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Session 3 - The "5 Ps" & The Starfish Analogy

Site: Wintec Learning
Course: Invitational Education (eLearning Example)
Book: Session 3 - The "5 Ps" & The Starfish Analogy
Printed by: Tauhou
Date: Wenerei, 10 Hune 2026, 8:48 AM

Description

The term "5 Ps" refers to the five areas, or things, that make up the whole ecosystem that surrounds students (and everyone).
These things all do their bit to contribute to the success or failure of every individual.

Table of contents

Activity 3.1 - Role of the teacher

Read the quote and think about the following questions.

“I have come to a frightening conclusion.
I am the decisive element in my classrooms.
It is my personal approach that creates the climate.
It is my daily mood that makes the weather.
As a teacher, I possess tremendous power to make a student’s life miserable or joyous.
I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.
I can humiliate or humour, hurt or heal.
In all situations it is MY response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, a person humanized or dehumanized.”

Haim Ginott (1993)

Record your answers in your blog if you wish.

  • What do you think of this?
  • How does it relate to the invitational approach to education

Activity 3.2 - Starfish Analogy

Read the explanation of the Starfish Analogy then do the activities that follow.

Purkey’s Starfish Analogy

Click on the yellow plus signs in the image below to learn about each element of the analogy

Or click here for an alternative explanation (extracted from Haigh, 2011)

Think about the following questions and record the answers in your blog.

Think about the 5 Ps - Places, Policies, Programmes, Processes and People - in relation to what you know of the educational institution you work for...

  1. How clear are you on the differences between each of the Ps? Can you name examples of each?

  2. How do your clients/ students and colleagues experience these things?

  3. Do they evoke positive or negative feelings and responses?

  4. How might you, as an institution, accentuate the positive and challenge the negative?

Click the icon to view and add examples of the 5Ps in your own teaching context.

Or enter the following code into the FlipGrid App a58bb2

This is the end of Session 3. Click to go to Session 4.