An Appreciative Inquiry Study of Successful Navajo High School Students in the Navajo Nation

• In Event: 63.027 - Learning From Leaders Negotiating Significant Racial and Cultural Conflicts: New Insights and Deeper Understandings

Abstract

Our study described how eight academically successful Navajo high school students on the Navajo Nation used appreciative inquiry (AI) to discover the positive core that exists within their school and how they describe their vision for future academic achievement. Through the use of the first two stages of the AI 4-D Cycle – Discovery and Dream, data were collected in the form of semi-structured paired interviews, focus groups, field notes, and our roles as participant-observers. Two salient findings emerged from our study: (1) The participants identified and described a positive core within DNHS; and (2) The participants co-constructed a compelling vision for the future academic achievement for students at DNHS (3a).

Authors

• Erik Cohen, Denver Public Schools

• Raymond L. Calabrese, The Ohio State University