Ulrika Bergmark

Participatory and appreciative action and reflection (PAAR) – democratizing reflective practices

The paper introduces a new approach to reflecting and acting called participatory and appreciative action and reflection (PAAR). It explores its potential to enable individuals and groups to move forward, to improve their working practices and lives in particular communities and contexts. The paper situates PAAR in the historical context of participatory and action research and reflective learning. It suggests that using PAAR requires four strategic ‘turns’. By turn we mean a change in direction from one way of thinking and practising to another. The four turns are: (i) away from a preoccupation with changing behaviours in order to solve problems, with ‘fixing’ things and an engagement in deficit‐based discourses, towards the development of appreciative insight, understanding the root causes of success and sustaining strengths‐based discourses in order to amplify those things that will help build a better future from the positive present; (ii) away from self‐learning (individualism and isolation) and towards collective learning through interconnectedness, appreciative knowledge sharing and the use of new forms of communications technology which enable simultaneous action in dispersed geopolitical spaces; (iii) away from one way of knowing and one perspective on truth to an acceptance of more pluralistic view of ways of knowing, of understanding human experience and putting this knowing to good use; (iv) away from reflective cycles and spirals and towards the use of a reflective learning (r‐learning) framework comprising four mutually supportive processes. They are those of developing an appreciative ‘gaze’, of reframing lived experience, of building practical wisdom and of achieving and moving forward.

Listen to Me when I Have Something to Say: Students' Participation in Research for Sustainable School Improvement.

This article focuses on student participation in the research process as a contribution to school improvement. The specific aim of this article was to explore students’ participation in different phases of a research process and discuss how their participation can contribute to school improvement. Based on a life-world phenomenological ontology, we used two research and development projects — Full of Value and Arctic Children — to shed light on participation in research. When doing research together with students, we have been inspired by Participatory Appreciative Action Research (PAAR). The methods used in the projects were open writing, group reflection, drawings, and exhibition discussions. This research showed that students were able to explore and express their lived experiences of behaviour and well-being in school, and how this was linked to positive change. We found students trustworthy, capable, and competent, enriching the process of school improvement.

One Size Does Not Fit All Differentiating Leadership to Support Teachers in School Reform

Purpose: Many of the predominant leadership models acknowledge the need to support teachers’ work, but these models rarely specify how to support teachers’ implementation process. This article studies the relationship between leadership support and teachers’ sensemaking processes. It brings together three divergent bodies of literature on educational leadership, teachers’ sensemaking and implementation of reforms to conceptualize leadership that specifically addresses how leaders can provide teachers differentiated support. Research Design: This article uses case descriptions to illuminate the relationship between leadership support and three teachers’ sensemaking processes of implementing a new initiative. The empirical data consists of observations and interviews with teachers and principal in an U.S. elementary school. Findings: The findings present the need for developing a concept of leadership that increases support of teachers’ implementation work by focusing on school leaders’ understanding of individual teachers’ views and philosophy, their enabling of flexibility of a reform, their encouraging of horizontal support structures, including teacher social networks. It also considers how leaders’ influence the school’s setting and the delivery of information around new reforms. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that providing teachers with differentiated support improves teachers’ understanding of the reform and supplies teachers the necessary tools to implement the new idea, facilitate teacher voice and participation in the process.

‘I want people to believe in me, listen when I say something and remember me’ – how students wish to be treated

In Sweden the compulsory school curriculum prescribes that education should promote learning in different subjects while simultaneously assisting students to develop into citizens of good character. To achieve these goals students need to cultivate such character strengths as respect and responsibility, so that they can create positive relationships and live in a community. The development of these skills in a school setting could be called character education. Research shows that good character education promotes the moral development of students and also enhances their academic learning. Giving voice to students is the cornerstone of character education; if adults in schools listen carefully to students educational practice can be improved. This study was conducted in a secondary school in northern Sweden. The phenomenology of the life‐world and the principles of participatory and appreciative action research guided the research. The aim was to explore student voices as they described how they do and do not wish to be treated by others. The empirical data consisted of written responses to questions posed to students in Grades 7 and 8. The data analysis revealed four themes: striving for mutual understanding, being accepted for who you are, seeking honesty and truth and being acknowledged, recognized and encouraged. A comprehensive understanding of the themes suggests how practice may be improved in educational settings.

Co-creating curriculum in higher education: promoting democratic values and a multidimensional view on learning

This paper discusses a case study in teacher education in Sweden, focusing on creating spaces for student engagement through co-creating curriculum. It highlights democratic values and a multidimensional learning view as underpinning such endeavors. The main findings are that co-creating curriculum is an ambiguous process entailing unpredictable, thought-provoking, motivational, collaborative, and transformative aspects. The conclusion points to the importance of challenging traditional roles of students and teachers as well as organizational structures and regulations, and argues that academic developers have a vital role in supporting teachers in creating spaces for larger-scale student engagement initiatives.

Developing an ethical school through appreciating practice? Students’ lived experience of ethical situations in school

In meetings between people in school our values are shown through, for example, our actions, our speech and body language. These meetings can be regarded as ethical situations, which can arouse strong emotional reactions that ordinary, everyday situations usually do not do. The aim of this paper is to illuminate, interpret and discuss students’ lived experiences of ethical situations in their school. The participants in the study were students in a Swedish secondary school, and the empirical data consisted of written reflections and interviews. The study is based on the lived experiences of students. The analysis of the empirical data resulted in two themes: response in speech and action, and power relations. The comprehensive understanding of the results is that healthy relationships play an important ethical role in the school. Finally, we discuss how ways of listening to students’ voices and appreciating practice can develop an ethical school.

Reflective and appreciative actions that support the building of ethical places and spaces

This reflective account discusses the ‘creative renderings’ that surfaced as a consequence of a workshop about ethical issues in education, with school staff in a municipality in northern Sweden. The paper is part of a longer, ongoing conversation in that community about building and sustaining an ethical place and space called ‘school’. The focus for the conversation on this particular day was around every child and every teacher being valued in school. We worked alongside 30 school staff throughout that day with two appreciative activities—the Show‐and‐Share activity and the Building Blocks activity. During the day we also made field notes of teachers’ shared experiences, we analysed their writing on Building Blocks and documented the process with a digital camera. After the workshop we invited teachers to write some reflective notes. In the paper we share our collective reflections on what we felt we learnt. The workshop was guided by the principles of participatory and appreciative action research or PAAR.

Learning within and beyond the Classroom: Compulsory School Students Voicing Their Positive Experiences of School.

The aim of this study was to describe, reflect upon, and create a deeper understanding of aspects relevant for promoting a positive school environment from a student perspective. The data was analyzed by using an inductive phenomenological method and based on written responses from 200 Swedish students from grades 5–9. The results indicated that the students found aspects within, as well as beyond, the classroom relevant for a positive school environment. For instance, outings were considered relevant for building and maintaining friendships and for learning processes. Moreover, the students discussed formal and informal conditions and considered social as well as structural circumstances important for having a good time in school. The relation between learning and well-being was also emphasized by the students.

Improving the School Environment from a Student Perspective:Tensions and opportunities

Managerial documents for the national school system in Sweden have emphasised taking students’ voices as a starting point in forming education, and several previous studies have indicated the benefits of giving students opportunities to participate in school. This study aimed to explore students’ reflections on what they would do if they were to decide how to make school the best place for learning. A total of 200 students aged 11 to 15 years from four schools (rural and urban) in two municipalities in the northern part of Sweden participated. The empirical data consisted of the students’ written reflections. The findings fall within four themes: (i) influencing educational settings; (ii) striving for reciprocity; (iii) managing time struggles; and (iv) satisfying well-being needs. Tensions between the students’ previous experiences and future visions appeared. The findings can offer direction regarding aspects of the learning environment in school that could be improved.

The power of appreciation: promoting schoolchildren’s health literacy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore Swedish children’s positive experiences of health and well-being, and their thoughts on how health literacy can be promoted. Design/methodology/approach Totally, 121 schoolchildren between the ages of 10 and 14 from three schools in two municipalities in the northern part of Sweden shared their lived experiences through individual written reflections. Findings The phenomenological analysis resulted in one theme, appreciation as fuel for health and well-being, and four sub-themes: feeling a sense of belonging; being cared for by others; being respected and listened to; and feeling valued and confirmed. The understanding of the schoolchildren’s experiences of health and well-being and their thoughts on how health literacy can be promoted revealed that appreciation in different forms is the key dimension of their experiences of health and well-being. Practical implications The findings of this study point to the necessity of promoting health education that includes reflection and action-awareness of one’s own and others’ health as well as the competence to know how and when to improve their health. Such health education can contribute to the development of health literacy in young people, an essential skill for the twenty-first century. Originality/value This study’s originality is that the authors added the concepts of appreciative inquiry and student voice to the study of health literacy with children.