An Ethos and Practice of Appreciation for Transformative Research: Appreciative Inquiry, Care Ethics, and Creative Methods

Abstract

This chapter departs from the need to pursue transformative research, understood as the co-production of knowledge with and for societal stakeholders aimed at supporting and enabling sustainable change. It explores how Appreciative Inquiry (AI) and its underlying ‘ethos of appreciation’ (after Zandee & Cooperrider, 2008) can complement and enrich care-full and resourceful approaches to transformative research. It presents the five dimensions of an ‘ethos of appreciation’, and lays out their philosophical meaning, their resonance with the care ethics literature, as well as their practical application. It gives a detailed account of how five different creative methods were employed during a participatory action-oriented Ph.D. study in Finland, and in so doing, showcases how an ‘ethos of appreciation’ can be embodied and applied in practice. Finally, it discusses the methodological potentials and limitations of using creative methods, as well as the challenges and outcomes they yield to support transformative research that aims to enable care-full and resourceful participatory engagement processes.