In this activity students explore appreciative inquiry, a strengths-based approach to learning and change that focuses on discovering what works well, what motivates people and what helps them succeed rather than concentrating only on problems. By interviewing someone from their own network who inspires them, students learn how individual strengths, values, and motivations can contribute to positive change within a community. Through preparing positive, exploratory questions and practicing active listening, students practice skills such as empathy, communication, and reflective thinking. This activity helps students understand what allows people to thrive in their work and life, but also encourages them to reflect on how they themselves can create meaningful impact within their own circle of influence.
- Activity goal
- Exchange knowledge | Practice skills | Reflect
- When
- In class | Post class | Pre class
- Where
- Offline | Online
- Duration
- > 60 minutes
- Group size
- Small | Medium
Step-by-step plan
Step 1: Introduction
Explain that recognizing strengths can be a source of innovation and inspiration for positive change, more than only focusing on problems. In this activity students will do an appreciative inquiry to help us discover what makes people thrive in their work to make a valuable contribution to the world. Students will choose a person in their network that inspires them in how they impact the world and interview them. Explain that appreciative inquiry includes focussing on strengths, successes and what works well. This means that students will ask positive exploratory questions such as: What gives meaning to your work? What strengths help you succeed?
Step 2: Preparation
First, let students decide individually which person they want to interview. Instruct them to focus on the people in their close environment or inner circle. The key question is: Who inspires you in what they do in work/life? By giving an example of a person within your own network that inspires you can help identify what kind of person this can be.
In pairs students share which person they'd like to interview and develop 3-5 appreciative inquiry questions they could ask. Questions for appraciative inquiry should be positive and explorative.
Provide some example questions:
- What are you most proud of in your work?
- What makes you thrive in your work?
- What values guide your decisions?
- What is working well?
Step 3: Execution
Students interview the person of their choice following guidelines that you provide. Guidelines could be:
Interview the person of your choice to discover what makes them thrive.
The interview can take place physically or through an online call.
Practice active listening, take notes and ask follow-up questions.
Set a deadline by which all students must have completed the interview.
Optionally provide students with a listening checklist to guide their interviews, example:
- I let the speaker finish before responding
- I maintained eye contact (or looked at them naturally)
- I summarized what I heard
- I asked clarifying questions, not leading questions
- I noticed when my attention drifted
- I resisted the urge to give advice or judge
- I paid attention to tone, pace, and nonverbal cues
- I brought myself back to the moment when distracted
Step 4: Reflection
Reflect in class on what the inquiry has taught the students. You can do so by giving them the following reflection questions to discuss in pairs or in groups:
- What was a key take away from the interview you executed?
- What did you appreciate in how this person influences their environment or community?
- What strengths did you discover that allowed the person to thrive?
- How did the process of appreciative inquiry affect your own mindset or motivation?
Tip 1
- Provide a listening checklist to guide the students in their interviews.
At EUR, we are committed to engaging with (generative) AI responsibly. Refer to the usage guidelines via AI@EUR and the theme page about AI in education as well.
