Viewing the Master of Education Management Student’s Abilities, Motivation and Opportunities towards Change through an Appreciative Inquiry Lens

Abstract

Graduate students from the Open University System Master in Education Management (OUS MEM) program of a State University were asked if their professional practice and attitude to their work, school heads, colleagues and students have changed as a result of enrolment in the program. As faculty members of the OUS MEM, the researchers are always on the lookout for organizational change and used the Appreciative Inquiry approach which focused on strengths rather than weaknesses, to evaluate students’ answers as stakeholders’ inputs. With a descriptive flexible research design, responses received were coded into the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) Framework, a performance tool in management contextualized into academe.  Results showed that Teachers’ knowledge and skills were seen as Ability enablers with teacher professionalism and relationships with students, colleagues and school heads as the perceived bases, actual change and results of the change.  Seen as Motivation enablers were how they now practice education management, their collective professional identity, individual beliefs, personal affinities, goals and emotions.  Opportunity enablers were seen as national education laws, social influences, personal circumstances, context and resources that opened doors to promotion and additional income.  Parallels were seen between the individual Teacher and the OUS MEM, using AMO and the four phases of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) in the narratives.  Such as a) Discovering OUS MEM program’s attributes that can enhance teachers’ Ability; b) allowing them to Dream of a better future; c) OUS MEM Designing better Opportunities for Teachers’ personal enhancement and better d) Destiny and future. Results were presented to OUS MEM officials for possible reforms and continuous improvement of the MEM program.  It is recommended that the study be replicated for further development of other OUS graduate programs.