What is Invitational Education®?
Compiled and edited by:
Melissa Cain cain@findlay.edu
Contributions by:
William Purkey
wwpurkey@aol.com
John Novak jnovak@brocku.ca
Ken Smith
K.Smith@patrick.acu.edu.au
Dave Chapman daciaie@aol.com
Jack Schmidt iaie@charter.net
Dan Shaw
danshaw@NOVA.EDU
“Education is fundamentally an imaginative act of hope”
(Novak, 1996).
What is Invitational Education®?
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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
The Democratic Ethos
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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
matter—that they can meaningfully participate in self-rule.
The Perceptual Tradition
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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.
Perceptual Tradition…….Continued
There is no such thing as
illogical behavior….
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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.
Self-concept is the picture
people construct of who they are
and how they fit into their
perceived world.
Self-Concept Theory
(Jourard, 1968; Rogers, 1968; Purkey, 1970 and 2005)
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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.
Self-Concept Theory…….Continued
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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.
“Everything 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).
Motivation
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Motivation is internal and
continuous.
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.
Basic Assumptions
Invitational Education® is a metaphor for an emerging
model of the education process consisting of five valuebased assumptions about the nature of people and their
potential. These are:
Trust
Intentionality
Respect
Care
Optimism
Optimism
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.
Trust
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).
Respect
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 person’s right to accept,
reject, or negotiate the messages sent to them, positive or negative.
Care
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
Intentionality
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.
Theory into Practice—The 5 Ps
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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.
Just as
asaa starfish applies slow
Just
and steady
pressure from
Just
as aapplies
starfish
starfish
eachand
ofslow
its
five
arms to open
applies
and
slow
steady
the single
powerful muscle
steady
pressure
pressure
from
that keeps an oyster together,
from
each
of
its five
each
of
its
five
focusing upon the 5 Ps helps
the persistent
arms
to open
educators
apply
single
powerful
the
single
pressure
to overcome big
muscle
that
keeps an
powerful
muscle
challenges.
oyster
together,
that
keeps
an
focusing
upon the 5
oyster
together,
Ps helps upon
educators
focusing
apply
persistent
the
5 Ps
helps
pressure toapply
educators
overcome big
persistent
challenges.
pressure
to
overcome big
challenges.
The 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.
People
Invitational Education® begins
and ends with people.
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Every person in the school—
teachers, administrators, food
service professionals,
custodians, counselors,
librarians, bus drivers, and,
most importantly, students—is
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.
“Nobody cares how much you know until they know
how much you care” (Purkey, 1996).
Places
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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:
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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.
Imagine 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 can’t hear the
music, we are being too loud,” the student guide explains.
As the tour continues, the family sees…
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Children’s 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.
Policies
Policies include mission statements, directives, codes,
rules—written and unwritten—regulating the school.
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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?
Programs
Programs should encourage active engagement
with significant content.
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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.
Programs, whether formal or informal, curricular or
extracurricular, should benefit everyone.
Processes
Processes can be simply defined as “the way we
do things in this school.”
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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.
The Jell-O™ Analogy
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The 5 Ps of Invitational
Education® provide a
powerful framework for
transforming the total
school environment.
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
processes—each within a
framework of trust, respect,
care, optimism, and
intentionality—provides a
strategy for systematic
transformation of the whole
school.
Invitational Education® identifies four levels of functioning
in personal and professional living, called the Ladder.
The Ladder:
Levels of Functioning
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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 wellmeaning, to be perceived as
disinviting.
It is the typical level of functioning that indicates the
person’s and organization’s atmosphere and stance.
Level One:
Intentionally Disinviting
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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.
Level Two:
Unintentionally Disinviting
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Professionals who function
at Level Two are typically
well-meaning, but may not
reflect upon their actions.
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Level Two people are often
condescending, obsessed with
policies and procedures, and
unaware of people’s 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.
Level Three:
Unintentionally Inviting
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Professionals who
function at Level Three
are reasonably effective,
but cannot explain why.
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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 don’t
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.
Level Four:
Intentionally Inviting
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Level Four professionals
know why they are doing
what they are doing, so they
examine and modify their
practices to continuously
grow.
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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.
Just 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).
The 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
oneself
Being
professionally
inviting with
others
The 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.
Corner One:
Being Personally Inviting with Oneself
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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.
Practice being inviting on your own behalf by
making a habit of having some “alone time.”
Corner Two:
Being Personally Inviting with Others
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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.
Teachers 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.
Corner Three:
Being Professionally Inviting with
Oneself
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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.
The professional who does not invite him/herself to
grow runs the risk of becoming obsolete.
Corner Four:
Being Professionally Inviting with Others
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Being professionally inviting
with others involves
interactions with the school,
agency, and larger community.
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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 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.
The Helix:
Internalizing Invitational Education
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A helix is a spiral.
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.
The 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®.
The 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.
The Helix Phase II:
Systematic 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.
The Helix Phase II:
Systematic 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.
The Helix Phase III:
Persuasive Adoption
Phase III: Persuasive
Adoption is when
Invitational Education®
permeates the
organization. Leaders
begin to provide
leadership to others
outside their setting.
The Helix Phase III:
Persuasive 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.
The Helix Phase III:
Persuasive 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).
Mission
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.
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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 people’s lives.
Through this theory of practice, called Invitational Education®,
the Alliance also identifies and changes negative forces that
defeat and destroy human potential.
Conclusion
IAIE was co-founded by Dr. William Purkey and Dr. Betty Siegel.
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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.
A Story about Michelangelo’s David
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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.
After 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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