Child protection professionals would benefit from appreciative inquiry techniques during reviews rather than always feeling blamed or defensive. That’s according to independent reviewer and specialist in safeguarding and domestic abuse cases Donna Ohdedar.
Donna, who created the SILP model (Significant Incident Learning Process) for reviews back in 2010, has been invited by the Association of Child Protection Professionals to host a webinar in May discussing the benefits of adopting appreciative inquiry techniques. She said:
“Rather than focusing on blame and what causes things to go wrong, appreciative inquiry focuses on what went well and what future we should aim for. It’s a much more collaborative and strengths-based approach to change. It doesn’t mean the analysis needed for a statutory review is any less robust.
“When practice falls short of what was expected, leaders are under pressure to demonstrate accountability. This generally leads to more compliance measures and defensiveness. It detracts from a focus on creating the conditions for workers to do what they do best. Adding more recommendations and action plans creates overwhelm. The learning experience a review offers can create a very different environment whilst still being thorough and robust.”
Donna, who also offers ‘SILP School’, her university-accredited SILP review course, believes that embedding appreciative inquiry techniques into reviews is in the best interests of all safeguarding professionals, increasing motivation and engagement in the review process, encouraging greater performance and enabling teams to be more effective in managing change.
Adrian Spanswick, Safeguarding Professional Lead for NHS England, who chairs the Practice Learning Review Special Interest Group (SIG) for the AoCPP said:
“For our first SIG of 2024 we wanted to look at how we learn lessons from a safeguarding case using a positive approach in regard to organisational leadership and system change. Appreciative inquiry provides the framework for a strengths-based approach, considers existing strengths within a system and will facilitate learning and new initiatives.
“Donna has wide experience working with reviewing consulting and system methodology and her understanding of safeguarding in promoting learning, utilising appreciative inquiry to promote best practice and create initiatives to support system change through robust reviews. We look forward to an interesting presentation and interactive session.”
‘Robust Reviews Using Appreciative Inquiry Techniques’ will take place on Thursday 9th May at 12.30pm – 2pm. There will also be an opportunity for questions.
If you are interested in attending, please book your place here:
https://donna-ohdedar.mykajabi.com/aocpp
Members of the AOCPP can access the lunch and learn for free and non-members can join for £15.
For more information about Donna Ohdedar, please visit www.reviewconsulting.co.uk
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