[Ailist] Appreciative Inquiry and Students with Disabilities

[Ray Calabrese]

Colleagues,

 

I recently published research using appreciative inquiry as a research
methodology to study the efficacy of the Circle of Friends program. The
Circle of Friends program focuses on the social inclusion of students with
disabilities. During the course of our work with participants in the Circle
of Friends program, we discovered a transformation in attitude among the
members of our research team. Our discovery of the good work being done by
this group to unite general education and special education students as well
as uplift the parents of students with disabilities was inspiring. The
article is posted on the AI Commons. It is also available directly from the
International Journal of Whole Schooling at
http://www.coe.wayne.edu/wholeschooling/Journal_of_Whole_Schooling/IJWSIndex
.html. The abstract for the study follows.

 

Best wishes,

 

Ray

 

Raymond Calabrese, Professor

Educational Administration

116B Ramseyer Hall 

The Ohio State University

Columbus, OH 43210

Phone: 614-247-1633

email: rcalabrese at ehe.osu.edu

 

Webpage: http://people.ehe.ohio-state.edu/rcalabrese/home/

 

Ray's Appreciative Inquiry Blog: 

http://people.ehe.ohio-state.edu/rcalabrese/category/appreciative-inquiry/

 

Abstact

 

Social inclusion of students with disabilities into the school system is a
primary goal for many educators as well as advocates for this population.
One program that seeks to increase levels of social inclusion for students
with disabilities is the Circle of Friends Program(COFP). Its purpose is to
widen the social network of students with disabilities by linking them to
the social network of general education students. A qualitative case study
research design using an appreciative inquiry theoretical research
perspective examined the efficacy of the COFP by focusing on the positive
core experiences of the program's stakeholders-sponsors, mentors, and
parents of children with disabilities and identifying benefits provided by
the COFP to program participants. The unit of analysis included ten
sponsors, eight mentors, and ten parents of children with disabilities who
represented six schools within four school districts (one urban and three
suburban) in a Midwestern state. There were four findings: (a) a reduction
in the level of alienation among parents of children with disabilities;(b)
participants, regardless of their COFP role, felt involvement was a
transformative experience; (c) COFP provided ecological conditions for the
social inclusion of students with disabilities; and (d) additional resources
for the COFP may increase its sphere of influence. These findings indicated
that a primary benefit of the COFP is to reframe the traditional stereotypes
and myths regarding students with disabilities.