knowledge. Icouldnothavepursued myeducationaljourneyofdiscoverywithoutthesupportof
thoseIconsidereducationalleaders. IwishtothankDr.RayCalabreseforshapingandmolding
thepotentialhesawin methat Ineverthought possible.Hedidnotallowmetolimitmyvision
ofwho Icanbe.His expectationwasnothingless thanformetoperform mybest.Hehelped me
realizethatlearninghas noboundaries. Irespecthisexpertise,imagery, andenergyas an
educationalleader.Hehaschanged mylife.
TheEducational LeadershipDoctoralProgramhasempowered metodevelopasan
educationalleader andextendmylearning.Iamgratefulfortheirinsightandknowledge
bestowedupon mebyEducation Leadershipfacultyduringmythree years ofstudy—Dr.Ray
Calabrese,Dr.JeanPatterson,Dr.RandyTurk,Dr.IanGibson,andDr.GlynRimmington.
Iam appreciativetothemembers of mydissertationcommittee,Dr.RayCalabrese,Dr.
JeanPatterson,Dr.RandyTurk, Dr.Dennis Kear,andDr. John Fast,fortheirencouragement,
support,andleadership.
IwanttothankDr.Allen Hillen,former SuperintendentofUSD,who guidedmeduring
mydoctoralprogram.IalsothankMr.Rick Weiss,USD353 SuperintendentWellingtonPublic
Schools,membersoftheUSD353BoardofEducation,andUSD353CentralOfficestafffor
theirunselfishsupportduringmyeducationaljourney.
IalsowishtothanktheotherthreemembersofCohort14—AllenJantz,Kathy
Mickelson,andTeresaSanMartin. IespeciallythankTeresaSan Martinwhowasmyanchorand
mysailthroughthisprocess.Ourcohortsetexpectationsofnotacceptinganythingbutourbest;
and,eachof youtaughtmetobelieveinmyself.
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IthankCohort13membersand graduates,EricaNance,CharleneLaramore,BillKelley,
JanPeterson,DanielleHollas,DianeGross,andCrystalHummel,fortheir ongoingguidanceand
fortitude.
IthankDonnaPalsmeier,JenniferRobinson,and CindyStrublemyofficeadministrative
assistants,andthestaff membersat LincolnElementarySchoolwholistenedtome,encouraged
me,andbelievedinmetoachievethis goal. IgivespecialthankstotheinspiringstaffofLincoln
Elementaryfortheiraspirationtohelpmeconduct myresearchand for makingadifference for
allstudents.
Ithankmycolleagues DaleListon,JoeJacobs,JerryHodson,JamieYbarra,John
Walton, KellyAdams,RonBrown,CarolHadorn, formerUSD353principal,andDr. Marcy
Aycock,formerUSD353principal,fortheir assistancewithvariousdistrictresponsibilities
whileinthedoctoralprogram.
Ithankmyparents, LyleandJeanUdall,whobelievedandsupportedmeunconditionally.
Ialsothankmychildren, GrantGlasgow,JenniHeffronandherhusbandTyler,whounderstood
theimportanceof mydream.Lastly,thank youto myhusband,Steve Glasgow,whodiditalland
allowedmetobeme.
vi
ABSTRACT
Thepurposeofmystudywastodiscoverthesuccessfulteachingpracticesofteachersin
aStandardofExcellence elementaryschool.Mystudyalsoidentifiedthenecessaryecological
conditionsfortheteacherstosustainandextendtheirsuccessfulteachingpractices.Dueto
limitedresearchonthestudyofsuccessfulteachingpracticesofteachers as itrelatestostudent
achievement,this studysoughttodescribethesuccessfulteachingpractices ofteachers inaSOE
elementaryschool,anditsoughttounderstandtheconditionstohelpsustainandextendtheir
successfulteachingpractices.
Thedesignofthisstudywasaqualitativecasestudyconducted throughan appreciative
inquirytheoreticalperspectiveandcapacitybuildingtheory.Anappreciativeinquirytheoretical
perspectiveisaninquiryprocess thatseekstoaffirmandbuildonstrengths andpastsuccesses of
theparticipantstodiscoverwhat giveslifetotheir organizationoritspositivecore.Capacity
buildingtheoryencouragestheconditions andopportunitiesforsharedlearningand
collaboration.
Participantswereaskedtovolunteertoparticipateinvariousdatacollectionmethods:
semi-structuredpairedinterviews,focus groups,andparticipantcreateddocuments.Datawere
unitized,sorted,andcodedthroughanopen andaxialcodingprocess (whichisaprocess of
breakingdownthedataandthensynthesizingitin ameaningfulway) (Strauss&Corbin,1990),
usingtextanalysis software(Ryan &Bernard,2000)sothattheparticipants’perspectives were
synthesizedinamannerthatallowedtheresearch questions tobeanswered (Huberman,1990).
Contentanalysis simultaneouslycodedthecontentandconstructsrelevantcategories (Merriam,
2001).CATPACsoftwarewas used asaninitialfoundationofreadingtextforthe
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interrelationshipsbetweenwordsallowingthemes toemerge (Woelfel,1990).Datawas
comparedbycategories,themes,ordimensions ofinformation (Creswell,1998).
Participantswereguided throughtwophases oftheAI4-DCycleofdiscoveryand
dream.Detailedfieldnotesweretaken andinformationwas collected frommultipleperspectives.
Fivesalientfindings emergedfromthedataanalysis: (1)LincolnElementarySchoolis a
cohesivegroupofeducatorswhoseektohelpstudentsreachtheirpotential; (2) Lincoln
ElementarySchooleducatorscollaboratetostrengthenandenhanceinstructionalpractices;(3)
LincolnElementarySchooleducatorsvalueandcareaboutallschoolstakeholders; (4)Lincoln
ElementarySchooleducatorscreatedaninclusivecommunityboundbystronginterpersonal
relationships; (5)Lincoln ElementarySchooleducatorswanttocreatealearningenvironment
thatisstudent centered andfamilyorientedwhereteachers useprogressive practicesinteaching
students.
Thefindings frommyresearchsuggestedthatthe appreciativeinquiryprocesshas the
potentialtochangeteachers’pedagogicalpracticesandtheconditionsforthe practicestosustain.
Usingan appreciativeinquiryprocessinthisresearchstudyempoweredparticipants andsparked
anewvisionofoptimism,hope,andapassionforteaching.
Allthefindings fromthis studyhavethepotentialtotransformhoweducatorsmeetthe
demandsofschoolaccountabilityandlooktosustainhighperformancebydescribingthe
successfulteachingpractices andtheecologicalconditions neededtosustainandextendthese
practices.
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TABLEOFCONTENTS
Chapter Page
DEDICATION...............................................................................................................................iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................................v
ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................................vii
CHAPTER1....................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
BACKGROUNDTOTHESTUDY................................................................................................2
TeacherBeliefs.......................................................................................................................6
PROBLEMSTATEMENT..............................................................................................................8
PURPOSEOFTHE STUDY...........................................................................................................9
SIGNIFICANCEOFTHE STUDY.................................................................................................9
OVERVIEWOFMETHODOLOGY............................................................................................11
UnitsofAnalysis...................................................................................................................12
RESEARCHQUESTIONS............................................................................................................................................12
OBJECTIVES.............................................................................................................................................................12
LIMITATIONS...........................................................................................................................................................13
DELIMITATIONS.......................................................................................................................................................13
ASSUMPTIONS..........................................................................................................................................................13
DEFINITIONOFKEYTERMS...................................................................................................14
CapacityBuilding.................................................................................................................14
Standard ofExcellence.........................................................................................................14
StudentAchievement............................................................................................................14
SUMMARY...................................................................................................................................15
CHAPTER2..................................................................................................................................16
REVIEWOFTHE LITERATURE...............................................................................................16
CONCEPTUALFRAMEWORK.....................................................................................................................................16
ProfessionalExperiences......................................................................................................16
Epistemology........................................................................................................................17
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TABLEOFCONTENTS(Cont.)
Chapter Page
Theoretical Framework.........................................................................................................18
Appreciativeinquiry................................................................................................................................................................20
Capacitybuildingtheory.........................................................................................................................................................23
COMPETINGPERSPECTIVE.......................................................................................................................................26
METHODOLOGY FOR THE REVIEWOFEMPIRICALRESEARCH....................................27
SYNTHESISOFTHEREVIEWEDRESEARCH...............................................................................................................31
SuccessfulPedagogyand PedagogicalPracticesandStudentSuccess................................31
TeacherEfficacyandHighExpectationsforStudents.........................................................33
TeacherInvolvementinDecisionMakingandDistributed Leadership...............................35
PositiveSchoolClimateandStudentAcademicSuccess.....................................................37
AppreciativeInquiryand OptimisticChange.......................................................................38
SUMMARY...................................................................................................................................42
CHAPTER3..................................................................................................................................44
METHODOLOGY........................................................................................................................44
RESEARCHDESIGNAND METHODOLOGY.........................................................................44
PURPOSEOFTHE STUDY.........................................................................................................45
RESEARCHQUESTIONS...........................................................................................................45
CONTEXT.....................................................................................................................................46
UNITOFANALYSIS...................................................................................................................48
ROLEOFTHERESEARCHER...................................................................................................49
METHODS....................................................................................................................................50
SEMI-STRUCTUREDPAIREDINTERVIEWS.................................................................................................................52
FOCUSGROUPS........................................................................................................................................................52
PARTICIPANTCREATEDDOCUMENTS......................................................................................................................53
DATAANALYSIS........................................................................................................................53
RESEARCHQUALITY................................................................................................................54
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