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Session 7 - More on Being an Inviting Tutor

Site: Wintec Learning
Course: Invitational Education (eLearning Example)
Book: Session 7 - More on Being an Inviting Tutor
Printed by: Guest user
Date: Tāite, 11 Hune 2026, 5:27 AM

Description

This session discusses more about what it takes to be an inviting tutor.

Table of contents

Activity 7.1 - The Commitment to Being Inviting

Think about these questions and record your thoughts in your blog.

  1. What are the implications of being an inviting tutor?
  2. What happens if we ‘invite’ another person, but we don’t really want to?
  3. How much of a commitment is it to be ‘inviting’?

 Read and think about the following statements.

Think about what the implications of being an ‘inviting’ professional really mean.

Invitational education is based on the premise that we will constantly be thinking of how to be more inviting with others. However, perhaps we also need to stop and think about how much we really want to be invitational in certain circumstances. To be inviting requires commitment.  Sometimes it is good to stop and ask ourselves the fundamental question: "How much am I willing to commit to this invitation?"

An invitation without the genuine commitment required may lead to a situation that is unintentionally disinviting. Before you give an invitation be clear with yourself. How much am I really prepared to invest in my commitment to this person? How much of my time, energy and resources am I prepared to give? What will be expected of me if I extend this invitation?

Ask yourself these questions before you ‘invite’ another person:

  • How do I really feel about making this commitment?
  • What will it mean for me if I make this commitment?

Activity 7.2 - Choices

Think about the following questions/statements and record your thoughts and ideas in your blog.

In any situation or human interaction we always have a choice:

  • to send or not to send a blue or orange card
  • to accept or not to accept a blue or orange card
  1. Can you think of examples when you have deliberately chosen to send a blue or orange card?
  2. Can you think of examples when you have deliberately chosen not to send them?
  3. How well do you accept ‘blue cards’? Are there times when you have deliberately chosen not to accept them?
  4. Are there times when you accept ‘orange cards’? Are there times when you choose not to accept them?

Read and think about the statement below.

We always have a choice!

Making the most caring and appropriate choice is critical for determining success or failure in our personal and professional functioning. It may be helpful to remember that more often than not the way a person reacts or responds to you actually says more about that person then it does about you. Telling yourself “she’s having a bad day” can be one way of avoiding accepting a disinviting comment or behaviour as an orange card.

Activity 7.3 - Closing Thoughts on Inviting

Read and think about the quote. What are your opinions of these ideas?

“There is a growing awareness that education is not about normal distributions, standardized test scores, labeling and grouping of students and relentless and ruthless competition … it is about inviting every single person who enters a school t realize his or her relatively boundless potential … . It is concerned more than grades, attendance and academic achievement.  It is concerned with the process of becoming a decent human and productive human being.”

(Purkey, W. Cited in Kok (August, 2001). Retrieved from http://www.invitationaleducation.net/forums/v22n2.pdf (no longer available)

Read through the following statements and contribute to the online activity below.

Pick three or four statements to comment on by double clicking on the Padlet wall below (or click on the icon above to open it in another tab).

  • Which statements do you really agree with? Why?
  • Which statements do you disagree with? Why?
  • Are there any statements that seem to really resonate with you, or that you feel strongly about? Why do think that is the case?

General Statements

Some ideas on being inviting to students
  • To be inviting when others are disinviting is the true test of professionalism.
  • Think of ways to ensure all students experience success from time to time.
  • To be inviting in a disinviting environment is to change the environment.
  • Try saying “You can do better than this.  Here is how …”
  • Education must first be human; only then can it be professional.
  • Greet students as they arrive and say goodbye as they depart.
  • The best invitation is to communicate that we are able, valuable and responsible.
  • Make welcome signs for your school in various foreign languages
  • An invitation is an attitude revealing itself.
  • Make a rule that student work will be evaluated and returned as soon as possible.
  • To love is to act lovingly; to care is to act caringly.
  • Assign “can do” assignments and teach to pass.
  • Invitations are often accepted or rejected for reasons that have nothing to do with the inviter.
  • Develop peer tutoring and peer helper programmes.
  • Show me your greetings and show me your leave-takings and I will tell you the quality of your relationship.
  • Challenge the bell-shaped curve: students are not normally distributed.
  • Inviting actions speak louder than inviting words.
  • Encourage cooperation by being cooperative.
  • The professionally inviting person follows through promptly.
  • Avoid comparisons: try to remember that each person is unique.
  • Show me how you invite yourself and I will know how you invite others.
  • Be optimistic: a student will live up or down to your expectations.
  • To be inviting to others one must first be inviting to oneself: you can’t give what you don’t have.

This is the end of Section 7. Click to do the Review B Activity.