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.