Title: What is Invitational Education
1What is Invitational Education?
- Compiled and edited by
- Melissa Cain cain_at_findlay.edu
- Contributions by
- William Purkey wwpurkey_at_aol.com
- John Novak jnovak_at_brocku.ca
- Ken Smith K.Smith_at_patrick.acu.edu.au
- Dave Chapman daciaie_at_aol.com
- Jack Schmidt iaie_at_charter.net
- Dan Shaw danshaw_at_NOVA.EDU
2Education is fundamentally an imaginative act of
hope (Novak, 1996).
3What is Invitational Education?
- A systematic way to describe communication in
schools and other human service organizations
that results in learning and human development - A theoretical framework and practical strategies
for creating effective schools and other
institutions - Foundations are
- the democratic ethos
- the perceptual tradition
- self-concept theory
4The Democratic Ethos
- Invitational Education emphasizes deliberative
dialogue and mutual respect. - Goal people work together to construct
character, practices, and institutions that
promote democratic life.
Democracy is based upon the conviction that all
people matterthat they can meaningfully
participate in self-rule.
5The Perceptual Tradition
- Each person considers, constructs, interprets,
and then acts. - Individuals view the world through personal and
cultural filters. - Behavior is based on individual perceptions
(Syngg and Combs, 1949). - Perceptions are learned, so they can be reflected
on and changed.
People are not influenced by events so much as by
their perceptions of events.
6Perceptual Tradition.Continued
- There is no such thing as illogical behavior.
- What seems illogical makes sense to the behaving
person. - Learning to read behavior backwards is a vital
skill for practitioners of IE. - This skill is sharpened by understanding and
applying self-concept theory.
7Self-concept is the picture people construct of
who they are and how they fit into their
perceived world.
8Self-Concept Theory (Jourard, 1968 Rogers,
1968 Purkey, 1970 and 2005)
- Self-concept includes learned beliefs.
- Beliefs are influenced by how a person interprets
and acts upon events. - Self-concept is manifested in ongoing internal
dialogue, or the whispering self (Purkey,
2005).
The whispering self can be monitored and
directed in positive ways.
9Self-Concept Theory.Continued
- Self-concept alone does not cause misbehavior.
- As an example, a disruptive student has learned
to see him/herself as a troublemaker and behaves
accordingly. - Self-concept is the reference point, or anchoring
perception, for behavior.
Good self-concept is the memory of inviting acts,
which are accepted and successfully acted upon.
10Everything the teacher does, as well as the
manner in which he does it, incites the child to
respond in some way or another and each response
tends to set the child's attitude in some way or
another (Dewey, 1933).
11Motivation
- Every person has motivation. If not, they would
do nothing. - Rather than trying to motivate people, inviting
educators cordially summon them to see themselves
as able, valuable, and responsible, and to behave
accordingly. - They trust people to be capable of overcoming
obstacles and accomplishing positive goals.
Motivation is internal and continuous.
12Basic Assumptions
- Invitational Education is a metaphor for an
emerging model of the education process
consisting of five value-based assumptions about
the nature of people and their potential. These
are - Trust
- Intentionality
- Respect
- Care
- Optimism
13Optimism
Invitational educators are optimistic about, and
committed to, the continuous appreciation and
growth of all involved in the educative process.
- Invitational educators believe that
- People possess relatively untapped potential in
all areas of worthwhile human endeavor. - People have only just begun to use their many
social, intellectual, emotional, physical, and
spiritual skills. - Better things are more likely to occur when
self-defeating scripts, i.e. negative self-talk,
are held to a minimum (Purkey, 2000). - Human potential is always there, waiting to be
discovered and invited forth.
14Trust
Trust is derived from recognition of the
fundamental interdependence of human beings.
- Invitational educators believe that
- It takes time, effort, and collaboration to
establish trustworthy interactions. - Trust is established and maintained through the
interlocking human qualities of - Reliability
- Genuineness
- Truthfulness
- Intent
- Competence (Arceneaux, 1994).
15Respect
Invitational educators believe people are able,
valuable, and responsible and should be treated
accordingly.
- Invitational educators believe that
- Personal and professional behavior demonstrates
respect. - Those who value respect will find ways for
students to succeed. - The stance of inviting schools is that people
have inherent worth, self-directing power, and
personal and social accountability. - Respectful relationships recognize each persons
right to accept, reject, or negotiate the
messages sent to them, positive or negative.
16Care
Care is the ongoing desire to link significant
personal means with worthwhile societal ends.
CARE
- Invitational educators believe that
- The personal need for joy and fulfillment is
realized in the process of producing something of
value. - No aspect of Invitational Education is more
important than the educator's genuine ability and
desire to care about people, their growth, and
their accomplishments. - Caring has its own ingredients of
- warmth
- empathy
- positive regard
17Intentionality
Intentionality is at the very heart of
Invitational Education.
- Invitational educators believe that
- Intentionality explains the how of Invitational
Education and pulls together the optimism,
trust, respect, and care that are essential to
being a proficient professional (Schmidt, 2002). - In practice, Invitational Education focuses on
the people, places, policies, procedures, and
programs that transmit messages promoting human
potential. - Education is never neutral. Everything and
everyone in and around schools adds to, or
subtracts from, the educative process. - Invitational Education is characterized by
purpose and direction.
18Theory into PracticeThe 5 Ps
- Human potential can best be realized by
- places,
- policies,
- processes, and programs specifically designed to
invite development, and by - people who are intentionally inviting with
themselves and others. - The 5 Ps provide a framework to collaboratively
address, evaluate, modify, and sustain a positive
total school environment.
19Just as a starfish applies slow and steady
pressure from each of its five arms to open the
single powerful muscle that keeps an oyster
together, focusing upon the 5 Ps helps educators
apply persistent pressure to overcome big
challenges.
Just as a starfish applies slow and steady
pressure from each of its five arms to open the
single powerful muscle that keeps an oyster
together, focusing upon the 5 Ps helps educators
apply persistent pressure to overcome big
challenges.
Just as a starfish applies slow and steady
pressure from each of its five arms to open the
single powerful muscle that keeps an oyster
together, focusing upon the 5 Ps helps educators
apply persistent pressure to overcome big
challenges.
20The 5 Ps Together Inviting Schools and Other
Organizations
People
Policies
Places
Processes
Programs
Invitational Education requires a holistic
mentality that encompasses everybody and
everything. While the following examples apply to
schools, they can be easily related to other
organizations.
21People
Invitational Education begins and ends with
people.
- Every person in the schoolteachers,
administrators, food service professionals,
custodians, counselors, librarians, bus drivers,
and, most importantly, studentsis an emissary of
Invitational Education. - People create a respectful, optimistic, trusting,
and intentional society within inviting schools. - If policies, procedures, programs, or processes
inhibit or inconvenience people, they are altered
wherever possible.
22Nobody cares how much you know until they know
how much you care (Purkey, 1996).
23Places
- If classrooms, offices, hallways, common rooms,
cafeteria, library, playgrounds, and restrooms
are clean, neat, attractive and well-maintained,
they show that people care about the entire
school. - Even if the building itself is ancient, you can
create an inviting physical environment - Spray paint old lockers bright colors.
- Display indoor plants/flowers and home-like
lamps. - Paint murals on dreary walls.
- Display photos of children in positive activity.
Because they are so visible, places are a good
starting point to introduce the practice of
invitational theory.
24Imagine a family visiting a school
- The Dining Room has a French cafe theme. It
features scenic murals on the walls, curtains on
the windows, individual tables, and even paper
place mats for student food trays. Flowers are
carefully placed on each table. Classical music
is playing in the background. If we cant hear
the music, we are being too loud, the student
guide explains.
25As the tour continues, the family sees
- Childrens work displayed to include all children
and celebrate individuality and diversity. - Well-tended, safe playground with no litter.
- Flowers, mini-ecosystems, and a butterfly garden.
- Padded rocking chairs for reading aloud.
- Throw pillows on the floor for reading or quiet
conversation. - Agendas transparently posting the daily schedule
and expectations. - Signage worded positively.
- Clever postings demonstrating humor and love of
life.
26Policies
Policies include mission statements, directives,
codes, ruleswritten and unwrittenregulating the
school.
- Polices influence the attitudes of those involved
in the school. - It is especially important to develop inviting
policies regarding attendance, grading,
discipline, and promotion and to apply them
fairly and reasonably. - Policies should pass the litmus test of
Invitational Education Do they reflect trust,
optimism, respect, care, and intentionality for
everyone in the school?
27Programs
Programs should encourage active engagement with
significant content.
- Programs that appear to be elitist, sexist,
ethnocentric, homophobic, discriminatory, or
lacking in intellectual integrity are to be
changed or eliminated. - IE encourages conflict management and group
guidance activities integrated into the
curriculum. - School safety is promoted and maintained through
preventing conflicts before they occur. - Small group collaboration enables children to
extend their interests and learn to work with
others.
28Programs, whether formal or informal, curricular
or extracurricular, should benefit everyone.
29Processes
Processes can be simply defined as the way we do
things in this school.
- Processes are characterized by a democratic
ethos, collaborative and cooperative procedures,
and continuous networking among teachers,
students, parents, staff, and the community. - Invitational Education is a democratic process
in which those who are affected by a decision
have a say in its formulation, implementation,
and evaluation.
30The Jell-O Analogy
- Everything is connected. The total school is
like a big bowl of Jell-O if it is touched
anywhere, the whole thing jiggles. - Thinking about people, places, policies,
programs, and processeseach within a framework
of trust, respect, care, optimism, and
intentionalityprovides a strategy for systematic
transformation of the whole school.
The 5 Ps of Invitational Education provide a
powerful framework for transforming the total
school environment.
31Invitational Education identifies four levels of
functioning in personal and professional living,
called the Ladder.
32The Ladder Levels of Functioning
- From least to most desirable, the levels of
functioning are - Level One Intentionally Disinviting
- Level Two Unintentionally Disinviting
- Level Three Unintentionally Inviting
- Level Four Intentionally Inviting
- It is possible for a message, no matter how
high-minded and well-meaning, to be perceived as
disinviting.
It is the typical level of functioning that
indicates the persons and organizations
atmosphere and stance.
33Level One Intentionally Disinviting
- The message sent by intentionally disinviting
people is that others are incapable, worthless,
or irresponsible. - These people may excuse their actions as good
for students, clients or patients. - There is no justification for being intentionally
disinviting. - People who operate at this level should be gently
removed from daily contact with those they should
be serving.
In this lowest level of functioning, behaviors,
policies, programs, and places are deliberately
meant to demean, diminish, shun, or devalue the
human spirit.
34Level Two Unintentionally Disinviting
- Level Two people are often condescending,
obsessed with policies and procedures, and
unaware of peoples feelings. - Their classrooms, for example, may be
disorganized, boring, and filled with busywork. - Students and teachers in Level Two schools may
have low morale and high absence rates. - In frustration, Level Two professionals may
resort to Level One behaviors. - It is a concern when all 5 Ps are unintentionally
disinviting.
Professionals who function at Level Two are
typically well-meaning, but may not reflect upon
their actions.
35Level Three Unintentionally Inviting
- Many natural-born teachers operate at this
level. - Unfortunately, like early aviators who flew by
the seat of their pants, these teachers lack
dependable guidance systems. - Thus, they may be uncertain and unpredictable.
- If whatever accounts for their success fails
them, they dont know what to do to next and may
resort to Level One or Level Two functioning. - Consistency and dependability in education and
human service require an intentionally inviting
stance.
Professionals who function at Level Three are
reasonably effective, but cannot explain why.
36Level Four Intentionally Inviting
- Level Four professionals are like modern pilots
because they know how things work, they can fly
on instruments over dangerous weather fronts. - They are persistent, imaginative, resourceful,
and courageous, even when things get tough. - They affirm, yet guide students, deliberately
choosing to be caring and democratic. - They focus on what is most important in education
and relationships an appreciation of people and
the value of their development.
Level Four professionals know why they are doing
what they are doing, so they examine and modify
their practices to continuously grow.
37Just as teachers invite or disinvite students,
student behavior can invite or disinvite teachers.
Teachers, however, have the ability and
responsibility to consistently invite students.
Teachers are professionals and should be the
primary source of inviting messages (Purkey and
Novak, 1996).
38The Four Corner Press
- Invitational Education encourages individuals to
enrich their lives in each of four vital corners -
Being personally inviting with oneself
Being personally inviting with others
Being professionally inviting with others
Being professionally inviting with oneself
39The purpose of education is to summon people to
realize potential in all areas of worthwhile
human activity, including meeting the goals of a
democratic society and participating in the
progress of civilization.
40Corner One Being Personally Inviting with
Oneself
- Invitational Professionals see themselves as
valuable, able, responsible, and growing. - One way to be inviting with oneself is to monitor
your internal dialogue or whispering self
(Zastrow, 1994 Purkey, 2000 Meichenbaum, 1985).
- Those who learn to change negative
interpretations into positive ones enrich their
own lives and more deeply appreciate others
inner worlds.
To be a long-term beneficial presence in the
lives of others, it is vital for professionals to
care for themselves.
41Practice being inviting on your own behalf by
making a habit of having some alone time.
42Corner Two Being Personally Inviting with
Others
- The basic assumptions of optimism, trust,
respect, care, and intentionality point the way
to being personally inviting with others, thus
promoting promote positive relationships. - This is especially important in relationships
with students and significant others. - Students, for example, are keenly aware of the
nuances in messages received in school.
Most human activities involve interdependence.
43Teachers can influence how students perceive
themselves by learning their names and interests,
sharing out-of-class experiences, expressing
pleasure when they perform well, and expressing
positive expectations for everyone.
44Corner Three Being Professionally Inviting
with Oneself
- In our pluralistic, democratic culture, helping
professionals must attend to the perceptual
worlds of students or clients. - They must also develop skill in utilizing new
electronic sources of information. - To be professionally inviting with oneself, join
professional groups, try new teaching or
counseling methods, research, make professional
presentations, read, write, and become active in
a learning community.
Educators, as intellectual workers, have a
special responsibility to study the ideas they
teach.
45The professional who does not invite him/herself
to grow runs the risk of becoming obsolete.
46Corner Four Being Professionally Inviting with
Others
- Being professionally inviting with others does
not involve bribes, tricks, or coercion. - In schools, the focus is on improving academic
achievement, teaching to standards, showing
children how to take tests, posting a daily
agenda to make expectations clear, and
celebrating mistakes as learning experiences. - Practical strategies are outlined in The Inviting
School Treasury 1001 Ways to Invite Student
Success (Purkey and Stanley, 2002).
Being professionally inviting with others
involves interactions with the school, agency,
and larger community.
47Being professionally inviting with others is best
accomplished by building on the strengths
provided by the first three corners. The
successful professional is one who artfully
blends and synchronizes the four corners into a
seamless whole.
48The Helix Internalizing Invitational Education
- The helix is based upon the idea that
professionals spiral up from awareness, to
understanding, to application, to adoption of IE
as a pervasive theory of practice. - There are three phases of interest from
occasional to systematic to pervasive. - The helix is a 12-step guide to school
transformation.
A helix is a spiral.
49The Helix Phase I Occasional Interest
- Phase I Occasional Interest builds upon the good
things that are already being done in the school
or other agency, with the objective of building
awareness of and introducing Invitational
Education.
50The Helix Phase I Occasional Interest
- Step 1 Initial Exposure can happen by talking to
a colleague, attending a conference, reading
introductory materials, watching a video, or
hearing a speaker. - Step 2 Structured Dialogue involves organized
discussion following a program, speech, or
meeting focusing on inviting practices that are
already in place. - Step 3 General Agreement to Try involves seeking
consensus to test a variety of new ideas to see
what works. - Step 4 Uncoordinated Use and Sharing involves
reports on what changes went well, what might be
done better, and how.
51The Helix Phase IISystematic Application
- Phase II Systematic Application involves groups
working to introduce integrative change within
schools or other agencies, going beyond their
classrooms or offices to shared concern for the
total helping professions community.
52The Helix Phase IISystematic Application
- Step 5 Intensive Study happens when IE is
studied as a system, aided by a trained leader. - Step 6 Applied Comprehension means that those
involved discuss their comprehension of the key
ideas and apply them in their school. - Step 7 Strand Organization involves organizing
teams to focus on the 5 Ps People, Places,
Policies, Procedures, and Processes. - Step 8 Systematic Incorporation involves regular
progress sharing among the strand groups,
communication among chairs, and networking with
other inviting schools or agencies.
53The Helix Phase IIIPersuasive Adoption
- Phase III Persuasive Adoption is when
Invitational Education permeates the
organization. Leaders begin to provide
leadership to others outside their setting.
54The Helix Phase IIIPersuasive Adoption
- Step 9 Leadership Development occurs when
emerging leaders further explore the complexity
of IE, including examining new methods. - Step 10 Depth Analysis and Extension involves
deepening understanding of IE through critical
analysis and comparison with other approaches to
education or the helping professions. New
initiatives are examined and modified in light of
IE principles.
55The Helix Phase IIIPersuasive Adoption
- Step 11 Confrontation of Major Concerns involves
taking a proactive stance on key issues that
affect the school/community, like racism, sexism,
and elitism. - Step 12 Transformation is when the organization
functions like an inviting family and is a model
for other schools and agencies aspiring to be
inviting.
Human potential, though not always apparent, is
there waiting to be discovered and invited forth
(Purkey, 2000).
56Mission
A democratic society is ethically committed to
accepting people as able, valuable, and
responsible, to valuing cooperation and
collaboration, to viewing process as product in
the making, and to developing untapped
possibilities in all worthwhile areas of human
endeavor.
- The unique mission of the International Alliance
for Invitational Education is to create and
maintain truly welcoming relationships and
environments that enhance life-long learning,
promote positive organizational change, cultivate
personal and professional growth, and enrich
peoples lives. - Through this theory of practice, called
Invitational Education, the Alliance also
identifies and changes negative forces that
defeat and destroy human potential.
57Conclusion
IAIE was co-founded by Dr. William Purkey and Dr.
Betty Siegel.
- The International Alliance for Invitational
Education (IAIE) is a chartered, non-profit
organization found in Hong Kong, South Africa,
Canada, Britain, Australia, and the United
States. The primary mission of the Alliance is
to create, maintain, and enhance truly welcoming
schools. - See www.InvitationalEducation.net for details on
how to join and help make our world more
welcoming for everyone.
58A Story about Michelangelos David
- A little boy was watching Michelangelo chipping
away at a block of marble no previous sculptor
had ever wanted. As he saw David emerging from
the stone, he asked, Sire, how did you know he
was in there? - Just as Michelangelo freed David from the stone,
inviting professionals must free people from
preconceived notions of what they can or cannot
do and who they will become.
Invitational professionals must have vision to
invite forth all forms of positive human
potential.
59After a decade of high stakes testing, zero
tolerance, mandatory retention, and negative
labeling of students, teachers, and schools, a
renaissance is in sight. Invitational Education
is one voice in this renaissance. The aim is to
realize human potential through sustained,
imaginative acts of hope.
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