Using appreciative inquiry to explore the professional practice of a lecturer in higher education: moving towards life-centric practice

This paper reports on a strategy for exploring the life-centric practice of a lecturer in Higher Education. The initiative for this inquiry arose out of the realisation that there did not appear to be positive, heart-lifting stories in a lecturer’s current teaching experiences. Using an appreciative eye and supported by a critical friend, life-giving experiences were ‘stalked’ from the past. The hope in this endeavour was to find greater meaning in the lecturer’s best professional practice. Using an Appreciative Inquiry approach, this endeavour rejuvenated the lecturer’s professional practice. As life-centric stories were recalled, provocative propositions were constructed that became the basis of a personalised action plan for future professional practice. This paper outlines the nature of the journey and the heartfelt discoveries

Harnessing Technology: new modes of technology-enhanced learning: opportunities and challenges

A report commissioned by Becta to explore the potential impact on education, staff and learners of new modes of technology enhanced learning, envisaged as becoming available in subsequent years. A generative framework, developed by the researchers is described, which was used as an analytical tool to relate the possibilities of the technology described to learning and teaching activities. This report is part of the curriculum and pedagogy strand of Becta's programme of managed research in support of the development of Harnessing Technology: Next Generation Learning 2008-14. A system-wide strategy for technology in education and skills. Between April 2008 and March 2009, the project carried out research, in three iterative phases, into the future of learning with technology. The research has drawn from, and aims to inform, all UK education sectors

Communities of knowledge and knowledge of communities: An appreciative inquiry into rural wellbeing

This article offers a retrospective examination of the use of appreciative inquiry (AI) in a study on rural wellbeing. It provides a reflection on the rationale for choosing AI as a suitable methodology, critiques the application of AI in rural settings and considers its suitability for this inquiry into individual and community wellbeing. The article also considers the value of AI as a participatory research approach for community-university partnerships. A review of the literature on AI is distilled to examine the limitations as well as the utility of AI. Through an effective use of AI, communities of knowledge can be fostered and the knowledge of communities can be valued and harvested to enhance the wellbeing of rural communities.Keywords: appreciative inquiry, wellbeing, rural community, community-university partnership

An appreciative inquiry into the transformative learning experiences of students in a family literacy project

Educational discourse has often struggled to genuinely move beyond deficit-based language. Even action research, a predominant model for teacher development, starts with the identification of a problem (Cardno 2003). It would appear that the vocabulary for a hope-filled discourse which captures the imagination and infiuences our future educational activity seems to have escaped us. Moreover, we seem bereft of educational contexts where the experience for students is holistic and transformative

Architectural authorship in generative design

The emergence of evolutionary digital design methods, relying on the creative generation of novel forms, has transformed the design process altogether and consequently the role of the architect. These methods are more than the means to aid and enhance the design process or to perfect the representation of finite architectural projects. The architectural design philosophy is gradually transcending to a hybrid of art, engineering, computer programming and biology. Within this framework, the emergence of designs relies on the architect- machine interaction and the authorship that each of the two shares. This work aims to explore the changes within the design process and to define the authorial control of a new breed of architects- programmers and architects-users on architecture and its design representation. For the investigation of these problems, this thesis is to be based on an experiment conducted by the author in order to test the interaction of architects with different digital design methods and their authorial control over the final product. Eventually, the results will be compared and evaluated in relation to the theoretic views. Ultimately, the architect will establish his authorial role