Students’ Experiences in Appreciative Interviews for Quality Education in Liberia

Abstract

Between September 2017 and August 2018, the author of this article applied the theory of appreciative inquiry in teaching at a faith based institution in Liberia. Appreciative Inquiry was popularized by Cooperrider in 1986. It has to do with asking positive questions following the 5Ds namely Definition, Description, Dream, Design and Destiny. This article highlighted the experiences of students who used appreciative interviews in a course Principles and Practices of Education taught at a faith based institution located in Liberia. The course was offered thrice to three different sets of students at the same university by the author of this article. While the first class had four students, the second had thirteen students and the third had eight students. Each student was asked to make use of appreciative inquiry questions to interview two veteran educators from other educational institutions in Liberia. The findings reinforced the need for the practices of quality education within and without the walls of classrooms in Liberia. The paper recommended that educators should employ the appreciative inquiry in their teaching. Hence, the combination of appreciative inquiry with cooperative learning and the integration of faith and learning could be one of alternatives in tackling the many educational challenges in the classrooms.