Lifescaping Practices in School Communities: Implementing Action Research and Appreciative Inquiry

Lifescaping Practices in School Communities is a guide for school administrators and helping professionals (school counselors, school psychologists, school social workers, and other stakeholders) looking to promote relational wellness and student success in their school. This informative new resource will introduce readers to an ecological approach by using action research and appreciative inquiry to guide and engage school-wide change. Also offered are first-hand models of conceptual lifescaping projects using action research and appreciative inquiry by first-time practitioners from different school communities.

Rolla E. Lewis, EdD, NCC, is professor emeritus in Educational Psychology at California State University, East Bay (CSUEB). His current research and scholarly interests include public education advocacy, school counseling program development, mentoring participatory leaders, and sharing action research practices using the participatory inquiry process as lifescaping in schools. Dr. Lewis has published numerous chapters, articles, and poems in books, peer-reviewed journals, and other professional publications. He is the recipient of the Oregon Counseling Association’s Leona Tyler Award for outstanding contributions to professional counseling.

Peg Winkelman, PhD, is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Educational Leadership at California State University, East Bay (CSUEB). She has also taught in schools of education at the University of California, Berkeley, Mills College, and Saint Mary’s College of California. She is past president of the California Association of Professors of Educational Administration. Her publications focus on her commitment to collaborative inquiry and scholar-practitioner leadership for social justice.